Retail News CRM

Tag: OCBC Bank

  • OCBC BANK Is First Singapore Bank To Let You Open Account Digitally

    OCBC BANK Is First Singapore Bank To Let You Open Account Digitally

    OCBC Bank is the first Singapore bank to roll out a digital instant account-opening service for all customers who are Singaporeans or permanent residents. Even if you do not currently have any relationship with OCBC Bank, you can leverage national data repository MyInfo and – for the first time – OCBC Bank’s real-time, digital KYC process (e-KYC) to open an OCBC 360 Account using your mobile device or desktop. It all takes less than five minutes via the bank’s website, with no need to visit a bank branch or provide documents. Verification and authentication happens in real time; once this is completed, you get a new account number within seconds of a successful application. You can start using the account right away for functions like electronic transfers, rather than having to wait a few days for application approval.

    There are two main processes involved in OCBC Bank’s digital instant account opening. The first is submitting an application, which is made fussfree thanks to MyInfo, the digital vault of verified personal data designed by the Singapore government. Logging in using your SingPass, you simply consent to OCBC Bank using your MyInfo profile to set up a new account. An online OCBC 360 Account application form is then pre-filled with your personal details, so you do not need to key in details or submit any additional documentation.

    The second process is to verify that you are who you say you are, which is known as KYC or “know your customer”. Even after OCBC Bank successfully integrated its systems with Myinfo in May 2017 in a successful industry pilot – so you could pre-fill application forms with your government-verified personal particulars – you still had to wait for your account to be approved because KYC checks had to be conducted, typically using humans. Now, however, OCBC Bank has digitised the KYC process, and for the first time, is able to authenticate customers in real time using electronic means so that approval for successful account applications is granted instantly.

    Mr Aditya Gupta, OCBC Bank’s Head of E-Business Singapore, said: “Instant is the new black. I believe this instant, hassle-free and secure access to our core banking products will make it hugely compelling for people to initiate and deepen their primary banking relationship with OCBC Bank. Our ambition is to have one in every two customers on-boarded digitally with zero human intervention, and this launch is a significant milestone in that journey. We will be extending this service to a broader suite of our products shortly.”

    Driving digital with the OCBC 360 Account In 2014, OCBC Bank was the first bank in Singapore to enable customers to apply for a bank account online with the launch of the OCBC 360 Account, the first account in Singapore to reward customers with bonus interest for doing more banking transactions using their account, such as crediting their salary, making bill payments or spending on their credit cards. Since then, more than

    20 per cent of OCBC 360 Accounts have been applied for remotely on a mobile device or desktop, with account approvals taking up to three days.

    Now, with the MyInfo integration and the bank’s real time e-KYC process in the account opening journey, account approvals are instant for successful applications. Customers will be able to use the OCBC 360 Account opened online to immediately make funds transfers via PayNow or Fast, and start earning bonus interest from performing various transactions. This fast and seamless on-boarding proposition will sit well with time-strapped PMETs and young professionals who are highly digitally engaged and who make up twothirds of OCBC Bank’s existing OCBC 360 Account base. The OCBC 360 Account customer base has grown 30 per cent year-on-year and has captured a sizable base of PMETs’ salary crediting – over 40 per cent of deposits growth comes through OCBC 360 Accounts – while also driving day-to-day banking and the use of PayNow.

    More than 90 per cent of OCBC 360 Account customers are digitally active and have accessed OCBC Bank’s digital platforms at least once in the past three months. Digitally active customers are found to own twice as many banking products as those who are not digitally active, and the number of OCBC 360 Account customers who take up financial products has grown by more than 10 per cent since a wealth bonus interest was introduced in 2015.

    Lees ook:

  • OCBC Bank first in Singapore to enable instant digital card issuance and provisioning on Apple Pay

    OCBC Bank first in Singapore to enable instant digital card issuance and provisioning on Apple Pay

    OCBC Bank customers have a new, speedy way of resolving a common issue when shopping or dining: Not having the right credit card to enjoy the best discount, rebate or reward.

    Since last month, OCBC Bank became the first bank to enable customers to transact at merchants that accept Apple Pay within minutes of applying for a new VISA credit or debit card. Any OCBC Bank customer – even if you do not yet own an OCBC Bank card – can apply for a card online and have your application approved almost immediately. There is no need to then wait for the physical plastic to arrive in your mailbox: The card can be accessed and provisioned (that is, added to) Apple Pay instantly via the OCBC Mobile Banking app.

    VISA cards make up almost 80 per cent of the OCBC Bank cards currently provisioned to Apple Pay. Instant provisioning of cards for use with Apple Pay has been enabled for OCBC Bank VISA credit cards – including the 365, FRANK, Voyage, Robinsons Group, Plus! VISA and NTUC Plus! cards – as well as the Yes! debit card.

    Mr Aditya Gupta, OCBC Bank’s Head of E-Business Singapore, said: “This is the new digital – instant, embedded and frictionless access to banking products and services. Our customers can now receive their new card digitally and provision it to their Apple Wallet to start paying with it straight away – all from within our mobile banking app and within a few minutes. We believe this is a huge level-up in customer experience and will further accelerate our digital card applications and cashless payments market leadership drive.”

    Leader in payments and digital banking

    OCBC Bank is one of the top credit card issuers in Singapore and the market leader in contactless payments; one in every two VISA contactless transactions, including Apple Pay, is made with an OCBC Bank card. Monthly mobile wallet payments have doubled since 2016, while the number of credit cards provisioned to mobile wallets has increased sevenfold. 60 per cent of OCBC Bank cards provisioned to mobile wallets are on Apple Pay. Mobile wallet usage is especially popular for lifestyle transactions including groceries, transport such as private hire cars, food deliveries and fast food.

    Mr Vincent Tan, OCBC Bank’s Head of Credit Cards, said: “When we first introduced mobile payments to our customers in 2016, the future of payments looked exciting then – and it has definitely proven itself to be so. One in every two VISA contactless transactions is made with an OCBC Bank card so we have clear leadership in the mobile and contactless payment space. More OCBC customers, even those who are not currently our cardholders, can now benefit from our suite of credit cards within minutes of applying for one. With our instant digital card issuance, they can immediately provision their new cards to Apple Pay via our mobile banking app, and start to enjoy our cards’ rewards and rebates.”

    OCBC Bank has constantly worked towards making banking seamless and embedded in our customers’ natural behaviour and interactions. OCBC Bank led the way in Singapore in launching voice-powered conversational banking for retail customers in February 2018, which allows customers to ask Siri to check their bank balances, credit card overview and make e-payments. It was the first bank in Singapore to introduce biometric authentication to access bank account details with OCBC OneTouch in March 2015, and OCBC OneLook in November 2017 on the OCBC Mobile Banking app, leveraging fingerprint and facial recognition technology. OCBC Bank then offered customers the convenience of banking on their wrist, launching its mobile banking app for Apple Watch in March 2016. In November 2016, OCBC Bank enhanced its OCBC Pay Anyone e-payments service by enabling customers to send money via OCBC Pay Anyone directly within Apple’s iMessage on iPhones, and via any app on Android devices using the OCBC Keyboard in August 2017.

    Lees ook:

  • NEC’s facial recognition system elevates customer experience at OCBC Bank

    NEC’s facial recognition system elevates customer experience at OCBC Bank

    NEC Asia Pacific and NEC Corporation today announced the successful testing and roll-out of a facial recognition system at OCBC Bank’s Holland Village branch to identify Premier Banking customers. OCBC Bank is one of the first in Singapore’s banking sector to adopt such a system as part of its digital efforts to improve service excellence.

    Facial recognition is a growing form of biometrics used to identify and authenticate persons in a wide range of industries. With the widespread usage and acceptance in immigration systems, and secured identity card systems, biometrics is now expanding into commercial applications (e.g. banking, retail etc.).

    Implemented since 4 December 2017, the system instantly identifies OCBC Premier Banking customers in real-time as they approach the lounge in the branch without needing to stop to look at the camera.  This is a very unintrusive approach for the bank to identify them.

    Based on the VIP identification, the system allows the Premier Service Manager (PSM) to promptly identify and greet customers by their preferred name, offer them their preferred drinks and magazines, and, understanding their visit records to promptly deliver services, giving the client a more personalized and pleasant customer journey.

    The Bank can record the purpose of a customer’s visit, gather feedback to help improve services, and understand customer behavior patterns, such as the frequency of their visits.

    The system utilizes NeoFace, NEC’s AI engine for face recognition.

    NeoFace is recognized as the fastest and most accurate algorithm in the world by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the United States*, greatly exceeding all other vendors in both accuracy and speed.

    The NeoFace engine can be used for a variety of applications and scenarios such as:

    -Access control and attendance tracking for staff and visitors in different areas

    -Workstation/console login for more secured access

    -Customer authentication for transactions as a 2nd factor on different channels of financial institutions

    – Seamless online transaction experience using facial recognition for payment authentication

    – For safety reasons; monitoring for individuals on watch lists or tracking people who loiter on the premises

    -Fraud prevention with NEC’s “liveness”** detection

    -Tailored advertising signage and marketing material using facial recognition to understand the age and gender of patrons

    “OCBC is committed to our service quality and implementing facial recognition to elevate the customer experience is one of the first steps that we are doing in the digital economy. Since introducing it, we received positive feedback from customers who were impressed by the personalized hospitality enabled by fast and accurate identification. Going forward, we will evaluate and consider the extension of the capability beyond customer service,” said Mr. Pranav Seth, SVP, Head of E-business, Business Transformation and Fintech & Innovation group, OCBC Bank.

    “We are pleased to work with OCBC Bank to provide this cutting-edge facial recognition solution to help improve the overall delivery of services to their valued clientele. We hope that through this co-creation we have helped OCBC Bank stay competitive in this fast-paced industry where customer experience is key. Moving ahead, we look forward to exploring more innovative and meaningful ideas to help customers digitally transform their businesses through artificial intelligence that includes biometrics and facial recognition,” said Lim Kok Quee, Managing Director and Deputy CEO (ASEAN Sub-Region) of NEC Asia Pacific.

    NEC has been engaged in the development of facial recognition technology for over 30 years. NeoFace® is currently implemented in more than 40 countries by a wide range of public and private organizations.

    Lees ook:

  • OCBC Bank to distribute health insurance via Mobile and Internet Banking

    OCBC Bank to distribute health insurance via Mobile and Internet Banking

    Digitalising the way customers buy health insurance products, OCBC Bank has again launched a first in the digital wealth management space. This first-of-its-kind way of buying a health insurance plan in a few simple clicks via OCBC Bank’s mobile and Internet banking channels makes access to essential health and illness coverage fast and frictionless.

    Typically, health insurance plans like critical illness, disability, hospitalisation and surgical are not sold via online channels as they require a health check-up to evaluate the applicant’s medical condition. However, with Early Cancer Care, eligible OCBC Bank customers simply need to make a health declaration with the click of a button.

    Early Cancer Care is the first health insurance product to be rolled out on OCBC Bank’s mobile and Internet banking channels, with more non-general insurance plans to be added over time. Underwritten by Great Eastern, it is a cancer insurance plan that provides coverage in the event early or major cancer is detected.

    Depending on the plan purchased, upon diagnosis of major cancer, the insured will receive a cancer recovery benefit of up to S$3,000 monthly for six months, and a lump sum benefit of up to S$150,000, which can be used to cover treatment costs. If early-stage cancer is detected first, the insured will receive 40 per cent of the sum assured, cancer recovery benefit for six months, and all future premiums will be waived. The remaining 60 per cent of the sum assured will be paid out if major cancer is diagnosed subsequently.

    OCBC Bank has radically simplified the purchase of health insurance by offering Early Cancer Care via the bank’s mobile and Internet banking channels, while keeping the process private and confidential in a secured environment unlike unsecured webpages touting similar products. Once the customer has logged in via two-factor authentication, their personal information will be pre-populated on the insurance product application form, and they can make payment from their OCBC Bank accounts or credit cards.

    Mr Aditya Gupta, Head of E-Business Singapore, said: “This is a game changer. So far, our customers in Singapore have had to contend with general insurance products being available for purchase online. By offering our customers access to directly buy insurance solutions like Early Cancer Care via our digital channels, we have upped the ante in meeting their insurance needs simply, quickly and securely. It’s the start of what I call ‘democratisation of insurance’.

    Mr Jerry Ng, Head of Bancassurance, said: “Early Cancer Care is probably one of the most important insurance plans you will buy; that’s why we have made buying it easy and paperless for our eligible customers. We will soon be including other insurance products for purchase on our mobile and Internet banking channels. A majority of cancer plans are renewable yearly, with premiums increasing with age. Early Cancer Care provides cancer coverage for both early and major cancer detection, and the premiums do not increase with age throughout the policy term.”

    Mr Roy Tan, Head of Bancassurance, Great Eastern Life Singapore, added: “A key focus for us at Great Eastern is to harness advances in digital technology to better enable our channel partners such as OCBC to deliver our product solutions to customers more efficiently. We will continue to collaborate to create greater value and better experience for all our customers.”

    Lees ook:

  • OCBC Bank Launches Cashless QR Code Payments

    OCBC Bank Launches Cashless QR Code Payments

    OCBC Bank has launched its first standalone mobile payments app which makes QR code cashless payments available at close to 2,500 NETS terminals. The new standalone OCBC Pay Anyone app brings together all OCBC Pay Anyone services and enhancements – peer-to-peer e-payments, QR code payments and access to OCBC Pay Anyone integrated with Apple iPhone’s Siri and iMessage – into a fast and easy one-stop access to e-payments. With the app, customers can simply scan QR codes at participating merchants’ NETS terminals to pay for their purchases directly from their OCBC Bank account. Payments through OCBC Pay Anyone have increased exponentially with a tenfold increase in the amounts paid and almost fourfold increase in average monthly transactions since last year.

    The OCBC Pay Anyone app is available for download on the Apple and Google Play mobile app stores. From 1 June 2017, an OCBC Bank customer can pay for purchases at more than 1,000 merchants (from Robinsons to Zara, Marks & Spencer, Gap, Paradise Classic restaurants, Caltex stations and Gardens by the Bay) by scanning the QR codes on the NETS terminal or printed receipt using the OCBC Pay Anyone app. After authenticating the transaction securely with a fingerprint, the payment is immediately deducted from the customer’s OCBC Bank account and paid to the merchant through NETS. This is unlike mobile wallets which require additional steps to top up the mobile wallet using a bank account. By the end of the year, customers will be able to make QR code payments at more than 50,000 NETS terminals island wide.

    Mr Pranav Seth, OCBC Bank’s Head of E-Business, Business Transformation and Fintech and Innovation Group, said: “It’s a war on cash! OCBC Pay Anyone has been a favourite payment service among our customers, who have embraced the movement away from cash and increasingly adopted paying other individuals using just phone numbers. OCBC Pay Anyone payment volumes have increased 10 times since May last year. Now, we want to bring the same convenience to paying for your regular shopping and meals using QR codes, so we decided to consolidate all of our OCBC Pay Anyone payment services into a standalone mobile app to bring greater convenience to our customers.

    “The launch of QR code cashless payment adds to the suite of OCBC Pay Anyone e-payment services. I believe the pick-up of QR code cashless payments will be strong given the increasing acceptance rate of cashless payments in general over the years. We will continue to push the boundaries in mobile payments and move the needle in becoming a cashless society. We are excited about the new and varied cashless payment options that we will roll out on the OCBC Pay Anyone app.”

    OCBC Bank customers get a $10 rebate for first-time QR code payments

    From 1 June to 30 June, all OCBC Bank customers can enjoy one $10 rebate when they make their first QR code payment using the OCBC Pay Anyone app at Robinsons, Marks & Spencer, Paradise Classic restaurants or Caltex stations.

    Customers simply need to download the OCBC Pay Anyone app, perform the one-time setup and make a purchase of any amount by scanning the QR code on a NETS terminal at Robinsons, Marks & Spencer, Paradise Classic restaurants or Caltex stations. The $10 cash rebate will be credited to the customer’s account in July

    Making a QR code payment with OCBC Pay Anyone

    Once the OCBC Pay Anyone app has been downloaded, customers need to perform a one-time setup to enable payments via the app.

    –       To perform the one-time setup:

    –       Click “Get Started” and tick the box to agree to the app’s terms and conditions

    –       Key in online banking access code and PIN

    –       Enter the one-time password sent to your mobile device and click “submit”

    –       A message will be displayed indicating the successful setup

    –       Click “Next” to proceed with QR code payments

    QR code payments are available on Apple iPhone devices running iOS8 and above, and Samsung devices running on Android 4.4 Kit Kat with the fingerprint recognition feature.

    To make a payment at a participating merchant, customers simply open the OCBC Pay Anyone app, scan the QR code on the merchant’s NETS point-of-sale terminal or on the printed NETS terminal receipt and authenticate the transaction using their fingerprint. The app will prompt the customer to choose the OCBC Bank account to pay from. Once the bank account has been selected, customers click “pay now” to complete the transaction.

    1. Scan the QR code on the NETS point-of-sale terminal or on the printed NETS receipt. Authenticate transaction with fingerprint.
    2. Select OCBC Bank account to pay from, and click ‘Pay Now’.
    3. A successful transaction message will be shown once payment is complete.

    Evolution of OCBC Pay Anyone

    Launched in 2014, OCBC Pay Anyone is the only mobile payment service offered in Singapore that lets customers send money directly to any bank account in Singapore using just the recipient’s mobile number, email address or Facebook account – without having to perform transaction signing using a security token or to add the recipient as a “payee”.

    In September 2016, the daily transfer limit on OCBC Pay Anyone was increased from $100 to $1,000, bringing greater convenience to customers and allowing payments for bigger-ticket items. The average transaction amounts since then grew three-fold. In October 2016, OCBC Bank further enhanced OCBC Pay Anyone by enabling transactions using Apple’s Siri voice command feature and directly within iMessage.

    The number of e-payments performed grew fourfold, and the amounts paid grew tenfold, from a year ago. Seventy per cent of OCBC Pay Anyone users are aged between 16 and 29. OCBC Bank’s market penetration among youths and young adults continues to deepen, with one in every two members of this segment an OCBC Bank customer. The growing popularity of OCBC Pay Anyone requires OCBC Bank to continue innovating so that this e-payment service can deliver beyond the demands of its customers.

    QR code payments are the next phase of mobile contactless payments that OCBC Bank has embraced. The new OCBC Pay Anyone app will no doubt make payments even more convenient and accessible for customers.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Consumer prices fall for 21st straight month in July

    Consumer prices fall for 21st straight month in July

    Consumer prices fell further in July, marking the 21st straight month of decline, according to data released by the Department of Statistics on Tuesday (Aug 23).

    The consumer price index (CPI) fell 0.7 per cent last month, unchanged from the previous month, as a smaller decline in the cost of private road transport offset the impact of lower retail goods prices, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said in a joint statement.

    Private road transport costs fell by 4.4 per cent, compared to the 5.7 per cent decrease a month earlier, largely due to a smaller decline in car prices from a year ago.

    Prices of retail goods fell 0.2 per cent, compared to an increase of 0.5 per cent in June. This was mainly because of steeper discounts on clothing and footwear during the Great Singapore Sale, MAS and MTI said.

    Services inflation was 1.6 per cent, unchanged from the previous month. While the cost of education services rose more sharply, this was offset by a slower pace of increase in holiday travel expenses.

    Food prices rose 2.1 per cent in July. Although there was a stronger pickup in the cost of non-cooked food items, it was offset by a smaller increase in the price of restaurant food.

    The cost of electricity, liquefied petroleum gas and gas fell by 12.7 per cent, compared to the 13.7 per cent decline in June. This was due to a smaller decrease in electricity tariffs on a year-ago basis, the agencies said.

    Core Inflation, which excludes the costs of accommodation and private road transport, fell slightly to 1 per cent from 1.1 per cent in June, due to the fall in retail goods prices.

    Ms Selena Ling, Head of Treasury and Strategy at OCBC Bank, said that the main drags on inflation were familiar.

    “Looking ahead, with headline inflation having likely troughed in the second quarter and likely to creep higher in the coming months, we maintain our full-year inflation forecast of -0.4 percent year-on-year,” she said.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Samsung Pay e-wallet to launch in Singapore on June 16

    Samsung Pay e-wallet to launch in Singapore on June 16

    Samsung Pay, the Korean electronics giant’s e-wallet system, will launch in Singapore on June 16.

    At launch, those holding Visa and MasterCard credit or debit cards issued by POSB Bank, DBS Bank, OCBC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Citibank will be able to use a compatible Samsung phone to pay at almost all retail outlets that accept credit cards.

    Singapore will be only the fifth country to have Samsung Pay. It was launched in South Korea last August, followed by the United States in September. In March this year, Samsung Pay made its debut in China, while it was launched in Spain just earlier this month.

    “We are excited to bring this service to Singapore consumers and we hope to introduce value-added services to drive and lead innovation in mobile commerce,” said Mr Thomas Ko, vice-president and global general manager of Samsung Pay.

    Samsung Pay allows users to register their credit card details on selected Samsung smartphones with Near-Field Communication (NFC) wireless technology. Once registered, users can tap the phones for payment on almost all credit card payment terminals here.

    This is because Samsung Pay uses a proprietary Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technology that works with both traditional magnetic-stripe credit-card terminals and NFC contactless payment terminals.

    Unlike other contactless payment methods that are limited to transactions of $100 or less, Samsung Pay does not have this limit due to its MST technology.

    Four Samsung Galaxy smartphones – the S6 edge+, Note 5, S7 and S7 edge – are compatible with Samsung Pay at launch. Fingerprint authentication is required for each transaction.

    As of February this year, Samsung Pay has over five million registered users and recorded more than US$500 million (S$672 million) worth of transactions globally.

    Rival mobile payment service Apple Pay was launched in April with support for American Express-issued cards only. But as of last month, Apple Pay also accepts Visa and MasterCard credit and debit cards issued in Singapore from five major banks – POSB, DBS Bank, OCBC Bank, UOB Bank and Standard Chartered Bank.

    Apple Pay only works with contactless NFC payment terminals. This limits Apple Pay to only around 30,000 payment terminals in Singapore.

    It also has a $100 cap for most transactions. But UOB has lifted this limit for some merchants, such as Singapore Petroleum Company, Caltex, Metro and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook: