Get a local bank account
Singapore's banks are some of the safest in the world (including DBS, the literal safest bank in the world). And as an added bonus of being here, it's easy to get white-glove service in person as a business bank account owner.
Get a business bank account
Neobank options
Aspire
For most startups, we recommend opening an account with Aspire, a local neobank (similar to Mercury or Brex in the US) which uses DBS for their custody. Aspire offers instant issuance of corporate cards, accounting features such as a Xero/Quickbooks integration, and is friendly to the web3 industry.
Wise
You may be familiar with Wise (formerly TransferWise) as they operate in dozens of countries, but they also support Singapore businesses and are licensed to operate by MAS. Wise offers instant issue corporate cards, sleek UX, and low FX fees when sending money abroad.
Revolut Business
Revolut is another quite popular neobank globally, and they also offer business and personal accounts in Singapore! Revolut also offers instant issue corporate cards, sleek UX, and low FX fees when sending money abroad.
Traditional banks
The SG Builders community can help advise on how to register for a traditional bank account in Singapore, as some banks may take issue with your application if you engage in trading activity (while others may not).
Our preferred setup is to open an Aspire account and use that for any trading activity or fund outflows from exchanges, after which you can use any local bank you like.
There are many reputable banks in Singapore, including DBS, UOB, OCBC, Standard Chartered, HSBC, Maybank Singapore, and more.
We recommend signing up for DBS's Startups program, within their SME Banking division. DBS is reliable and not unfriendly to the crypto industry (even providing their own crypto custody services) and their support is excellent.
Get a personal bank account
Aside from using Wise or Revolut (we recommend this), we recommend registering for a DBS personal account. DBS operates PayLah, one of the most commonly used payment apps in the country, and we find it has solid consumer-grade UX.
Beyond that -- honestly, every bank is pretty similar and very reliable. You'll need to research independently each bank's options and see which is best for your specific needs.
The most commonly used banks are DBS, UOB, OCBC, Standard Chartered, and Maybank Singapore.
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