MEMBERSHIP

Our members constitute a wide spectrum of banks and financial institutions ranging from major global banks to niche market players.

Membership is voluntary and open to banks and financial institutions operating in Singapore and licensed by the MAS – commercial banks, merchant banks and institutions carrying out investment banking type activities.

There are three categories of ABS Membership depending on the bank/institution’s MAS licence type. Membership fees are also based on the category of MAS licence held.

Ordinary membership - For commercial banks with full, qualifying full, wholesale or offshore bank licences.

Affiliate membership - For merchant banks and institutions undertaking investment banking-type activities.

Associate membership - For representative offices of foreign banks which do not conduct any banking business in Singapore.

Membership Structure Year
1973 2023 31 July 2024
Ordinary (Commercial Banks)
Digital Banks
54
-
126
4
127
4
Affiliate (Merchant/ Investment Banks) - 20 20
Associate (Representative Offices) - 4 4
 Total  54 154  155

As at 31 July 2024

Licence Type Ordinary Members Affiliate Members Associate Members
Local Banks Foreign Banks
Full Bank 3 21 - -
Qualifying Full Bank - 10 - -
Digital Full Bank - 2 - -
Wholesale Bank - 93 - -
Digital Wholesale Bank - 2 - -
Merchant Bank/Capital Market Services Licences advising on Corporate Finance - - 20 -
Representative Office - - - 4
Total 3 128 20 4

CATEGORIES OF BANKING LICENCES

Full Bank

Full Banks conduct a whole range of banking business for retail and corporate clients. The Full Bank licence is open to local and foreign banks but the latter enjoy less flexibility than their local counterparts in their branch and automated teller machine (ATM) networks.

Qualifying Full Bank (QFB)

Introduced on 20 October 1999, Qualifying Full Bank (QFB) licences are open only to foreign banks and allow them to have additional branches and/or off-premise ATMs as well as to share ATMs among themselves. In June 2001, under the second phase of banking liberation, the QFB privileges were expanded.

QFBs are allowed to:

  • Establish up to 25 service locations, which can be either brick-and-mortar branches or off-site ATM locations;
  • Share ATMs among themselves;
  • Provide debit services through an Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale (EFTPOS) network;
  • Provide Supplementary Retirement Scheme and Central Provident Fund (CPF) Investment Scheme accounts and, from 1 July 2002, accept CPF fixed deposits.

Wholesale Bank

Wholesale Bank (WB) licences were first awarded in December 2001 and took effect on 1 January 2002. The WB licence replaced the Restricted Bank and the Qualifying Offshore bank licences to better reflect the wide range of activities that could be conducted. WBs engage in the same range of banking business as Full Banks except that they do not carry out Singapore Dollar retail banking activities.

The QFB and WB banking licences form part of MAS' programme to liberalise commercial banking in Singapore by promoting a more open and competitive environment and spurring local banks to develop and upgrade.

Representative Office

Representative Offices do not conduct any regular banking operations but promote business and correspondent banking business between their home offices and the region.