While the brand gets a makeover, the Bank of Singapore name remains in place. OCBC has set out its strategy goals, including for wealth management and private banking.

Singapore-based OCBC (Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation) yesterday said that it is bringing out a “unified brand” across its core markets in Asia. OCBC hasn’t refreshed its brand since 1998.

However, its Bank of Singapore private banking arm, which is the business that OCBC bought from Netherlands-based ING in early 2010, will retain its brand.

“With this sharpened ASEAN-Greater China focus, OCBC expects to accelerate its growth and deliver S$3 billion ($2.21 billion) in incremental revenue by 2025, which is on top of its current growth trajectory,” the group said in a statement. 

To unify the brand, legal name changes have been made for key subsidiaries. In Hong Kong SAR, OCBC Wing Hang Bank Limited is now OCBC Bank (Hong Kong) Limited and in Macau SAR, Banco OCBC Weng Hang, SA is now OCBC Bank (Macau) Limited. Pending regulatory approval, OCBC Wing Hang Bank (China) Limited will change its legal name to OCBC Bank Limited in mainland China in the fourth quarter of 2023.

With these legal name changes in Greater China, OCBC has launched a unified refreshed logo for its banking entities. OCBC NISP, OCBC’s Indonesian subsidiary, will adopt the same logo in the fourth quarter of 2023.

The bank set out its wealth management and Bank of Singapore growth goals.

By 2025, OCBC aims to double assets under management of its Premier Banking and Premier Private Client (PPC) segments for Greater China. In support of this, the bank will double the number of relationship managers serving high net worth customers in the Premier Banking and Premier Private Client segment in Greater China by 2025. 

“This will enable continued strong AuM growth for Premier Banking and PPC, which together recorded a 3.5 times increase in AuM from 2013 to 2022,” OCBC said. 

Bank of Singapore aims to increase its AuM to $145 billion by the end of 2025. To reach this target, Bank of Singapore will grow its team of relationship managers to 500 by then. 

Flows
Ms Helen Wong, group chief executive officer of OCBC, said of the brand refresh and its “One Group” mindset: “The flow business between ASEAN and Greater China is not new to us. We recognise its potential. Over the years, we have built a strong franchise and put ourselves in a very good position to capture these flows. The effects of China’s reopening post-pandemic, the rise of ASEAN for the China plus one strategy and other geopolitical factors have amplified this potential.

“The unified brand that we have unveiled today is yet another strategic move. It solidifies our One Group approach, one of eight core pillars of our corporate strategy that was refreshed in 2022,” Wong continued. “It also furthers our commitment to customers: that when they bank with us, they have the collective strength of OCBC Group supporting them seamlessly across markets. With this One Group approach, our comprehensive ASEAN-Greater China franchise and twin hub proposition of Singapore and Hong Kong becomes even more compelling.”

Bank of Singapore, as this news service has reported, is spreading its geographical footprint and products and services. As exclusively reported here, Ranjit Khanna joined BoS as its global market head of Middle East and chief executive of its Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). Khanna succeeded Alexandre Lotfi, who returned to Singapore as global chief risk officer.

BoS also has a business (BoS Wealth Management Europe) in Luxembourg, a representative office in the Philippines, and offices in Singapore, Hong Kong Dubai, the UK and Malaysia.

Wholesale banking
On the wholesale banking side, OCBC it will make further investments into this business. Some S$140 million has already been invested over the past three years to build up its digital capabilities.

Specifically, to build up its transaction banking capabilities in Greater China, the bank will invest more than S$50 million over the next three years. Its target is to achieve more than 500 regional mandates for cash management over the next five years.