NTUC And IBF Target To Upskill 100,000 Finance Professionals On AI Through Strengthened Partnership

~The finance professionals will learn practical ways to apply AI at work~

The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF) have strengthened our partnership to advance AI skills upgrading and workforce development for the financial sector. This would be done through the suite of IBF-accredited programmes by NTUC LearningHub to equip up to 100,000 finance professionals in Singapore with Artificial Intelligence (AI) skills over the next three years. This effort marks a significant milestone in strengthening the sector’s readiness for a rapidly evolving digital economy. This strengthened partnership was announced by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry, and Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Mr Gan Kim Yong during his speech at The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS)’s 53^rd annual dinner on 25 June 2026.

NTUC-IBF Partnership Helps Finance Professionals Gain Skills and Capabilities

The NTUC-IBF partnership builds on NTUC’s AI-Ready SG initiative¹, which supports PMEs and workers in gaining the skills and capabilities to thrive in an AI-enabled future. It also advances the Memorandum of Understanding signed between NTUC, IBF and seven key financial industry associations in 2024 to coordinate sector-wide skills development efforts aligned with industry needs².

NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Patrick Tay said, “AI is reshaping jobs and skills across the financial sector. It is critical that our Professionals, Managers and Executives (PMEs), including those in the financial sector, are equipped not just to understand these technologies but to apply them effectively and responsibly at work. We hope this will catalyse more employers and sectors to come forward and do the same, so that even more PMEs can benefit from meaningful upskilling opportunities.”

The target to equip up to 100,000 finance professionals represents a significant milestone towards strengthening workers’ skills and career resilience; and supporting them in navigating technological changes and adapting to the evolving skills required in an AI-enabled sector.

NTUC LearningHub’s Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Ong said, “As AI transforms the financial services sector, the differentiator will not be who has access to AI, but who knows how to use it responsibly and effectively. Professionals need to understand not only what AI can do, but also where human judgement, accountability and oversight become even more critical. At NTUC LearningHub, we are committed to helping the workforce develop both the AI literacy and human skills needed to navigate this shift with confidence. By combining technical understanding with critical thinking and ethical decision-making, professionals can harness AI to drive productivity and innovation while upholding the trust and accountability that underpin the financial industry."

As part of the NTUC-IBF partnership, finance professionals can enrol in the new IBF-accredited “AI Foundation for Finance Professionals” course to build essential AI capabilities for working effectively and responsibly alongside AI. Delivered as an asynchronous e-learning course on the NTUC LearningHub’s Learning eXperience Platform (LXP), the programme offers accessible, flexible, and on-demand learning to support industry-wide upskilling at scale. Designed by NTUC LearningHub, the course contextualised for the financial sector, empowers professionals to apply Generative AI in their day-to-day roles to enhance workplace productivity, while reinforcing the importance of human judgement, accountability, and responsible use of AI in financial decision-making. Eligible finance professionals can also tap on IBF funding support of up to 70% for this course. More details on the course are provided in Annex A.

Strengthening NTUC-IBF Partnership Beyond AI Skilling for Finance Professionals

Beyond AI skills upgrading, IBF has been working closely with NTUC to provide support for finance professionals at different career stages. Through NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) and IBF Careers Connect, workers will have greater access to career support and career advisory services to help them navigate evolving job roles and career pathways within the sector. Together, the collaboration also extends to growing the pipeline of future talent through youth outreach and mentoring initiatives, providing students and young talents with greater exposure to careers in the financial sector and opportunities to connect with industry practitioners.

IBF Chief Executive Officer Carolyn Neo said, “Building strong AI capabilities across the financial sector is essential to preparing the workforce for the future. To help our workforce acquire sector-relevant and practical AI skills and to use AI effectively and responsibly, IBF has partnered financial institutions and training providers like NTUC LearningHub, to co-shape AI courses that are IBF-accredited and contextualised with financial sector use cases, job roles and MAS guidelines. In a fast-evolving AI-enabled future, the strengthened IBF-NTUC partnership is timely as we scale AI upskilling, and provide comprehensive support for our workforce through outreach, career advisory and youth mentoring.”