GXS Bank, the digital lender backed by Grab Holdings and Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel), is cutting about 10% of its workforce across the group as it shifts from building the bank to running day-to-day operations.
In a note to the staff, GXS Group CEO Lai Pei-Si said that roles required in the operations phase may differ from those in the buildout stage. The cut involved 82 jobs.
“As we continue to grow our businesses across the region, we are also transitioning from building the bank to running the bank. The roles that are essential as we move forward and focus on running the bank may be different from our build phase,” Lai said.
The said layoffs follow a strategic review to identify roles needed for the next phase and were conducted across GXS Bank in Singapore, GX Bank in Malaysia, and a technology centre in India.
“To prepare us for our future phases of growth, we undertook a strategic review to identify the roles that are critical and essential for us as we progress,” Lai added.
He said GXS will provide extended medical coverage for three months, career transition support, and counselling services, along with severance and other payments.
GXS is one of the four firms to have secured a digital bank licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
In September, the lender received capital injection of $60 million for its key shareholders, regulatory filings show. The infusion came from A-5 DV Holdings Pte Ltd and SFG Digibank Investment Pte Ltd, both subsidiaries of Grab Holdings, which subscribed to new ordinary shares.
GXS Bank’s top shareholders
It marked the third time in less than two years that Grab has injected capital into GXS. The Southeast Asian tech firm invested $142 million in mid-2024, followed by another $109 million in January 2024.
In total, Grab has now committed roughly $311 million to the digital bank since the start of last year.
GXS recorded a 59% jump in losses for the financial year ended December 31, 2023, despite a 6x increase in net interest income. The digital bank’s loss for the year rose to S$208.2 million in 2023 from S$131.1 million in 2022, even as net interest income jumped to S$14.9 million from S$2.4 million during the same period.
