The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced a funding commitment of S$220 million (US$173 million) over three years for the Financial Sector Technology and Innovation (FSTI) Scheme 4.0. The scheme aims to accelerate fintech innovation and talent development across multiple areas including artificial intelligence adoption and institutional innovation [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].
MAS launched the FSTI scheme in 2015, and it has supported over 350 fintech projects since inception. The current fourth iteration of the scheme will run from 2026 through 2029 and cover six tracks including infrastructure and platforms, talent development, and AI adoption [1, 2, 3].
Singapore's fintech sector comprises more than 1,800 firms employing around 10,000 people. The sector attracted nearly S$3 billion in investments in 2025 alone [1, 2, 3].
Under the manpower track, MAS will co-fund internship stipends to support at least 1,000 fintech internship opportunities over the next three years. Lye Junxu, founder and CEO of Acme Technology, said the manpower track is important because it "funds people at the point they enter the industry, which is the least glamorous and the one that compounds longest" [2, 4, 5].
Deputy Prime Minister and MAS chairman Gan Kim Yong said, "With artificial intelligence and other frontier technologies emerging, we want to capture new growth opportunities." He added, "Singapore competes not just with Hong Kong but the rest of the world too. We want to make sure that we get even better" [1, 3].
Holly Fang, president of the Singapore FinTech Association, noted, "Research consistently showed talent shortages in AI, data, cybersecurity and cloud capabilities. We also need to create clearer entry points for young Singaporeans into fintech" [5].
The scheme aims to assist financial institutions, fintech firms and workers to innovate, scale, and build capabilities to seize emerging opportunities. MAS said it will continue engaging the fintech and financial industry to refine and improve the scheme based on ongoing feedback [1, 2].
The S$220 million funding began on August 31, 2026, and will extend through the next three years, marking a major step in Singapore’s effort to deepen its fintech ecosystem and talent pool [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].
