First, MAS is positioning Singapore as a hub for advanced AI capabilities, Chia says. Over thirty financial institutions have already set up AI competency centres here, developing solutions that support both the local market and their global operations. These initiatives cover functions across the front, middle, and back offices. MAS encourages more financial institutions to establish their AI expertise in Singapore.
On Day 2 of the Singapore FinTech Festival 2025, Chia Der Jiun, managing director, Monetary Authority of Singapore, said the MAS is witnessing a growing momentum in the adoption and experimentation of AI across the financial sector. At the foundational level, financial institutions are leveraging AI to enhance and support their employees in everyday tasks such as information search, retrieval, summarisation, drafting content, speech-to-text transcription, and multilingual translation, he indicates. AI copilots are increasingly being tested or implemented in a range of specialised areas, including software development, marketing, customer service, client advisory, financial market analysis, credit underwriting, and fraud detection, he adds.
A newer area of innovation involves the use of autonomous agents to handle more complex workflows. For instance, managing credit applications from underwriting to approval or processing routine insurance claims from start to finish. There are also initiatives aimed at building consumer-facing agents capable of gathering information and carrying out transactions. However, as these agentic systems gain autonomy, it is crucial to ensThe increasing use of AI signals major changes ahead for the financial services sector. The goal of MAS is to ensure that financial institutions leverage AI effectively and responsibly, while equipping the workforce with the skills needed to use it. MAS is pursuing this objective through four key areas of focus.
