Retail banking, the next frontier for Singapore’s DBS, OCBC and Co

The pandemic delivered a blow to Singaporeans’ financial planning goals. Now, traditional banks are looking to monetise the previously costly retail segment after building their digital moat. There’s competition aplenty, though, from VC-backed robo-advisors and the upcoming digital banks

Only two in 10 retail customers of DBS Bank made an investment over the last 12 months—the room to grow is huge

A customer using DBS Bank’s financial planning tool Nav Planner invests 2.5X more—S$7,500 (US$5,660)—than a regular customer

Banks have been aided by Singapore’s open banking initiative, and came out of the pandemic in much better shape than expected

Robo-advisors like StashAway and Endowus, which offer similar services, have certain advantages over traditional banks

As the Covid-19 pandemic tore through the world, you’d imagine the one country in Southeast Asia that could weather the storm financially would be Singapore. After all, 98% of its population is banked.

However, six in 10 millennials in the city-state are finding it more challenging to manage their money since the pandemic started, according to a study by Standard Chartered bank in December 2020.

This is why Singapore’s banks are now stepping up to help customers with financial planning.

For instance, DBS Bank in April launched launched DBS DBS fortifies NAV Planner with new AI-powered digital investment advisory feature to help retail customers make better investment decisions Read more a new feature on its financial and retirement planning tool NAV Planner, which will provide specific investment recommendations tailored to individual profiles.

AUTHOR

Benjamin Cher

Based in Singapore, Ben covers news and stories from the hub of Southeast Asia. He covers the intersection of technology and business, and how it affects Singapore and Southeast Asia. Ben was previously a reporter at The Edge Singapore.

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