(Seychelles News Agency) - A new bank that focuses on digital banking services opened in Seychelles on Monday.

Located at Allied Plaza Building on Francis Rachel Street in the capital of Victoria, the State Bank of Mauritius (SBM) will provide a broad range of products and services new to Seychelles.

“We are coming up with new services such as E-Wallet which is new to Seychelles. We are moving towards a more digitalised service so clients can do a majority of their financial transactions online such as applying for a loan and money transfers,” said the SBM chairman, Kee Chong Li Kwong Wing, in his opening address.

SBM offers retail, personal and corporate banking and anyone who wants to transact with the bank can do so right away after opening an account.

“As part of the SBM Group, SBM Seychelles is able to work with Seychellois customers across the region, whether they are expanding, importing, exporting or simply travelling. We are also expecting through our network to bring additional investments into Seychelles,” added Li Kwong Wing.

SBM Seychelles is a subsidiary of the Mauritian financial group SBM Holding. It is the second-largest bank in Mauritius and has subsidiary businesses in Kenya, Mauritius, Madagascar and India.

The State Bank of Mauritius (SBM) will provide a broad range of products and services new to Seychelles. (Joena Meme)  Photo License: CC-BY

The Seychelles’ finance minister, Maurice Loustau-Lalanne, said that the new bank will contribute towards the further development of the local banking sector and the entire financial system, as well as the broader economy.

“For Seychelles, being a small country in terms of size and population, this underlines the fact that we have a healthy economy and a thriving financial services sector,” he said.

Seychelles is “expanding to provide greater access to a wide range of banking services and facilities that are vital to facilitate the conduct of financial transactions, provide access to funding opportunities particularly to businesses, including small and medium enterprises, and to enhance financial inclusion,” added Loustau-Lalanne.

The new bank will help the financial service sector in Seychelles thrive to new heights.

"I would like to highlight the government’s desire to see financial institutions assisting in the expansion and modernisation of the country’s financial services sector, and ultimately, contributing towards economic growth and supporting our participation in the global financial market,” he said.

The opening of SBM Seychelles brings to nine the number of commercial banks currently operating in the local banking sector in Seychelles.

The bank will take into account the need to protect the environment in its operation by incorporating the use of technology.

“There will be minimal paper usage and we have already several e-forms ready and clients will be able to sign documents digitally. This fits within our group’s objective to apply technology to banking services and to provide our clients with more convenient services,” said Li Kwong Wing.

SBM’s journey to operate in Seychelles started in 2016 when the bank was given approval for a banking licence to operate a subsidiary by the Central Bank of Seychelles.