MAS-SFA-AMTD
FINTECH SOLIDARITY GRANT
Introduction
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Singapore FinTech Association (SFA) and AMTD Foundation (AMTD) have established a S$6 million MAS-SFA-AMTD FinTech Solidarity Grant to support Singapore-based FinTech companies amid the challenging business climate caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Grant will help the FinTechs manage their cashflow better, support them in generating new businesses, and provide greater support for FinTechs to pursue growth strategies.
SFA is the grant administrator and will review and assess the applications.
Grant Objectives: To provide support for FinTech projects / proof-of-concepts (“POCs”) on the APIX Platform, and subsequent commercialisation of successful projects / POCs.
Eligibility Requirements
- Be registered and in operation in Singapore for at least 3 months before the date of grant application.
- Have at least 2 or more core activities in Singapore (e.g not just a sales representative office).
- Be an SFA member with a valid SFA Fintech Certification.
- FinTechs must register and complete their profile on APIX platform and ChekFIN account, as well as carry out their POC or commercialisation (of a successful POC) project with any Financial Institution or Technology company on APIX to be eligible for this grant.
- Only 1 application per POC is allowed per company or Group of related companies. For the purposes of this grant, a parent company and its subsidiaries shall be considered a single FinTech firm.
- Each Company or Group of related companies is allowed to submit up to 3 BGG applications for 3 different POCs.
- Applicants must use the SFA Jobs Portal to advertise the internship opportunities, but are free to use other advertising channels as well.
- All Qualifying expenses for the application must be related to the POC on APIX.
- Company should have at least 30% local shareholding to be eligible to apply for the BGG Grant
Qualifying Projects
Projects must showcase:
- Testing/integration of APIs on APIX platform; and
- FinTech firm’s collaboration with any Financial Institution or a Technology Company (not necessarily from Singapore) on the APIX sandbox.
- Completed projects/POCs applying for commercialisation support must showcase:
- Deployment of POC into production environment and scaling up of solution. Production environment refers to the set up where the POC is released and pushed live to its intended users to experience and interact with it.
- Duration of qualifying project: Maximum of 1 year.
Grants & Funding Level
BUSINESS GROWTH GRANT EXTENSION (BGGE)
To provide support for FinTech projects / proof-of-concepts (POCs) on the APIX platform, and subsequent commercialisation of successful projects / POCS.
FinTechs must register and complete their profile on APIX platform and ChekFIN account, as well as carry out their POCs with any Financial Institution or Technology Company on APIX to be eligible for this grant.
1st Application: 70% of qualifying expenses, capped at S$40,000 per FinTech firm
Subsequent applications (maximum of 2 subsequent applications in total, and firms can only apply for commercialisation support once for each successfully completed POC on APIX)
2nd to 3rd Application: 70% of qualifying expenses, capped at S$25,000 and S$15,000 for the 1st and 2nd subsequent applications respective per FinTech firm per application
The grant is on a reimbursement basis (proof of payment must be submitted)
Qualifying Expenses Includes*
Professional Service
Related to the POC (including consultancy, cybersecurity testing, IT audit, training, change management)
Wage Support
Including salaries of staff (including Foreign Nationals) and Singaporean/PR undergraduate interns involved in the development and implementation of the project (excluding employer CPF and bonuses)
Hardware & Software
Including licences, maintenance and subscription costs, related to the project
70% of Internship Funding for Salaries of Singaporean/PR Undergraduate Interns (capped at S$1,000/month per intern)
Overall internship salary cap of S$20,000 for FinTechs with more than 30 staff
or
Overall internship salary cap of S$10,000 for FinTechs with 30 staff or less
Total cap per Fintech firm (excluding the funding for internship) is S$80,000.
BGG Application Closing Date: 28th February 2023
Grant KPIs and Governance
KPI Requirements
12 months after disbursement of grant:
- Remain registered and operating in Singapore
- No reduction in headcount at the end of the project period, but if necessary and inevitable, not more than 20% headcount reduction (excluding Interns)
- SFA member with a valid SFA Fintech Certification throughout the period
- POC must be successfully completed on the APIX platform and receive a certificate of completion from APIX
Governance
Utilisation and KPI Report
Applicant to submit their utilisation report to SFA, including supporting documents for proof of payment (e.g. invoices, pay slips to interns) and to show that project KPIs have been met, at the end of the funding period. Un-utilised grant amounts on the qualifying expenses categories and internship salaries will be clawed back by SFA. Applicants that do not meet KPI would have their grant clawed back
Audit
Random audits would be conducted by SFA or their appointed external auditor on applicants' use of the grant. If the audit report indicates misuse of Grants or fraudulent activities, the full grant amount will be clawed back and reported to the authorities
Duplicate Funding
No duplicate funding between the MAS-SFA-AMTD FinTech Solidarity Grant programme and other Government Grants.
SFA will take all legal actions to clawback the full grant amount from the Company, in any cases of misuse, fradulent or un-utilised grant amounts
Documents Required for Submission
- Completed Grant Application Form with all the necessary supporting documents*
- Screenshot of 100% APIX Profile Completion
- Screenshot of IDE on APIX
- Screenshot of a registered ChekFIN Account
- Signed POC agreement or email thread confirmation with Financial Institution (FI) or Technology Company stating the project title, dates [start & end] and scope of work. If you are developing multiple POCs with the same Financial Institution (FI) or Technology Company, you are required to submit either 1 signed MOU/Agreement for each POC, or have 1 Master signed MOU/agreement which states the different POCs in the collaboration.
- Project Progress Report to show proof of project completion and pushed live to its intended users to experience and interact with it.
- ACRA Business Profile for applicant company and corporate shareholder (if applicable), dated within last 3 months.
- For Wage Support:
Mandatory to indicate and provide the following:- Total Salary Amount of each Staff
- Total Number of Months Claimed and Claim period for each staff
- Payslip of all the months that you are claiming for Full-time Staff
- Payroll listing for Full-time Staff and Intern (Latest 3 Months)
- Employer's CPF Contribution Statements (Latest 3 Months) for Singapore Citizen/PR claiming up to SGD 6,000 per month
- Latest Copy of IRAS Notice of Assessment of the Full-time Staff – mandatory for non-Singapore Citizen/PR and for Singapore Citizen/PR claiming more than SGD 6,000 per month
- For Internship Support:
Mandatory to indicate and provide the following:- Total Salary Amount of each intern
- Total Number of Months Claimed and Claim Period for each intern
- Payslip for all the months that applicant is claiming for each intern
- Signed Intern Agreement
- Copy of NRIC (front and back) of each intern
- Copy of Student card of each intern
- Screenshots of SFA Jobs Portal's internship position advertisement
- For Hardware & Software, Professional Services, and Other Expenses:
Mandatory to indicate and provide the following:- Total Amount of Professional Services for every vendor / Hardware and Software or Other Costs for every claim
- Total Number of Months Claimed and Claim Period for every claim
- Invoices/signed Vendor Contracts for every claim/vendor
- For Professional Services – ACRA Business Profile (Local) or Equivalent Official Business Registration Document (Overseas) of the vendor dated within last 3 months from date of application
- Proof of Payment for every Vendor / Hardware and Software claimed (e.g. bank statements, receipt)
* If the necessary documents are not submitted, the processing of your application may be delayed, or your application may be refused.
SFA may contact your company for additional supporting documents if we find your application lacking in details
Application Process
Step 1
Download the infographic and the ChekFin Brochure before you fill up the Grant Application Form* (Form Linked below), and ensure you fill out all the required details. The grant is on a reimbursement basis (proof of payment must be submitted in order for the grant to be approved and disbursed).
Step 2
Submit the completed Google Form and all supporting Documents through the Google Form Submit Button and ensure all required fields are filled. If you encounter error 502, please press F5 to refresh your page and re-submit again. If the error message persists, please contact the SFA grant team immediately via the email address below.
Step 3
SFA will review your application, including all required Documents. If more information is required, you will be contacted directly.
Step 4
Successful applicants will receive further instructions from SFA.
1. For Completed POC
For project that has been completed, please submit the proof of payment. The grant is on a reimbursement basis (proof of payment must be submitted in order for the grant to be approved and disbursed).
Alternatively, you may scan the QR Code below:
2. For Non-Completed POC
Submit signed agreement or invoices/quotation if your project has Not been completed and click on this link for the application form.
Alternatively, you may scan the QR Code below:
Please note that incomplete forms or applications not accompanied with required documents will delay processing.
For further enquires on the MAS-SFA-AMTD FinTech Solidarity Grant, please email [email protected].
Frequently Asked Questions
SFA FinTech Certification
You can apply for the Fintech Certification here: https://singaporefintech.org/fintech-certification/
You will have to renew your FinTech Certificate and SFA membership.
No, you are unfortunately not eligible for this grant. as the application submission form will require your FinTech Certificate number, you are required to have received the Fintech Certificate first.
Grant Application
A core activity is an activity that is usually considered as required for the running of business e.g. Finance, Human Resources, Sales etc.
For e.g. your company should not just have a sales team in Singapore while other teams e.g. Finance and Human Resources located in other countries.
For the Business Growth Grant, you may apply up to 3 times during the application period. However, you cannot claim for the same expenses for more than once and you will need to indicate the number of applications submitted for the Business Growth Grant.
SFA understands the difficulties faced by the companies in the industry during this period of time, and the documentations are required for SFA to prioritise and ensure that support is extended to the companies which most need it.
Fund Disbursement
Please submit all relevant invoices, signed contracts with vendors and proof of payment for SFA to review. SFA reserves the rights to decide if the expense qualifies under the grant and reject the application should all the necessary documents are not submitted.
Post-Disbursement (KPI & Governance)
You are required to submit the Utilisation and KPI Report to SFA with supporting documents, to show that the project KPIs have been met.
SFA would review on a case-by-case basis at the end of the funding period. Depending on the outcome of the review, the grant disbursed could be rescinded.
SFA, being the administrator for the grant, is accountable to the sponsors. Random audits would be conducted to ensure there is no misuse of grant or fraudulent activities involved. Full grant amount will be rescinded and relevant authorities would be notified if there is misuse of grant or fraudulent activities involved.
SFA would review on a case-by-case basis. Do reach out to SFA immediately once it is known that the POC would be extended beyond the 12 months period.
Created in collaboration with Temasek-founded Affinidi, chekFIN is a modern and secure platform that is supported by a global database of FinTech firms and built using the latest generation of Internet Web 3.0 services which will provide a decentralised, open standard, and trust-based solution.
Find out more and how to register a ChekFIN account at: https://apixplatform.com/chekfin#:~:text=Created%20in%20collaboration%20with%20Temasek,%2C%20and%20trust%2Dbased%20solution
For further enquires on the MAS-SFA-AMTD FinTech Solidarity Grant, please email [email protected].