Reflecting on 2024, what were your bank’s major milestones from an operational perspective and how did you achieve them? Conversely, what were the setbacks and challenges encountered along the way, and what measures were taken to surmount them?

One of our key highlights in 2024 was successfully revamping the client onboarding process. This led to a significant decrease in the time needed to onboard a client, with the turnaround time cut by more than half. This was achieved through a combination of platform enhancements, teamwork, and gaining buy-in from stakeholders.

We are continuously streamlining the onboarding process. Our target is to have 80% of our onboarding processes digitalised, with workflows and processes powered by generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and machine learning. This includes implementing more automated workflows, guiding users with an interface that is easy and intuitive to use, and embedding with automated tools for effective tracking, monitoring and reporting.

How did your bank leverage and adopt technology regionally in 2024, and what is planned for 2025? What are the key metrics employed to assess technological investments and which specific investments have had the most significant impact on revenue generation and overall client experience?

We have been investing in technology by enhancing our platforms and processes to serve our clients better. For instance, our client mobile app was re-designed and relaunched in 2024, delivering more personalised and seamless experiences for app users. Within four months from the relaunch in January 2024, we saw a close to 30% increase in monthly active app users and a close to 50% increase in online trades placed via the app.

Our focus on technology extends beyond enhancing client experience. We prioritise improving staff productivity and empowering them to work more effectively. It is on this note that we aim to create an internal dashboard workbench for staff, with all necessary applications integrated into one window. Most banks have such workbenches for client-facing employees but not for the rest of the bank. Our goal is to leverage technology to reimagine the way we work.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has both promises and challenges for the private banking industry. What are some of the AI use cases in your bank over the past year? How has AI been helping the bank to improve operational efficiency? What are some of the pain points banks need to overcome in AI implementation? What’s your plan for AI adaptations in 2025?

Our parent company OCBC was the first Singapore bank to set up an AI unit in 2018. This allowed OCBC Group to strategically develop in-house AI capabilities and to intensify our focus on utilising GenAI over the last two years. We also leverage OCBC Group for enterprise-wide applications and benefit from the scale of the group in running our underlying technology infrastructure.

One of the use cases we launched last year was a GenAI tool for Bank of Singapore relationship managers (RMs). The tool assists RMs in their engagement with clients, curating talking points, personalised investment insights and multi-asset strategies. This has achieved an up to 20% productivity boost. RMs can then spend their time more meaningfully with clients, focusing on relationship building.

The future of banking will see us embracing a more conversational approach as AI enables us to understand and engage more with our customers. “Reasoning models”, or AI models that can think on their own and tackle more complex tasks, demonstrating more advanced problem-solving abilities and human-like reasoning skills, will be a trend to watch. As the technology continues to evolve, we will focus on preparing ourselves to leverage AI advancements while mitigating associated risks.