Singapore – Multinational banking and financial services corporation OCBC has announced key leadership changes amidst the group’s ASEAN-Greater China strategic thrust gathering momentum this year.

Wang Ke, currently CEO of OCBC Wing Hang China, will assume the role of head of Greater China, succeeding Tan Wing Ming. With Wang’s appointment, Ang Eng Siong, currently deputy president and head of corporate banking at OCBC Wing Hang China, will step up as the acting CEO of OCBC Wing Hang China.

Wang joined the OCBC Group in 2012 as the Head of IT in China and expanded his responsibilities to include operations in 2014. He was appointed the head of Pearl River Delta region in 2017, then assumed the position of CEO of OCBC Wing Hang China in 2019. Under his leadership, critical technology infrastructure and capabilities were built up, and the business deftly steered through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, Ang has been with OCBC since 2009. He spent 6 years in Singapore in various roles across risk management, finance and business development. As part of OCBC’s talent development programme, Ang moved from Singapore to China in 2015. He was appointed China’s chief risk officer in 2018 and head of corporate banking in 2022.

Helen Wong, group CEO of OCBC, said, “I am pleased that our deep internal talent pool has provided the best candidates for these senior Greater China appointments. It affirms our commitment to nurturing homegrown talent and providing avenues for career progression and mobility. Wang Ke and Eng Siong are valuable contributors to the OCBC franchise. I am confident that, in their expanded roles, they will further advance OCBC’s strategic priorities in Greater China.”

OCBC launches unified brand strategy to leverage ASEAN-Greater China potential

Singapore– OCBC recently launched a unified brand strategy across all of its key regions, highlighting its One Group mentality to fully capitalise on the strong ASEAN-Greater China potential. OCBC wants to grow and create an additional S$3 billion in revenue by 2025, outpacing its current growth path, by narrowing its focus on the ASEAN-Greater China region.

Major subsidiaries have changed their names legally in order to create brand uniformity. OCBC Wing Hang Bank Limited in Hong Kong SAR has changed its name to OCBC Bank (Hong Kong) Limited, and Banco OCBC Weng Hang, S.A. in Macau SAR. Nowadays, it goes by the name OCBC Bank (Macau) Limited. OCBC Wing Hang Bank (China) Limited is scheduled to change its legal name to OCBC Bank Limited in mainland China during the fourth quarter of 2023, subject to regulatory approval.

OCBC has unveiled a unified, updated logo for its banking firms in conjunction with these legal name changes throughout Greater China. In the fourth quarter of 2023, OCBC NISP, OCBC’s Indonesian affiliate, will adopt the same logo. The Bank of Singapore logo remains the same. It is the exclusive private banking arm of OCBC.

The traditional Chinese sailing ship design was retained in the OCBC logo’s 1998 redesign. This recognizable symbol symbolises the pioneering spirit of OCBC’s founding fathers, who constructed residences and companies throughout ASEAN. Since the bank was founded in 1932, it has always been a part of the logo.

Alongside the unveiling of its updated logo, the Bank has introduced a fresh tagline: “For now, and beyond” . The new tagline embodies OCBC’s inherent DNA of consistently adopting a far-sighted approach in its endeavors and investments. It signifies the bank’s dedication not only to the present, but also to the future, as it strives to create a lasting positive influence on the world.

By unifying its brands, OCBC confirms its dedication to leveraging the combined strength of its network and the integrated capabilities of its One Group in the fields of banking, wealth management, and insurance. This tactical action demonstrates OCBC’s commitment to their growth and is intended to increase support for the growing cross-border goals and expansion of both firms and individuals.

Helen Wong, group chief executive officer of OCBC, said, “The flow business between ASEAN and Greater China is not new to us. We recognise its potential. Over the years, we have built a strong franchise and put ourselves in a very good position to capture these flows. The effects of China’s reopening post-pandemic, the rise of ASEAN for the China plus one strategy and other geopolitical factors have amplified this potential,”

“The unified brand that we have unveiled today is yet another strategic move. It solidifies our One Group approach, one of eight core pillars of our Corporate Strategy that was refreshed in 2022. It also furthers our commitment to customers: that when they bank with us, they have the collective strength of OCBC Group supporting them seamlessly across markets. With this One Group approach, our comprehensive ASEAN- Greater China franchise and twin hub proposition of Singapore and Hong Kong becomes even more compelling,” 

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – As part of the bank’s digital banking thrust, OCBC Bank Malaysia has announced the roll out of ‘OCBC eBiz Account’, a new type of business account catered to local SMEs, of which they can apply for entirely remotely without the need to step into a branch. 

Such feature is made possible through the bank’s electronic know your customer platform (eKYC), which is supported by CTOS Data Systems Sdn Bhd (CTOS).

The OCBC eBiz Account is open only to SMEs with two or fewer directors or shareholders, which represents the bulk of OCBC Bank’s typical existing SME customers.

The bank is rolling out the online account at a national scale, following its pilot tests in the Klang Valley in February and then nationwide in April. The account, with a relatively low initial deposit of RM500, comes with complimentary business internet banking services Velocity@ocbc and access to OCBC Mobile Banking.

According to Wong Chee Seng, head of emerging business at OCBC Bank, the move is part of the bank’s overall digital roadmap to meet the growing needs of SMEs looking to digital banking solutions to further enable them while making things that are more quickly accessible as well.

“Remote account opening was previously the mainstay of consumer banking and tended to benefit only individual customers rather than businesses. The OCBC eBiz Account will benefit SMEs significantly at the very outset of their relationship with us. They can skip the queues at the branches and avoid the crowds altogether. In a matter of minutes, they will be able to complete their application for an online business banking account at their convenience and verify their identity via the OCBC SME eKYC app. Thereafter, and if the application is successful, the Bank will contact the customer to share with them their account number and login ID for business internet banking,” Seng explained.

He also added that they are expecting a good take-up from this offering and hope to see at least 6,000 new business accounts through this digital channel by the end of the year. In addition, he stated that the national rollout of the OCBC eBiz Account is timely given the complications and uncertainties surrounding movement beyond one’s home due to the ongoing pandemic.

Singapore – ‘Start Digital’, a digital initiative started by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and Enterprise Singapore for SME support, is refreshing their existing digital solutions in order to provide newly incorporated SMEs or those that have yet to digitize with foundational and easy-to-deploy digital solutions.

Initially launched in January 2019, the Start Digital program has helped more than 30,000 SMEs to adopt various digital transformation strategies for their businesses, known collectively as the ‘Start Digital Pack’. These solutions are offered across six partners, namely financial institutions DBS, Maybank, OCBC, and UOB, as well as telco Singtel and M1.

Start Digital is offering three new and enhanced categories:

  • Digital Collaboration – These enable employees to work from home or any other convenient locations. Examples include Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
  • Digital Marketing – Tools that provide SMEs with templates to create social media ads and manage their digital ad buys and placements on a single platform. This allows SMEs to easily manage targeted digital marketing campaigns and reach out to consumers on social media.
  • Digital Transactions – InvoiceNow-linked solutions offered by bank partners are integrated with e-payment including PayNow Corporate to enable SMEs to generate/receive e-invoices through InvoiceNow and receive/make e-payments seamlessly. These solutions help SMEs improve transaction accuracy and administrative productivity. Both e-invoicing and e-payments are part of digital utilities which IMDA is putting in place as baseline infrastructure for the digital economy. Similar to their physical counterparts, digital utilities provide common standards and ease of transactions for businesses. 

Start Digital initially included accounting, human resource management system and payroll, digital marketing, digital transactions and cybersecurity solutions. 

“Based on feedback from SMEs and Start Digital partners, IMDA and Enterprise Singapore are enhancing Start Digital to include new solutions that will enable SMEs to collaborate seamlessly with internal and external parties, and gain new customers,” according to a factsheet released by IMDA and Enterprise Singapore.

Both institutions have been proactive in driving support for SMEs and startups based on digital transformation strategies. Earlier this year, Enterprise Singapore supported the launch of the PlanetSpark Innovation Centre to focus on tech startups seeking to deploy artificial intelligence of things (AIoT) to the market.