Maribank, a digital bank licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and a wholly owned subsidiary of Sea Group, reported a significant increase in revenue for 2023, but also reported an increase in losses. Deal Street Asia.
The digital bank’s total revenue for the year ending Dec. 31, 2023, jumped more than six-fold to S$10.1 million (about U.S. $7.49 million) from S$1.6 million a year earlier.
Despite this increase, MaribankTotal comprehensive loss increased 28% year-on-year to S$51.9 million.
Personnel costs were Maribank’s largest expense, rising 60% to S$33.3 million in 2023 from S$20.8 million in 2022. Salaries and bonuses accounted for S$21.8 million.
Malibank’s customer deposits surged to S$503.8 million in 2023 from about S$2 million a year earlier. In July, Malibank raised the limit on its personal savings accounts from S$5,000 to S$75,000. Rival bank GXS has made similar moves..
This suggests that the S$50 million deposit cap initially imposed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) may be relaxed, although MAS has not publicly confirmed this.
Digital banks are calling for higher deposit limits to boost their lending capacity.
The bank’s reserves with the central bank rose to S$62.7 million from S$817,000 a year earlier.
Loans and advances to customers reached S$4.9 million, while total assets reached S$956.6 million, including Singapore government securities and treasury bills of S$800 million. As at 31 December 2023, total liabilities stood at S$560.8 million.
Maribank began operations in July 2022, initially providing digital banking services to selected members of the public.
Natalia Goh was recently appointed as the new CEO of Malibank, succeeding Cheng Yew Dong who is stepping down after a five-year term, but will continue to act as an advisor to both Malibank and Sea Group.
In December 2022, Sea Limited injected approximately US$56 million into Maribank, bringing its total capital injections since 2021 to approximately US$358 million, according to DealStreetAsia.
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