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Exclusive | DBS (Hong Kong) focuses on digital banking, branch redesign as customers shift online amid pandemic

  • About 95 per cent of new credit card applications and one-third of wealth management account openings were done through its digital platform last year
  • Branches will be redesigned in keeping with changing customer preferences, senior executive Ajay Mathur says

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Hong Kong is the second largest market after Singapore for DBS. Photo: Getty Images
Enoch Yiu

DBS Bank (Hong Kong), the local subsidiary of the biggest lender in Singapore and Southeast Asia, is focusing on developing its digital banking platform and redesigning its branches as an increasing number of customers switch to online banking amid the pandemic, according to a senior executive.

The bank closed three branches in Hong Kong last year, bringing the total down to 27, which has allowed the company to save on rent and other costs, Ajay Mathur, head of consumer banking and wealth management at DBS Bank (Hong Kong), said in an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post.

The bank’s mobile phone app accounted for 95 per cent of new credit card customer acquisition while more than one-third of wealth management account openings were through the digital platform last year, Mathur said.

He, however, added that bank branches still have a role to play, but they will not be for simple transactions such as cash deposits or fund transfers. “Customers have shifted to use their mobile phones and other digital platforms to handle these transactions instead of going to a branch,” he said.

Ajay Mathur, head of consumer banking and wealth management at DBS Bank (Hong Kong), says the bank is adapting to changing customer preferences. Photo: May Tse
Ajay Mathur, head of consumer banking and wealth management at DBS Bank (Hong Kong), says the bank is adapting to changing customer preferences. Photo: May Tse
The lender’s move to cut down its branch network came as the Covid-19 pandemic has seen fewer customers going to physical locations while accelerating the demand for digital banking services at the same time. While there is no industry-wide data available in Hong Kong on the number of overall bank branch closures, Chinese lenders on the mainland closed 430 bricks-and-mortar locations in the first three months of this year, mainland media reported citing the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission. Last year, mainland lenders closed 1,300 outlets.

Amid the shift in customer preferences, DBS’s redesign of its branches will cater more to wealth management customers’ needs, Mathur said. The front areas would be for the bank staff to discuss with customers investment products, mortgage loans, or help them with their succession planning, while pushing the teller counters to the back, he added.

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