In 1981, the share of China’s population that was living in poverty was higher than 80 per cent. Fast forward to 2019, this figure was almost at 0 per cent. Needless to say, the country has overcome monumental challenges to become what is now the second largest economy in the world.
In turn, this growth has led to the rise of Chinese economic conglomerates, including Tencent, Ant Group and the likes.
Ant Group in particular, has been aggressively expanding beyond Chinese shores, bringing its tech and expertise all over the world.
Formerly known as Ant Financial, the company is an affiliate of Chinese billionaire Jack Ma’s Alibaba, and is the one behind payments platform Alipay, which overtook PayPal as the largest payments platform some years back.
The past few years have seen the rise of digital banking, as well as countries moving towards digital currencies, and Ant Group has been tapping on such opportunities in Singapore.
They obtained a licence to operate a digital wholesale bank, ANEXT, which was launched in June 2022. But what exactly does ANEXT have to offer for Singapore and the businesses here?
Championing simpler and safer banking
ANEXT will focus entirely on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with an aim to help them secure funding, said Toh Su Mei, ANEXT’s Chief Executive Officer during the digital bank’s launch event.
“We believe it’s time to offer the next generation of financial services that are accessible and effortless for growing businesses,” she added.
Being affiliated with Ant Group, ANEXT is also able to tap into and leverage Ant Group’s expertise and technologies in order to provide better banking experiences at lower costs to businesses.
As such, ANEXT is designed to make banking simpler, safer, and more rewarding for SMEs that do sign up for an ANEXT Business Account.
Businesses can make use of their Corppass to create an account with ANEXT, and enjoy 24/7 free online banking access while managing their account on the go. The use of Corppass means that an application for an ANEXT Business Account will be pre-filled, and that the remote onboarding process is simplified.
Of course, ANEXT is not compromising on security in order to bring convenience either. Any transactions that do take place with ANEXT are protected by three-factor authentication (3FA) security, providing additional security measures to an already difficult to crack system for the benefit of users and businesses.
Cross-border payments for global businesses
On top of helping make banking simpler and safer, ANEXT also recognises that businesses are now becoming globalised – even smaller businesses are trading across borders and collaborating with partners outside of their own countries.
As such, ANEXT’s offerings are designed to enable more businesses to tap on these cross-border opportunities with greater ease. It is offering businesses dual-currency accounts, allowing them to hold balances in both SGD and USD.
For companies that need to send or receive payments in other currencies, ANEXT also provides a foreign exchange service with many other major trading currencies such as the Euro, Hong Kong Dollar, British Pound, and Japanese Yen.
For businesses with a more regional focus, ANEXT also offers foreign exchange services for Malaysian Ringgit and Thai Baht.
These overseas payments will only be subject to flat fees – this means that unlike banks that charge fees as a percentage of the transaction volume, businesses that use ANEXT will benefit from earning more revenue without necessarily incurring higher bank fees.
For businesses that are worried about maintaining minimum balances, ANEXT helps you to save, and avoid worrying about minimum balances. In addition, ANEXT does not have any hidden or annual fees, and allows you to carry out an unlimited number of local transactions, completely free.
ANEXT can also act as a supplementary bank account
At this point, many businesses may already have an existing business bank account, but ANEXT can also serve as a supplementary account.
The ANEXT Business bank account can help you enjoy benefits that complement your business’ growth and earnings.
The unlimited free local transfers that ANEXT is offering, is almost unmatched by any other bank, and given that cross-border trade is becoming more important, ANEXT’s offerings of cheaper cross-border transactions are a welcome benefit for businesses.
The interest is calculated and paid daily, so the more that you put in today, the more you can earn tomorrow. While these are promotional rates, their regular interest rates are also competitive.
On top of these favourable terms, ANEXT is offering early adopters another incentive to sweeten the deal. Until the end of the year, the first 1,000 businesses that successfully open up a bank account with ANEXT will enjoy promotional interest rates of up to 0.68 per cent per annum, depending on the balance that they keep within the account.
ANEXT also offers remote onboarding, which means that anyone wanting to open an account with ANEXT can simply do so online.
To apply for an ANEXT Business account, you need to first ensure that Corppass is set up for your business so you can apply online with minimal documentation. You will then receive an email link to confirm the application details, and once ANEXT verifies this information, the application can then be confirmed.
Signing up for an ANEXT Business account is completely free, and there are no annual account fees or initial deposit involved.
Featured Image Credit: The Crypto Times
