"We nurture a culture of supporting, helping and caring for our customers, our people and the communities we operate in via innovative products and services, targeted social responsibility and sustainability advocacy and a forward-looking human resource vision."
Helen Wong, Group CEO
90 Years of Giving
Over the last 9 decades, the ways in which we give may have changed, but the reason for giving remains the same – to support our customers, our people, and the community.
Giving to the community
Giving is part of our culture. Just as the community has always supported us, we are also committed to supporting the communities in the markets we operate in.
Mangrove Restoration Projects in Singapore and Malaysia
We will be contributing S$3 million to the OCBC Mangrove Park, Singapore’s largest mangrove restoration project, located on Pulau Ubin. We are also supporting another mangrove project at Tebuk Mendeleng, Malaysia. Together, the two projects on either side of the Causeway will see 18,000 mangrove trees being planted to absorb more than 30 million kg of CO₂ over their lifetimes.
Giving 1,800 hours to the communities
Under our #OCBCCares programme, our volunteers in Singapore and Malaysia have achieved a combined 1,962 hours of skills-based volunteering for the month of October 2022 – the month that we celebrate our 90th anniversary. This surpasses our target of 900 hours of skills-based volunteering in Singapore and another 900 in Malaysia.
OCBC Arboretum
Partnered with the National Parks Board in 2019 to set up the OCBC Arboretum, a first-of-its-kind high-tech arboretum in Southeast Asia which houses more than 2,000 specimens of over 200 species of Dipterocarps.
OCBC Skyway in Gardens by the Bay
Sponsored the OCBC Skyway in Gardens by the Bay in 2012, a 128-metre-long aerial walkway with a sprawling view of the Gardens against the backdrop of Marina Bay.
#90yearsofgiving
The ways in which we give to our customers have evolved with time. Here are some examples.
Growing to give
There is no better way to commemorate our 90th anniversary than with some of our fondest highlights and memorabilia shared by the public.
Constantly innovating because of you
For every inspiration, every milestone, and every innovation, we want to thank you for always pushing us to make the world a better place and keep reminding us to give back.
In August 1958, we launched the mobile bank in a refurbished coach that plied our then state-of-the-art banking services around Singapore.
On 18 September 1994, we were the first bank in Asia—outside Japan—to offer the Easi-Tellafone.
Since July 2019, OCBC Bank customers can withdraw cash from OCBC Bank ATMs using the OCBC Pay Anyone app—no ATM card required.
OCBC was the first bank in Southeast Asia to introduce a robo-investment service for customers in 2018.
In 2018, OCBC Bank consumer and business customers were able to open accounts instantly in Singapore, by leveraging the national data repository MyInfo.
Leveraging the Singapore Financial Data Exchange launched in 2020, OCBC Financial OneView provides customers with an overview of all their finances.
First in Southeast Asia to enable instant encashment of cash cheques at ATMs in February 2020.
In 2020, we developed the OCBC SME Sustainable Finance Framework, making it simpler and less costly for Singapore SMEs to access sustainable financing of up to S$20 million.
Since 25 October 2021, OCBC Digital mobile app lets customers invest in precious metals, the only financial institution in Southeast Asia to do so.