OCBC Bank and Charge+, an operator and provider of electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions, have entered into a strategic partnership to accelerate the ‘greening’ of Singapore’s land transport sector.

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by the two companies will give a boost to Charge+’s plans of installing 10,000 EV charging points islandwide by 2030. Charge+ serves a range of property segments comprising residential (condominiums and public housing), commercial and industrial buildings, thereby contributing to the Singapore government’s revised target of 60,000 EV charging points by 2030 which was announced last week as part of the Singapore Green Plan 2030.

To support Charge+’s goal, under the MOU, OCBC Bank will leverage its extensive coverage of the real estate sector to encourage its property developer and property owner customers to install charging points at their premises. In addition, the two parties plan to develop incentives to encourage OCBC Bank customers to purchase electric vehicles and charge them at Charge+’s charging points.

OCBC Bank, as Charge+’s preferred banking partner, will implement digital payment solutions for the charging service, and look into the financing for the infrastructure.

In light of the Bank’s ambition of building a S$25 billion sustainable finance portfolio by 2025 – a target that was announced in June last year – clean transportation had been identified as a sector of strategic importance given its high growth potential for sustainable financing.

Mr Ong Tze Boon, Chairman of Charge+, said, “We are delighted to collaborate with OCBC Bank, a partner that shares our corporate vision to green the mobility sector and catalyse the electric vehicle transition. By harnessing OCBC’s deep expertise in financing solutions, digital payments and real estate, Charge+ will be able to accelerate its roll-out of electric vehicle charging infrastructure, which will be key to spurring electric vehicle adoption in Singapore. We applaud the government’s recent move to increase its target for charging points by 2030 and Charge+ will scale accordingly to contribute to the new national target.”

Ms Elaine Lam, Head, Global Corporate Banking, OCBC Bank, said, “For electric vehicle adoption to pick up, the supporting charging infrastructure has to be in place and Charge+ has very quickly become a leader in this space. Just having the infrastructure is not good enough. There must be public adoption to enable a clean energy transportation system too. OCBC can therefore play the role as a meaningful financial services enabler in the electric vehicle ecosystem. This is just the first step for both of us. We are excited to support the broader vision to bring others onboard the ecosystem, including property developers and owners, electric vehicle distributors and manufacturers, and utilities companies. The collaboration with Charge+ also marks our efforts to offer beyond banking solutions through partnerships and co-creating innovative ideas with our corporate clients.”