Standard Chartered, a British multinational banking and financial services company, and NTUC, the Singapore sole national trade union centre, agreed to form an joint venture to launch a digital-only bank. Financial terms were not disclosed. Standard Chartered is accelerating its digital strategy in Singapore to compete with larger local rivals such as DBS Group and non-bank challengers, including Grab, which has applied for one of the country's digital licences. The Monetary Authority of Singapore, the financial regulator, will hand out as many as five digital licences to non-banks this year.