Digital adoption of OCBC's wealth products jumped 40% in Q1

Virtual wealth advisory meetings will likely be the new normal.

OCBC Bank’s digital adoption for wealth management solutions expanded 40% YoY in Q1, the bank revealed in a press release.

In particular, the sale of wealth management products jumped 45% within the first 10 days of the online launch compared to 10 days before the launch, the bank revealed in a press release.

The online wealth advisory process was launched on 18 April, when the circuit breaker was still in effect. This indicates a positive response from customers on non-face-to-face wealth conversations, according to OCBC.

The bank’s over 1,000 financial and wealth advisors have since been conducting meetings and sales advisory via video and screen-sharing facilities. The bank said that it uses an encrypted video conferencing tool to ensure customers’ privacy.

Products range from unit trusts to bancassurance products, and from structured investments and bonds to foreign exchange products.

OCBC foresees an increased take-up in online services, noting that this will likely be the new normal of banking.

"Whilst many customers are still accustomed to face-to-face interactions with our bankers, even after the Covid-19 outbreak, this virtual process will become a new normal. In the future, customers will have a choice at their convenience to decide the best mode of engagement for their financial needs,” said Sunny Quek, OCBC Bank’s head of consumer financial services, Singapore.

OCBC’s other online banking services also saw a similar rise during the same period. The lender saw take-up for digital services soar, from new accounts to the sale of investments. Within the first two weeks of the Circuit Breaker, time deposit placements online skyrocketed 150%, said OCBC.

Also, there was a 14% increase in CASA opened in April compared to January. Overall, one in three credit cards and 30% of current accounts and savings accounts (CASA) are now acquired digitally.

“In total, eight in 10 of OCBC Bank’s digitally active customers now bank using their mobiles, and more than 90% of the total volume of the bank’s financial transactions in Singapore are performed on digital,” the press release stated.

Further, 60% of unit trusts were purchased digitally during the same period, showing a 2.5 times QoQ growth in value.

Meanwhile, investment amounts in the OCBC RoboInvest service grew 60% quarter-on-quarter, an increase of 3.5 times year-on-year from the first quarter of 2019.

OCBC saw a 60% drop in average customer footfall at branches during the circuit breaker period. It also temporarily closed 22 branches on 9 April, whilst 24 branches remained open to ensure that there was at least one branch open in the proximity of every neighbourhood town centre, the bank said.