The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has just released information on the new Digital Acceleration Grant accessible to many of Singapore’s small to mid-sized financial organisations. This bolsters the already generous start-up supportive grant environment in Singapore. The Financial Sector Technology and Innovation (FSTI) Digital Acceleration Grant (DAG) scheme supports Singapore-based smaller financial institutions and FinTech firms to adopt digital solutions to improve productivity, strengthen operational resilience, manage risks better, and serve customers better. Being a Start-Up and Digital transformation facilitator, Agile is obviously very excited about this additional financial support from the government. It includes (but is not limited to) funded purchase and installation of digital HRIS (Human Resources Information Systems including Payroll, Leave & Attendance management), Digital / AI Recruitment & Screening tools, Employee Engagement technology and Global Mobility / Corporate Immigration Management software that Agile ,(www.agilehumansolutions.com) supports.

How much?

  • 80% co-funding of qualifying expenses for applications submitted by 31 Dec 2021.
  • 70% co-funding will apply thereafter.

How long?

  • Institution Projects: 1 Year
  • Industry Pilots: 2 Years

Who can apply?

Singapore-based FinTech firms ,certified by the Singapore FinTech Association , with not more than 200 employees

Grant 1. Institution Project

To support individual smaller FIs and FinTechs to adopt digital solutions.

Qualifying solutions must:

  • be deployed and used for at least 6 months in Singapore;
  • contribute to improvements in productivity, efficiency, risk management, operational resilience, or customer service;
  • belong to any of the categories listed below; and
  • not be built from scratch nor require investment in heavy infrastructure e.g. servers.

The categories of solutions supported are:

  • Cloud services;
  • Communication and collaboration tools;
  • Compliance & KYC tools (including transaction monitoring tools);
  • Customer relationship and engagement tools (including digital customer onboarding);
  • Data-related services (including data warehousing, data automation, data analytics);
  • Enterprise services (including HR and accounting systems);
  • Marketing productivity tools (including customer sensing tools, insights generation);
  • Office productivity tools;
  • Project management, software development and testing tools;
  • Security-related solutions; and
  • Solutions to support alternative working arrangements, operational resilience, and BCP.

80% co-funding of qualifying expenses listed below, capped at $120,000 per entity, for the duration of the scheme:

  • Hardware and software, including licences, maintenance and subscription costs; and
  • Professional services (e.g. consultancy, cybersecurity testing, IT audit, training, change management).

Eligible entities can claim for expenses incurred from 1 February 2020.

The funding period is capped at 1 year.

Submit your application form (84.1 KB) to [email protected] .

Grant 2. Industry Pilot

This track supports joint projects by multiple FIs to customise an existing solution with a solution provider.

Applicants should be Singapore-based FIs, with headcount not more than 200 staff. Each project should have a minimum of 3 participating, eligible FIs.

Qualifying solutions must:

  • be deployed and used for at least 6 months in Singapore;
  • contribute to improvements in productivity, efficiency, risk management, operational resilience, or customer service;
  • belong to any of the categories listed below; and
  • not be built from scratch nor require investment in heavy infrastructure e.g. servers.

The categories of solutions supported are:

  • Cloud services;
  • Customer relationship and engagement tools (including digital customer onboarding);
  • Office productivity tools;
  • Compliance & KYC tools (including transaction monitoring tools);
  • Data-related services (including data warehousing, data automation, data analytics);
  • Enterprise services (including HR and accounting systems);
  • Project management, development and testing tools;
  • Security-related solutions;
  • Communication and collaboration tools;
  • Marketing productivity tools (including customer sensing tools, insights generation); and
  • Solutions to support alternative working arrangements, operational resiliency, and BCP arrangements.

80% co-funding of qualifying expenses, capped at $100,000 per participating entity, per project.

Qualifying expenses may include hardware and software, professional services, and manpower costs.

The funding period is capped at 2 years. Submit the application form (85.5 KB) (1 form for each participating FI) to [email protected] .

If you need any help or advice on these Grant Scheme please Contact Us or email [email protected].

Published by Leon Farrant