Singapore brokerages join race for digital bank licenses

SINGAPORE -- A clutch of Singapore brokerages are preparing to enter the race for the city-state's first digital banking licenses, joining a growing list of tech startups already drawing up applications.

PhillipCapital and iFAST Corporation, both providers of securities trading platforms in Singapore, told the Nikkei Asian Review they wanted to add banking services as a way of protecting their business models from traditional banks such DBS Group, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp and United Overseas Bank which are increasingly integrating full retail brokerage services into their product lineups.