A unit of one of Southeast Asia’s largest technology groups is exploring the development of a broader regional digital banking network, with Singapore serving as its operational and strategic base. Goh has described the Philippines as an initial step toward creating a regional digital banking group headquartered in Singapore, while remaining open to additional markets without specifying them. The bank is one of several digital institutions licensed after Singapore’s monetary authority enabled standalone digital banking licenses in 2019. MariBank entered the Philippines after Sea acquired a rural bank and recently received an upgraded digital banking license from the Philippine central bank. Insights from Sea’s e-commerce and payments ecosystems inform banking offerings, which are seen as a logical extension of users’ digital activities.