Why this is material to us

The digitalisation of financial services is rapidly evolving, accelerated by the physical restrictions brought on by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. This comes at a time where customers’ expectations for a better, frictionless and convenient digital experience are increasing. As such, digitalisation is mission-critical for OCBC. We must continue to develop innovative and seamless digital solutions to meet customer expectations and improve digital banking services.

Our management approach

Digital transformation is an integral part of OCBC’s corporate strategy and cuts across every aspect of the Bank. Our digitalisation strategy is led by our Group CEO, who is supported by dedicated digital teams in Singapore as well as our other core markets. We remain committed to redefining digital banking by leveraging technology to make banking more inclusive and accessible to the population. This includes investing in innovative technology, improving internal processes using data and developing data-led offerings.

New initiatives and ongoing efforts

Democratising Wealth Management

• We continued to expand on our digital wealth management solutions by launching a comprehensive wealth trading platform.
• Our Digital Wealth Platform enables customers to make bite-sized and data-guided purchases across an extensive suite of asset classes such as Unit Trust, FX, Precious Metals, Equities and Insurance. Additionally, clients can select from a wide range of thematic or diversified portfolios through OCBC RoboInvest.
• We built an Integrated Wealth Dashboard to provide a snapshot of customers’ investment portfolios on the platform. Digital Wealth sales grew more than four times in 2021 compared to the previous year.

Expanding Cross Border Payments and Ecosystem

• We launched a travel site called Travel with OCBC to help customers book airline tickets, hotels and car rentals using their OCBC reward points and OCBC Bank’s credit or debit cards.
• We launched a new travel-themed credit card, the OCBC 90°N VISA Credit Card, offering one of the highest air miles earn rates in selected daily spending categories among credit cards locally.
• We expanded our e-Payments capabilities to include more fintech services in the markets we operate such as PromptPay in Thailand.
• We expanded the services available on our platform, encouraging customers to use the apps more frequently. These include:
  • eGifting (Angbao)
  • utilities payment (AXS)
  • setting up automatic bill payment (EGiro)
  • FAST services to non-FIs

Enhancing digital offerings for SMEs

• Made digital account opening for SMEs easier by enabling remote digital authentication via Singpass.
• Launched online self-help business account opening in Malaysia to reach SMEs across the country without requiring customers to visit a branch for physical document verification.
• Expanded pre-approved digital loans to SMEs to help SMEs maintain a healthy cash flow amid business disruption due to the pandemic.
• Established API connectivity with the Networked Trade Platform, achieving 100% digital issuance of Regulatory Banker’s Guarantees (BGs) to Singapore Customs, with SMEs no longer requiring to lodge paper BGs, supporting their shift towards sustainable practices.
• Launched a Digital Business Debit Card, offering an instant payment capability upon issuance.
• Launched FX Online for SME customers, allowing them to book FX rates in real time via OCBC Velocity across all major currencies.
• Enhanced OCBC OneCollect, a digital collections solution to help merchants collect and reconcile seamlessly through PayNow QR, Cross Border QRs and Chinese wallets, enabling merchants to pivot away from cash collections.

Why this is material to us

We are committed to providing our customers with financial solutions that meet their needs and improve their lives. Deepening engagement and forging enduring relationships with our customers is also fundamental to our long-term success.

Our management approach

Our customers are at the heart of everything we do. As we continue to digitalise banking, enhancing our customers' experience remains a key component in our approach.

We embrace the practice of Human-Centred Design (HCD) that enables us to build a deep understanding of our customers' needs. As a result, we successfully develop products and services that are functional, easy to understand and emotionally engaging.

We monitor and measure the quality of the delivered experience through customer satisfaction surveys on a day-to-day basis. We view feedback and complaints as opportunities for the Bank to learn and improve customer experience.

Our Complaint Management Council, comprising representatives across businesses and operations, ensures that all complaints received are reviewed and addressed adequately. Complaint data is also shared with senior management and the Board regularly to find areas for improvement.

New initiatives and ongoing efforts

Resolving complaints efficiently

• We strive to ensure complaints are resolved efficiently and satisfactorily across our operations. When a complaint is received from a customer, the service staff will engage relevant internal business units to review it and work on a timely resolution.
• All retail banking departments have a service champion to support service staff dealing with customer complaints to ensure effective resolution.
• OCBC scored the highest among financial institutions in Singapore in the 2021 Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore (CSISG) Survey, validating our commitment to service excellence.

Upskilling to improve customer experience

• We continue to upskill our employees with technical capabilities to respond to the needs of our customers.
• This allows our staff to effectively recommend suitable digital services to meet our customers’ banking needs and share helpful tips with customers on safeguarding their banking accounts.

Going Paperless

• Our branches are making significant progress in our paperless and straight-through process initiatives which help reduce the amount of time customers spend at the branches and optimise customers’ experience.
• We effectively eliminated laborious paperwork for our employees and in return free up time for employees to upskill their capabilities to provide more value-added services.

Why this is material to us

Providing innovative and accessible financial products and services is essential to meeting the needs of society, leaving no one behind. This is in line with the Bank’s strategy of helping individuals and businesses across communities to build financial resilience and achieve a sustainable future for all.

Our management approach

We take a holistic ‘cradle-to-grave’ approach in meeting our commitment to financial inclusion, ensuring the needs of retail and commercial customers throughout different stages of growth are met. We constantly develop new offerings and adapt our business to fulfil the diverse needs of society.

For retail customers, OCBC has continued to offer tailored products for all age groups to help them meet their financial goals in different life stages including OCBC Life Goals, FRANK Study Loan and the OCBC Silver Years programme.

For commercial clients, we are focused on ensuring businesses – from start-ups to larger enterprises across the region – have equal access to financing and other financial services to not only survive but also thrive and grow.

New initiatives and ongoing efforts

Digital loans to micro-SMEs in Singapore

• Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) have been hit particularly hard by the economic disruptions brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. As such, we have been providing targeted relief measures to help MSMEs strengthen their cash flows since 2020.
• Through our digital lending capabilities, we expedited the financial assistance process for MSMEs by leveraging internal and external data that allowed us to pre-approve our offers in advance. By providing pre-approved loans, we also provide a sense of certainty for MSMEs and shorten the time to disbursement of funds.
• The amount of loans originated to MSMEs grew three times in 2021 compared to 2019. Going forward, the Bank will continue to provide relief measures to help MSMEs as the economy continues to recover from the pandemic.

Financial solutions for women entrepreneurs

• OCBC NISP launched the #TAYTB¹ Women Warriors in 2020 to empower women-led businesses to reach their fullest potential.
• Our women entrepreneurs have used the loans to help them increase business capacity, maintain healthy cash flow and purchase assets for business expansion.
• We have collaborated with external partners to support these entrepreneurs through various online learning forums and networking opportunities. In 2021, over 1,000 women entrepreneurs have benefited from this programme, with IDR 862 billion in new loans granted.

¹#TAYTB – Tidak Ada Yang Tidak Bisa / Nothing is Impossible