Singapore, 23 July 2012 – Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (“OCBC Bank”) announced today the launch of its unique ‘FRANK by OCBC’ – Singapore Polytechnic Internship Programme in conjunction with the opening of its fourth FRANK Store at Singapore Polytechnic (“SP”). This is the first FRANK Store in a polytechnic. Through this internship programme, SP students will learn how to manage the ‘FRANK by OCBC’ banking programme, as well as develop and implement new business ideas to differentiate the programme for the SP student population. This ‘For youth, by youths’ approach is part of the Bank’s continuous efforts to stay relevant and be in touch with its target customer segment.

The duration of the internship programme is 12 weeks for every semester of SP’s academic calendar. Students are invited to submit their resumes to the Bank. Those who are shortlisted will go through two rounds of interviews. Successful candidates will be selected based on their level of interest, personality, attitude and the ability to strategise, plan, implement programmes and work in a team. This application and interview process will provide students the experience of real-life job interviews.

The first batch of interns will be selected from 23 July to 10 August, and will start their internships in September this year. Five to 10 interns will be selected for each internship period. The Bank expects to train up to 30 SP interns every year.

These interns will be assigned to the various consumer banking units at OCBC Bank, working alongside the ‘FRANK by OCBC’ team in areas such as marketing, credit and debit cards business operations and merchant acquisition, and branch banking. Each intern will be mentored by an OCBC Bank manager who will provide guidance and supervision throughout the internship period.

Each batch of interns will be given a business objective to deliver. They can be asked to develop and implement strategies to get more ‘FRANK by OCBC’ bank accounts, come up with innovative product ideas and execute campaigns on various customer engagement platforms. Like a business project, the interns will research, conceptualise, test, implement and review their marketing and sales ideas, together with the ‘FRANK by OCBC’ team and their mentors.

Mr Ching Wei Hong, Chief Operating Officer of OCBC Bank, said: “‘FRANK by OCBC’ is a banking programme based on relevance to the youth. With this internship programme, the students from Singapore Polytechnic can shape the ‘FRANK by OCBC’ experience that is unique and relevant to its entire student population.”

He added: “The interns will receive on-the-job training at our various business units. I’m certain that the skills in marketing, budgeting and events management learnt during the attachment are skills that will stay with the students beyond the implementation of their ideas for the ‘FRANK by OCBC’ programme in their school. These are valuable work skills that will help the students in their future careers, regardless of the industry they have chosen.”

Mr Tan Hang Cheong, Principal of Singapore Polytechnic said: “We are excited to have OCBC Bank’s FRANK Store in our polytechnic. ‘FRANK by OCBC’ is a great concept. As a strategic collaboration, ‘FRANK by OCBC’ is more than just a store. The internship programme provides a unique platform for our students to put into practice what they have learnt in the classroom. More importantly, they will be armed with practical experiences that can help them kick-start their career. We see this collaboration as another opportunity to future-proof our students.”

Background of ‘FRANK by OCBC’

The ‘FRANK by OCBC’ banking programme was launched in May 2011, targeting youths and young working adults. The programme has received overwhelming response from its target customers, many of whom have commented that the programme is simple yet stylish.

Within the first six months of its launch, the number of new sign-ups for ‘FRANK by OCBC’ savings accounts and debit cards has – on average – doubled month-on-month. A key driver for the growth is the unique ‘savings jars goals’ (or sub accounts) – a ‘FRANK by OCBC’ account feature – that helps young people set their spending limit and, at the same time, save for their goals with just one account. Through such ‘savings jars goals’, account holders can apportion their savings for different purposes such as saving for a dream holiday or a special gift for someone. Money that is not apportioned to any specific savings goal can be used for spending. Customers are also drawn to the more than 130 ‘FRANK by OCBC’ card designs to choose from, with many citing the designs as cool and unique.

‘FRANK by OCBC’ opened its third retail store at VivoCity on 15 November 2011, after its first two stores debuted at local universities Singapore Management University and Nanyang Technological University earlier last year.