“Digital transformation is a fundamental reality for businesses today.” These are the famous words of Warren Buffet. With digital transformation, organizations can reduce costs and improve operational efficiency. True, DBS Bank has won the “World’s Best Digital Bank” title again. The world-recognized Singapore digital bank has been finding innovative digital solutions to ease customers’ financial activities for a decade.
With its headquarters in Singapore, DBS was also named the World’s Best Bank, which makes it the first time bank to receive both accolades simultaneously. DBS has exhibited an extraordinary skill of not merely pulling through a crisis, but making use of it as a possibility to innovate and improve its operational efficiency.
Leaders in digital banking today discuss the distinction between digitising a bank’s internal operations and becoming a fully digital financial institution. Through several significant acquisitions, bank-wide digitalisation advancements, and a commitment to sustainability, DBS made 2021 an exceptional year.
DBS is renowned for implementing various ground-breaking initiatives as a leading digital bank and an industry leader in Singapore. Some prominent ones to mention are:
1. DBS Digibank
DBS saw and used the opportunity to have a digital bank totally, for it serves a few of the fast-flourishing mobile markets in the world. As a digital bank, DBS strives hard to make banking simpler by appealing to the digital generation. The Singapore-based bank embraced a three-pronged strategy to accomplish this while promoting growth and assuring easy scalability. It includes:
- Redesign or reconsider the consumer experience
- Adopt and accept modern technology
- Change the corporate culture
With a mobile-only bank, DBS envisaged a bank with no physical branches, though it offers all the services of a traditional bank, ensuring seamless and paperless transactions at every step. The result is a Digibank, which offers safe, convenient and easy banking.
That made it essential for DBS to develop a flexible, scalable, and adaptable platform on which the bank could improve its services, offering new features to guarantee great convenience and security.
2. DBS Digital Exchange
DBS Digital Exchange, supported by DBS, provides trading services for an array of digital assets, such as cryptocurrencies and security tokens. Being a leading provider of financial services in Asia, DBS, with several decades of experience in capital markets, offers safe custodial services.
The future of the digital economy, the way it seems, lies in digital assets. With the launch of DBS Digital Exchange, authorised and institutional investors will now be able to access a fully integrated ecosystem for the tokenisation, custody, and trading of digital assets. Through secondary trading of digital assets, such as cryptocurrency, and security tokens DBS offers an ecosystem for fundraising.
SMEs and large corporations can digitise their assets and securities on the Security Token platform via DBS Digital Exchange to effectively generate finance. It opens new channels for these organisations to raise funds and issue structured financial instruments for businesses.
3. Responsible Banking
Through responsible banking, DBS offers services like:
- Fair Dealing
For a business to achieve its organisational goals, financial planning is essential. It entails formulating goals, guidelines, budgets, schedules, and processes for the company’s financial operations. As part of its digital banking offerings, DBS also offers relevant data, useful suggestions, and expert counsel to help with financial planning. Among the techniques to interact fairly with clients are:
- Genuinely responding to consumer requests and demands
- Providing tailored financial outcomes
- Increasing the competency of financial advisors to fulfil clients’ needs
- Improving communication by being clear and transparent
- Responsible Financing
Creating a sustainable future is essential for preserving our ecology and natural resources. For sustainable finance, financial institutions determine ESG or environmental, social, and governance factors, as well as the risks and possibilities they may present.
For instance, DBS promotes environmentally friendly operations through its Group Core Credit Risk Policy and Group Responsible Financing Standard, which establish guidelines for taking ESG concerns into account while managing credit risk and financing activities by making credit card apps secure. Green loans, sustainable bonds, sustainable investments, and digital solutions for sustainability are just a few of its sustainable financing offerings.
- Financial Inclusion
DBS provides financial services through suitable solutions to individuals and businesses, even those who support and work for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), regardless of being economically underprivileged. DBS offers cost-effective and subsidized banking services to people in Singapore.
With government-supported schemes like Project Loans, Enterprise Financing Scheme Trade Loans (EFS-TL), Business Recovery Loans, Fixed Assets Financing, and Venture Debt Loans, it assists SMEs with small loans and working capital loans.
- Cyber Security
With the Group Information Security Policy and Cyber Security Risk Management Framework, DBS safeguards the private information and assets of its clients.
4. Impact Outside of Banking
DBS assists social entrepreneurs who work to improve society through:
- DBS Foundation
The premier digital bank in Singapore provides specialised support to cutting-edge social entrepreneurs for societal impact through its one-of-a-kind DBS Foundation. The DBS Foundation pledges to support social entrepreneurs throughout Asia with grants and many other activities like workshops for skill-building, mentorship, business possibilities, and tailored programmes.
Due to their limited resources, social entrepreneurs typically put in a lot of effort to make a difference. The DBS SE is a support programme providing training and mentorship funding to assist social entrepreneurship for impact.
- Zero Food Waste
To eliminate food waste and create a future where food is safe, DBS launched a Zero Food Waste (ZFW) initiative in 2020. This initiative fits with creating social impact, responsible banking, and responsible business practices.
- Give for Good
DBS plays a crucial role in supporting causes and assisting people and organisations by giving back to the society and community. You can send donations through DBS’s digibank, iWealth services, or net banking through a bank account.
With all these distinguishable beyond banking and general banking activities, DBS has proved to be a famous digital bank globally. Digital is a way to grow further by being innovative and sustainable for DBS.
