Sea’s digital bank picks new chief to ward off tough competition

Goh is replacing Yu Dong Zheng as the chief executive officer of the MariBank unit.

Sea Ltd. appointed Natalia Goh as the new leader of its Singapore digital bank, picking the operating chief of rival Trust Bank to steer the Southeast Asian internet company’s budding finance arm.

Goh is replacing Yu Dong Zheng as the chief executive officer of the MariBank unit, and Zheng will become an adviser to the company. The executives announced the changes on their LinkedIn pages.

Competition in Southeast Asia’s digital banking space is intensifying as new entrants such as MariBank battle incumbents to lure the increasingly tech-savvy consumers in the region of more than 650 million people. MariBank is locked in fierce competition with Standard Chartered Plc’s Trust Bank and a venture owned by Grab Holdings Ltd. and Singapore Telecommunications Z74 Ltd. called GXS Bank.

Sea’s digital banking division has become one of its key pillars of expansion as revenue growth at its gaming arm wavers. Its e-commerce unit Shopee remains its largest revenue generator.

Goh, a former managing director at Standard Chartered, served as the head of credit cards and unsecured lending in Singapore before joining Trust Bank as its chief operating officer in 2022, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Zheng is stepping down after two years as MariBank’s CEO. He was previously the head of digital banking at SeaMoney, and was formerly the head of investment strategy and advisory at Standard Chartered.