During the pandemic, we remained steadfast in serving our customers in the manner they prefer, whether in person or online. Our omni-channel approach gives our customers access to a global network that includes:
-
close to 500 branches, including wealth and privilege banking centres, private bank suites, business and commercial banking centres, and offices across 19 markets;
-
more than 1.4 million ATMs, including contactless and shared ATMs, and cash machines that support self-service banking transactions such as withdrawals, note and coin deposits and funds transfers;
-
mobile banking apps, such as UOB Mighty, and internet banking channels that enable our customers to bank anytime and anywhere; and
-
TMRW, our mobile-only digital bank for ASEAN’s digital generation.
In addition to using ATMs, our customers in Singapore can also withdraw cash at any outlet of four major retailers – 7-Eleven, Sheng Siong Supermarket, Hao Mart and U Stars – through our UOB Cash Out initiative.
Transforming our branches for better experience
With more everyday transactions being conducted digitally, our customers increasingly visit our branches for advisory services and wealth conversations. Since 2018, we have been transforming our branches to meet their changing needs, applying design thinking and reconfiguring layouts to enhance the customer experience.
In 2020, we:
-
brought our high street wealth banking branches to Singapore’s residential areas such as Ang Mo Kio, Choa Chu Kang and
Paya Lebar, so that our emerging affluent customers can enjoy the convenience of obtaining wealth advisory services closer to where they live;
-
transformed three branches in Malaysia to wealth banking branches with private spaces dedicated to serving our customers’ wealth management needs;
-
optimised our branch network in Indonesia to meet increasing customer demand for services such as financial planning and advisory; and
-
redesigned branches in Thailand for the specific needs of young professionals and young families. More than two-thirds of the branch space is dedicated to providing financial advisory.
Creating spaces for hanging out with UOB
Co-designing and co-creating spaces with students is one way we encourage learning, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Hangout@UOB at Singapore Polytechnic (SP)
-
Collaboration with lecturers and students in the design, launch and day-to-day management of the branch;
-
Innovative branch where students can learn more about banking solutions available to them from their peers interning at the branch, before applying online for the solutions they need; and
-
Innovative branch where students can learn more about banking solutions available to them from their peers interning at the branch, before applying online for the solutions they need; and
"Hangout@UOB was unlike any class assignment which the students had done. The project provided a very authentic learning experience for students to apply what they have learnt in the classroom to a real project. Students were able to build a branch from the ground up and were given the opportunity to co-manage Hangout@UOB with UOB staff."
Ms Tan Yen Yen
Director of School of Business, SP
Hangout@UOB at Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP)
-
Housed within AGILE (Accelerating Growth in Innovation, Learning and Entrepreneurship), a campus incubator to nurture entrepreneurs;
-
Community space that encourages students to learn and to discover new business ideas, and helps start-ups to grow their businesses;
-
Features a campus café run by students for them to gain hands-on experience; and
-
Co-managed by student interns under the supervision and mentorship of UOB employees.
"By leveraging UOB’s financial technology (FinTech) expertise and financial services, our incubatees will have more direct access to financing resources and consultations, which will enable them to scale more quickly. At the same time, we hope that the space will encourage FinTech innovation and complement our efforts in seeding entrepreneurial ideas among our youths."
Mr Clarence Ti
Principal, NP
Photo was taken before COVID-19
Safeguarding our customers’ interests
Our branches continue to play a critical role in serving our customers’ banking needs and in safeguarding their interests, especially against the criminal minded. In 2020, our initiatives to help prevent scams included:
-
training our branch colleagues to heighten their awareness on potential fraud cases; and
-
a Scam Education Toolkit in Malaysia to share with our customers the latest information on real-life scam cases, common modus operandi and tips on how to react when approached by potential scammers.
In Singapore, our branch colleagues were recognised by the Singapore Police Force for our efforts to stop financial crime. Our Fraud and Authorisation team was also commended by the Commercial Affairs Department in recognition of our round-the-clock assistance in contact tracing when the COVID-19 contagion was spreading in the community.
Providing progressive digital solutions that are simpler, swifter and safer
Given movement restrictions as part of safe distancing measures in 2020, more customers turned to our digital banking channels for their everyday needs.
16%
increase in total banking transactions.
97%
of all transactions* are digital.
*include ATM transactions
More than
2 in 5
new customers opened banking accounts digitally.
2 in 3
customers use digital or multiple banking touchpoints.
In 2020, the MAS and the Smart Nation and Digital Government Group rolled out the SGFinDex (Singapore Financial Data Exchange), which consolidates data from banks and government agencies so that individuals can view on a single app all of their personal financial information such as:
-
deposits
-
credit cards;
-
loans; and
-
investments.
As one of the participating banks, UOB enables our customers to obtain their financial snapshot through our UOB Mighty mobile banking app quickly and conveniently for better financial planning.
Making UOB Mighty mightier for our customers
In 2020, we continued to enhance our award-winning mobile banking app, UOB Mighty, which combines banking services, contactless payments and rewards in a single app.
In 2020, we:
-
teamed up with Visa to become the first bank in the world to tap a new Visa application programming interface (API). It enables our customers in Singapore to add their Visa credit and debit cards securely to popular apps, such as Fitbit Pay, with more apps including Fave, Grab and Shopee in the pipeline, using UOB Mighty. No physical card is needed. This means purchases on their card can be made without keying in their 16-digit card number, expiry date and card security code manually.
-
launched SimpleInsure for our customers in Singapore to apply for cancer coverage insurance plans within UOB Mighty easily – just a few clicks and a simple health declaration rather than a full medical check; and
-
expanded Mighty Insights, an industry-first artificial intelligence (AI)-based digital banking service, from Singapore to Malaysia. Through the use of advanced data analytics, machine learning and pattern recognition algorithms, we provide our customers hyperpersonalised insights into their savings and expenses to help them improve their financial decisions.
In 2020, there were more than
1 million
active users of UOB Mighty,
13% higher than the year before.
Growth in our customers’ active usage of UOB Mighty in 2020
Processed an average of more than
2.7 million
financial transactions a month on UOB Mighty in Singapore, 67% more than 2019.
Served more than
40 million
personalised AI-driven Mighty Insights in Singapore.
“Helps me to decide
where to put my money”
“Useful to know more about money-saving promotions”
“Good tips on saving money”
“Fits my motivations”
“Relevant to my interests”
Tapping technology to provide wealth advisory effectively
At UOB, we build our comprehensive suite of wealth management and investment solutions taking our Risk-First approach. This means we help our customers safeguard their assets and build sustainable income streams before they take on more risk through tactical investments.
Amid the market volatility arising from the impact of the pandemic in 2020, our wealth advisers proactively engaged our customers to review their investment portfolios. Given the restrictions on face-to-face meetings, our wealth advisers tapped technology such as our proprietary Portal Advisory Tools. They are a purpose-built digital investment advisory platform that draws on historical market data to simulate the expected performance of an investment portfolio, including funds, insurance and bonds, against various economic scenarios.
More than
85%
of our wealth customers have benefitted from more insightful conversations with their advisers through the use of our digital Portal Advisory Tools.
In addition, in 2020 we held webinars to share market and investment insights with our affluent and high-net-worth clients, demonstrating our strong expertise and commitment to helping them grow and preserve their wealth.
Nurturing our customers’ next generation
We build relationships to last. To this end, we work with reputable, quality education service providers in the region to extend our support of our customers to their next generation by opening doors to future opportunities.
In 2020, our efforts included:
-
working with John Robert Powers Vietnam to hold a webinar focused on helping our customers’ children build self-esteem and confidence;
-
teaming up with the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) to organise an Open Day in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to share comprehensive information on overseas study, from available scholarships and bursaries, visa procedures to career prospects;
-
providing a ‘Multiple Intelligence’ online profiling tool, in collaboration with SIM, to help our customers in Vietnam identify and appreciate their children’s different capabilities;
-
running a series of educational and development programmes in China, including ‘Junior Bankers’, ‘Future Leaders’ and the ‘Elite Youths’, for our customers’ children aged six and above; and
-
hosting a Headmasters’ Talk Series, during which principals from well-known educational institutions in Shanghai and Beijing, China shared their respective admission policies and application procedures with our customers and their children. Education experts were also present to give insights into the benefits of overseas study.
For our Private Bank clients, we organised a special session with Professor Kishore Mahbubani, a veteran diplomat and the former President of the United Nations (UN) Security Council. He shared his views on geopolitical developments and their implications on ASEAN markets. In 2020, our dedication to serving our Private Bank clients’ needs enabled us to achieve strong growth in our assets under management, particularly for our discretionary portfolio management services.