DBS Bank has launched a dedicated 5000 square foot workspace in Hong Kong to act as a springboard fintech startups with mentoring and support.
The opening of 'The Vault', comes as the bank awaits the final applications from startups across the globe to join its fintech accelerator programme, which was launched in April in association with local innovation incubator Nest.
The three-month programme concludes in November with DBS and Nest Demo Days and a Public Investor Demo Day, where successful ideas will be picked out for further investment.
The Vault has been kitted out to provide participants in the accelerator with work and office space, technology resources and mentor support.
DBS Bank (Hong Kong) CEO Sebastian Paredes says: “DBS Hong Kong is a pioneer in leveraging digital and mobile technologies in our financial products and services. The DBS Accelerator programme aims to nurture a new generation of digital leaders and talent to secure Hong Kong’s future as a world-class FinTech hub.”
In 2014, DBS announced plans to invest S$200 million over three years to better harness digital technologies, on top of a S$1 billion spend on further technology initiatives.
DBS is also promoting a "digital mindset" among employees, through a series of hackathons that pair inhouse staff with local entrepreneurs to jointly tackle business problems. At a DBS 'MegaHackathon' earlier this year, the bank embedded 150 DBS employees with local startups to work on a range of mobile banking prototypes.