Tag: banking

Singapore – OCBC has announced that it is offering a S$1.4 billion voluntary unconditional general offer for the 11.56% stake in Great Eastern that it does not currently own. For the bank, this move is aimed at strengthening OCBC’s business pillars of banking, wealth management and insurance, and optimising its capital to enhance shareholder returns.

With the Offer, OCBC intends to increase its investment in Great Eastern beyond its current stake of 88.44%, with a view to delisting the insurer from the SGX-ST.

OCBC’s corporate strategy gained strong momentum in 2023, leveraging OCBC’s strengths to capitalise on the vast opportunities in one of the world’s fastest-growing regions. The offer is therefore in line with OCBC’s strategy to solidify its wealth management leadership position to drive growth by capturing rising Asian wealth.

Helen Wong, chief executive officer at OCBC Group, said, “The offer is a natural progression of OCBC’s strategy. We have moved intentionally to build up a strong wealth management franchise by hiring the best people and instituting best practices and processes, and raising our investment in Great Eastern. We have been looking at opportunities to best use our capital and believe the Offer allows us to deploy our resources into a key business that is expected to be earnings accretive to OCBC.”

The offer is expected to be earnings accretive to OCBC. Great Eastern provides diversification to OCBC’s earnings base to deliver balanced earnings growth through economic cycles. Great Eastern has contributed an average of about S$700m annually in net profit to OCBC over the past 10 years, which translates to an average of about 15% of OCBC’s annual net profit over this period.

Wong added, “This is not the first time that we are making an offer to increase our investment in Great Eastern – first in 2004, followed by 2006. As OCBC has been the majority shareholder of Great Eastern for the past 20 years, the Group has entrenched institutional knowledge and expertise to manage the insurance business. We are confident this exercise complements our One Group, One Brand strategy. This will further accelerate our ambitious wealth management plans and build even tighter bonds and synergies across all our business pillars and key markets.”

Jakarta, Indonesia – OCBC has announced the completion of its acquisition of PT Bank Commonwealth (PTBC), making PTBC a subsidiary of OCBC Indonesia and bringing more than 1.2 million PTBC customers to OCBC Indonesia.

PTBC will continue to operate independently until the integration process is completed. This is targeted to be in the fourth quarter of 2024. During this period, PTBC will serve its customers as usual with its banking products and services, including banking transactions at PTBC’s branches and through digital channels.

This acquisition underscores Indonesia’s continued importance to OCBC Group. It is one of the Group’s core markets together with Singapore, Malaysia and Greater China, and presents many opportunities as ASEAN’s largest economy and the world’s fourth most populous country. 

It is worth noting that with China being Indonesia’s largest trading partner and Indonesia’s second largest investor, combining PTBC’s capabilities with OCBC Indonesia’s enables OCBC Group to better capture the opportunities from the increasing ASEAN-Greater China wealth, trade and investment flows, in line with the group’s corporate strategy.

Helen Wong, group CEO of OCBC, said, “With the acquisition process now complete, our immediate priority is to ensure the successful operational integration of PT Bank Commonwealth Indonesia into OCBC Indonesia. We are working closely with its management team and are committed to a smooth transition for the customers and employees. Customers of both banks have a lot to look forward to as we leverage our complementary strengths to expand our product and services offerings in Indonesia.”

She added, “This acquisition builds on our already strong presence in Indonesia. It signals our commitment to accelerating growth in the country, and to support our customers as they seek growth across multiple markets. Rising ASEAN-Greater China flows is a focal point of Asia’s growth story and a big opportunity for us. Chinese companies for instance, are looking to expand into Indonesia to tap its large young population and abundance of natural resources. Continuously strengthening our network across ASEAN and Greater China, and presence in other global financial centres, is therefore imperative to our strategy.”

The acquisition is the latest strategic milestone for OCBC in Indonesia. It became the first Singapore bank to acquire a banking stake in Indonesia with the acquisition of a 22.5% stake in PT Bank NISP Tbk in 2004 – a stake that has increased over the years to the current 85%.

Singapore – Global PR and social media agency W Communications has announced its latest appointment by VP Bank, strengthening its banking and finance portfolio in Asia.

Following a competitive pitch, VP Bank will now consolidate its PR and social media scope across Singapore and Hong Kong with W Communications, ensuring a refined approach to building and reinforcing the brand’s story and positioning.

As part of the brief, W Communications will continue to amplify the bank’s key narratives and thought leadership content to increase the brand’s share of voice and engage the relevant audiences of financial intermediaries and private clients.

The engagement will also further solidify W Communications’ corporate offerings, building on its past and present partnerships with some of the most notable corporate institutions including Tricor, Microsoft’s Xandr, Crossbridge Capital, BASF and more.

Talking about this acquisition, Kenneth Chew, account director, W Communications, said, “In the highly competitive wealth management space, it is critical for pure play banks such as VP Bank to demonstrate their agility and customised approach to clients in order to stand out and be the bank of choice for financial intermediaries and high net worth individuals.”

“Our team’s experience in the financial sector provides us with this nuanced understanding of the markets, enabling us to communicate the bank’s key messages to its stakeholders through a well-rounded approach that encompasses market technicalities and overall branding”, he added.

Manila, Philippines – Deustche Bank has announced the appointment of Dino Siason as its chief country officer for the Philippines, as well as head of head of corporate bank in the country. His appointment is effective April 1, 2024, and is subject to necessary regulatory approvals.

In his new role, Siason will lead Deutsche Bank’s 1,500 strong platform in the Philippines. He will be responsible for the corporate bank and investment Bank, along with one of the bank’s two key service hubs in Asia-Pacific, serving critical back and middle office functions globally. 

Siason will replace Michael Chua, who is retiring after working in the banking industry for nearly 30 years.

Siason will report to Burkhard Ziegenhorn, head of corporate bank for Southeast Asia and Australia and Kaushik Shaparia, CEO, emerging Asia and chief country officer of India.

He brings more than 20 years of financial institutions experience to this role and spent nearly 18 years with Citibank in the Philippines, Singapore and the Czech Republic. Most recently, he was Citi’s head of treasury and trade Solutions for the Central Europe Cluster, based in Prague. 

Throughout his career, he has held a wide range of roles across credit, client coverage and franchise management, with a strong focus on enabling clients to become more global. Siason will relocate to Manila.

“We are proud of our 48-year history in the Philippines and committed to growing in this increasingly important market. We’re delighted that our strong platform has attracted high quality talent like Dino, and look forward to him leading our franchise from strength to strength in the Philippines,” Shaparia stated.

Meanwhile, Ziegenhorn commented, “Dino will play a leadership role in taking our Corporate Bank in the Philippines to the next level. His global client coverage and product expertise combined with his deep local market knowledge, will help further differentiate Deutsche Bank in the Philippines.”

He added, “We are thankful to Mike for his dedicated leadership with the bank; he hands over a strong platform poised for further success. We have built many trusted and valued relationships here over past decades, and I am confident that Dino will significantly enhance and grow these over the years to come.”

Manila, Philippines – The merger between the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and Robinsons Bank has officially been approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the Philippines, and officially took effect on 1 January. Through this merger, BPI will be the existing entity.

It is worth noting that the country’s Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) first approved the merger in September 2023. Then the country’s central bank (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) approved the merger on December 2023.

“The proposed merger will unlock various synergies across several products and service platforms, expand the customer and deposit base of both banks through the merged entity, and, at the same time, by capitalizing on BPI’s expertise and network, enhance the overall banking experience of RBC customers,” the parties stated in their stock filing for the merger.

It is also worth noting that BPI will now have indirect control with Legazpi Savings Bank, accounting for a 99.93% stake control. BPI is also an indirect owner of GoTyme Bank (18%) and Unicon Insurance Brokers Corp. (17.13%).

BPI has also stated that it will be able to expand its client base, accelerate growth, and ultimately increase shareholder value through partnerships with the Gokongwei Group.

The announcement adds to a series of proposed and completed bank mergers in the country, including the acquisition of Citi’s local consumer banking business by UnionBank, as well as the proposed merger of the country’s two state banks–LandBank and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).

Jakarta, Indonesia – Citi has announced that it has completed the sale of its Indonesian consumer banking business to UOB, effective November 20 this year. The sale includes retail banking, credit card, and unsecured lending businesses, as well as the transfer of employees.

This is the latest completed deal by UOB after it entered into an agreement with Citi January 2022 as part of a broader sale agreement covering consumer banking across Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.

Sales in Malaysia and Thailand were completed on November 1, 2022, and the sale in Vietnam was completed on March 1, 2023.

The sale excludes the bank’s institutional businesses, and Citi remains focused on serving institutional clients in Indonesia locally, regionally and globally.

Batara Sianturi, country officer for Indonesia at Citi, said, “Citi is proud to have a long history in Indonesia, and we are intently focused on growing Citi’s institutional businesses in Indonesia, serving clients in the market, regionally and globally through our network to support cross-border needs.”

Meanwhile, Titi Cole, head of legacy franchises at Citi, commented, “Completing our final divestiture of a full consumer franchise in Asia marks a significant milestone in simplifying the firm. This is a testament to the commitment of our employees across these markets and a clear demonstration of Citi’s ability to execute on our strategy. We are sincerely grateful to our former employees in Indonesia and wish them the very best in their careers with UOB.”

Since announcing its intention to exit consumer banking across 14 markets in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Mexico as part of its strategic refresh, Citi has now closed sales in nine of those markets including Australia, Bahrain, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, in addition to Indonesia.

Philippines – Following its pursuit to embrace digital readiness, Union Bank aims to poise itself to establish more user-friendly, online banking solutions that empower businesses in the current digital age. 

Among its latest initiatives, UnionBank has embarked on the development of PayExpress, allowing clients to conveniently manage transactions by collecting official receipts from suppliers and vendors before the disbursement or crediting of payments. 

This new platform also comes with immediate generation of creditable withholding tax and invoice vouchers which enable direct sending of nominated email addresses to suppliers and vendors, once the receipts are collected and funds are credited to payees. 

Interestingly, a plan to adopt e-invoicing and e-receipt System is currently in the move, giving PayExpress the opportunity to assist businesses in adjusting to the changing tax requirements. This notable alignment offers a safe and effective platform for obtaining official receipts and producing necessary documentation like creditable withholding tax and invoice vouchers.

Another addition to this initiative is the establishment of UnionBank’s payroll digital account opening. With this solution, a more efficient, paperless, and fully-digital end-to-end ePaycard payroll and corporate disbursement solution can now be arranged by corporate clients to their employees. 

At the same time, corporations can also distribute salaries and offer a wide range of value-added benefits to their employees, allowing them to open an account at the convenience of their own home. 

Said banking solution also complements the upcoming regulation about bank account portability for workers, granting private sector employees the prerogative to select and change their preferred bank accounts, liberating them from the constraints of a one-size-fits-all banking system.

Furthermore, UnionBank has also revolutionised the present-day check deposits by the inclusion of a ‘remote check deposit’.  With RCD, corporate clients can effortlessly use a check scanner to deposit a hundred checks at a time online, eliminating the need for branch visits. 

As RCD supports deposits of both current-dated and post-dated checks, clients can conveniently track their status online, ranging from the warehousing to clearance and return. RCD also provides a clear display of cleared and bounced checks, making it a cutting-edge innovation in check payments, perfectly complementing the bank’s mobile check deposit service.

Meanwhile, the implementation of the check image clearing system has overcome the need for physically transporting checks for clearing since only check images and their electronic payment information were required to be transmitted to the paying bank. 

Moreover, when UnionBank introduced the Mobile Check Deposit (MCD) in 2020, it has already capitalised on the prevalence of smartphone use, allowing corporate clients to conveniently deposit checks anytime and anywhere. 

Throughout the years, UnionBank’s extensive array of products and services has already made it the go-to-choice for large corporate entities seeking a convenient, secure, and efficient solution for their day-to-day financial transactions. 

With their latest technological adoptions, UnionBank remains dedicated to its goal of elevating the banking experience of every business in the country.

Singapore – In pursuit of bringing a hyper-personalised digital experience in the market, the Bank of Philippine Islands (BPI) has announced its recent affiliation with Personetics, a global leader in financial data-driven personalisation and customer engagement. With this joint effort, the two are set to improve the customer’s financial well-being including financial literacy using the latest introduction of BPI’s AI-powered track and plan app. 

This new app utilises self-services options for depositing funds, paying bills and other transactions. It also generates personalised recommendations for active digital users based on their unique financial transactional data. 

Furthermore, the collaboration with Personetics plays an essential role in enriching personal savings and debit card data for BPI customers. It categorises them and offers value-added advisory services and 20 out-of-the-box hyper-personalised insights, aiding customers in managing cash flows, making informed financial decisions, and saving.

Following this endeavour, Fitzgerald Chee, head of consumer platforms at BPI said, “As the first bank in the Philippines, BPI has a long history of industry leadership, and today, it provides the most advanced digital capabilities of any bank in the country. We are proud to be the first to empower our customers with rich, personalised recommendations and insights.” 

“Personetics is an ideal partner in providing our customers with the tools and direction they need to become more involved and active in shaping their own financial future,” he added.

Meanwhile, David Sosna, CEO and co-founder at Personetics remarked “We are delighted that BPI, the pioneer in providing advanced PFM for banking customers in the Philippine market, has chosen Personetics as its partner in this exciting endeavour. As a bank with a long and illustrious history of providing innovative services for both consumers and businesses, BPI is an ideal partner in ensuring that Personetics is spot on in addressing consumers’ unique banking issues and financial concerns. 

“We are fully committed to supporting the bank in its effort to advance financial literacy and well-being and welcome the opportunity to work closely with BPI to create even more value for the customers it serves,” he added. 

Future plans including integration of credit card data will also allow BPI to provide clients with more tools to improve personal financial management and wellbeing. By incorporating ACT auto-savings and sustainability analytics, the company looks forward to assisting more clients in creating and reaching savings goals, as well as connecting the back-office to Salesforce.

Singapore – The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has imposed a six-month pause of DBS Banks’ non-essential services in order to allow the bank to focus more on the essential service of restoring its system resilience, following a slew of prolonged outages and disruptions in the bank’s systems.

Suspended non-essential services include acquiring new business ventures during this period or reducing the size of its branch and ATM networks in Singapore.

The imposed pause was the result of when MAS directed DBS to conduct a third-party independent review of the bank’s systems back in April this year. Through the review, they identified several shortcomings on the bank’s systems which included system resilience, incident management, change management, and technology risk governance and oversight.

Following the independent review, DBS Bank has set out a technology resiliency roadmap to address the shortcomings, improve system resilience, and better position the bank to meet future digital banking needs. The roadmap is being implemented in phases, with the changes affecting its system architecture design taking more time to complete.

Moreover, MAS will review the progress made by DBS Bank on its remediation efforts at the end of six months. MAS may extend the duration of the measures, vary the additional capital requirement currently imposed, or take further actions at that point.

Ho Hern Shin, deputy managing director for financial supervision at MAS, said, “DBS must put in place immediate measures to ensure service reliability while it continues to invest in the longer-term efforts to bolster its operational resilience. We have imposed this six-month pause on the bank to give it the space to take the actions needed to maintain customer trust.”

Following the said statement, DBS has issued an official apology related to its series of digital disruptions, while promising that a roadmap that includes measures to strengthen technology governance, people/leadership, systems and processes is now rolling.

DBS Chairman Peter Seah said, “The Board apologises for the digital banking disruptions. When customers bank with us, they expect to be able to access our banking services conveniently, and at any time of the day. With the incidents of the past year, we have failed to live up to these expectations, and have also fallen short of our own standards. As an acknowledgement that the bank could have done better, senior management will be held accountable, and this will be reflected in their compensation.”

He added, “Over the past few months, the bank has been making every effort possible to strengthen our resiliency and business continuity, and to be able to recover more quickly when incidents happen. This is a work in progress, and we seek customers’ patience as we work through our remedial actions.”

Singapore – Almost 60% of consumers in the Asia-Pacific have expressed interest in AI-driven decision-making facilitation for their investments amid economic uncertainty and perceived financial crises, a report from dentsu revealed. 

The report by dentsu explored the evolving consumer financial behaviour across APAC markets against the backdrop of an economic crisis.

The key findings of dentsu’s report showed that 55% of APAC consumers now sense a looming risk of financial hardship over the next five years due to economic uncertainty and rising costs of living. The perceived financial crisis is also driving consumers to actively seek financial service providers that are capable of delivering swift, personalised, and empathetic solutions to address their financial needs.

The report highlighted that almost 45% of millennials are now looking to save up as concerns over government debt and pension support are escalating, a significant shift in numbers as compared to the 31% results from 2020.

And with consumers looking to prepare for challenging economic times, many are still leaning towards human-led financial services despite the growth of digital banking.

The report revealed that 77% of people ages 25–34 currently use the internet for banking purposes on a weekly basis, and most are open to purchasing more banking services through digital channels.

However, 6 out of 10 APAC consumers still prefer human interaction when making complaints about a product or service. This shows that there is an enduring value to human-led financial services despite the rise of digital banking, as empathetic support remains important in ensuring customers receive assistance during financial difficulties.

It is worth noting, however, that dentsu’s report also revealed a growing interest in AI-powered financial services. Almost 60% of APAC consumers have expressed interest in AI-driven decision-making facilitation for their investments.

This part of the results shows that balancing technological advancement with human empathy can be the key to a business’ success. By harnessing the evolving capabilities of AI, it can improve the capabilities of insurance and finance brands to provide automated, personalised, and speedy services that can help consumers be more resilient to financial and climate-related risks.

Prerna Mehrotra, chief client officer and CEO of media at dentsu APAC, said, “Across the APAC region, consumers are focused on securing their financial futures, and they’re turning to brands that not only provide convenience through cutting-edge technology but also prioritise emotional responsiveness and empathy. In this era of uncertainty, financial wellness is seen as part and parcel of overall wellness. People are in search of providers that go beyond merely offering financial solutions; banks, insurers, and fintech are responding by building guidance on investments and good financial habits into their offerings.”