OCBC Group: Greater than the sum of its parts

Business Times

a day ago

MORE than nine decades after three struggling banks merged for survival in the Great Depression, OCBC Group has honed the art of being greater than the sum of its parts. This, and its long-standing presence in Asia's most dynamic markets, drives its 'One Group' push today.
That is the heart of OCBC's corporate strategy, refreshed in 2022, which focuses on capturing ASEAN-Greater China trade and investment flows and rising Asian wealth – trends OCBC expects will continue for years to come. The payoff is clear: 2024 marked the group's third consecutive year of record earnings, which hit S$7.59 billion.
It is testament to the group being in the right place, at the right time, with the right approach to capture opportunities by working as One Group.
Deep Asean-Greater China roots
And where it is today is the result of a Greater China and Asean network built up over decades, with roots in key markets that predate its own 1932 founding.
Three Hokkien banks in Singapore – Chinese Commercial Bank, Ho Hong Bank and Oversea-Chinese Bank – merged to form OCBC when their 1920s prosperity crumbled due to plummeting rubber prices and foreign exchange losses. But they had expanded regionally by then.
Hence, when OCBC opened its Chulia Street doors in 1933, it did so as the Straits Settlement's strongest and largest local bank — with 17 branches across Malaya, the Dutch Indies, China and Hong Kong.
The China Building was officially opened in January 1932 to house the Chinese Commercial Bank and the Oversea-Chinese Bank. It became the headquarters of OCBC when the two banks merged with Ho Hong Bank. Ex-OCBC chairman Lee Kong Chian often hosted contemporaries to lunch at the Garden Club, located at the top floor.
In Singapore, OCBC expanded from commercial banking to develop expertise in investment banking, fund management, and the fiercely competitive retail banking space. From financing post-war rebuilding and rapid industrialisation to Singapore's rise as a financial services hub, OCBC was there.
OCBC pioneered local banking innovations too – from Singapore's first 'mobile bank' bussing into suburbs in 1958, to the first 24-hour cash withdrawal ATM in the 1980s, and in the last decade, biometric authentication and a full suite of cross-border mobile payments.
In August 1958, OCBC launched the mobile bank in a refurbished coach that plied its then state-of-the-art banking services around Singapore.
In Malaysia, branches opened in Penang, Muar and Malacca in 1917 laid the foundations for OCBC Malaysia's 1994 incorporation and OCBC Al-Amin's 2008 establishment as the first Singapore-based Islamic bank in Malaysia.
In Indonesia, OCBC – which has had a Sumatra branch since the 1920s – was the first Singapore bank to acquire an Indonesian banking stake. It now holds 85 per cent of Bank NISP, while its 2024 acquisition of PT Bank Commonwealth extends its wealth management presence.
On mainland China, OCBC has had an uninterrupted 100-year presence since opening a branch in Xiamen in 1925. As at March 31, 2025, OCBC China operates 15 branches across 14 mainland cities.
Positioned to follow flows
With over 340 branches and representative offices in Asean and over 50 in Greater China, the group is poised to effectively capture today's trade and investment flows.
Asean and China were each other's largest trading partner for a fifth consecutive year in 2024, with bilateral trade in goods exceeding US$980 billion. Amid an uncertain US tariff regime and ongoing supply chain shifts, Asean continues to attract foreign direct investment.
Chinese companies are moving from 'China-plus-one' to 'China-plus-n' strategies, simultaneously investing across multiple Asean markets, group chief executive Helen Wong noted in OCBC's 2024 annual report. They target Vietnam for general manufacturing, Malaysia for advanced manufacturing, and Indonesia for its large population and natural resources.
This key customer segment – Chinese companies expanding into Asean – grew nearly 30 per cent year-on-year in 2024. They are served by OCBC's twin hubs: its Singapore headquarters finance and manage regional investments, while Hong Kong serves as a first stop for Chinese fundraising.
Strategic, integrated advantage
OCBC Group today spans six commercial banks across key growth markets (Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau), Islamic bank OCBC Al-Amin, regional private bank Bank of Singapore, South-east Asian asset manager Lion Global Investors, securities house OCBC Securities and leasing unit Pac Lease. It also owns a large part of Great Eastern Holdings (GEH), the oldest and most established life insurance group in Singapore and Malaysia. In addition, the group holds the maximum permissible 20 per cent stake in associate Bank of Ningbo, one of China's 20 systemically important banks.
OCBC's international network in Europe, Australia and the US is equally important as it supports corporate customers seeking new markets and establishes a presence in global financial markets.
Operating as a comprehensive financial services group thus differentiates OCBC from bank-only players in the region.
Under Wong's leadership, OCBC has emphasised a One Group approach to drive synergy by leveraging the collective strengths of the OCBC franchise and offering customers a holistic solution across the OCBC network. 'This composition and synergistic nature of OCBC Group is not easily replicated. It is the result of deliberate, strategic moves over decades,' said Wong in the annual report.
Its wealth management franchise exemplifies this. OCBC's 2010 acquisition of ING Asia Private Bank created Bank of Singapore, enabling seamless customer progression from consumer banking through Premier Banking and Premier Private Client to ultra-high net worth services.
Combined assets under management from OCBC Bank, Bank of Singapore and Great Eastern Holdings now position the group among the region's largest wealth managers too.
Great Eastern represents another strategic integration. The relationship, which dates to the 1950s, deepened in 1992 when Great Eastern became the first insurer to be an exclusive bancassurance partner of OCBC. Over the years, this relationship has become more tightly woven.
With this strong relationship comes synergies which would enable OCBC to offer a comprehensive suite of banking, wealth, health, and protection products to both customer bases. In Singapore, 70 per cent of Great Eastern customers hold OCBC products, while 30 per cent of OCBC customers hold a Great Eastern policy.
OCBC's long-standing conviction has thus been that more can be achieved with Great Eastern as a close-knit part of the group.
Singapore's heritage bank
The year Singapore gained independence, 1965, was also when Lee Kong Chian – OCBC's chairman since World War II's end – retired after leading OCBC through Singapore's postwar rebuilding as it grew into a leading regional financial institution.
So quickly did the bank outgrow its distinctive China Building that by 1970 it was demolished to make way for new headquarters. OCBC Centre – built on the same enlarged plot of land – was Singapore's first building by renowned architect I.M. Pei. Completed in 1976 as South-east Asia's tallest building, it is now a National Heritage Board historic site.
Today, six stained-glass panels preserved from the old China Building overlook the main hall's ATMs – three depict commerce, industry and farming, and three show scenes from the bank's early history. Their preservation speaks of how the founders' vision of OCBC as a pillar of society – one that thrives when society is served and enriched – lives on.
'While we must move quickly with our transformation efforts, I would like to emphasise the importance of having our purpose and values at the heart of every decision. That is non-negotiable,' Wong said in the 2024 annual report. 'We have and will always put our customers, community and shareholders first.'
Leveraging Gen AI, setting sights on quantum computing revolution
Early adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) is paying off for OCBC, which is now readying itself for quantum computing – potentially the next banking revolution.
Singapore's first bank to establish an AI unit back in 2018, OCBC has significantly expanded in-house capabilities and is set to leverage generative AI (Gen AI).
'While business adoption remains relatively early stage, compared to cloud computing or applied AI, we have seen promising results and have strong conviction in its business value,' group chief executive Helen Wong writes in OCBC's 2024 annual report.
To date, over 35 Gen AI applications have been deployed across the group, yielding productivity gains of up to 50 per cent.
2024 also marked multiple market firsts for OCBC, notably Singapore's first AI-driven stock picker tool, A.I. Oscar. In the three months after its launch, the tool – which generates hyper-personalised stock ideas using a customer's profile and trading history – helped boost new OCBC Securities trading accounts by 95 per cent year-on-year.
OCBC has set concrete 2027 targets. By then, it wants 75 per cent of all customer service requests to be AI-assisted, AI-support for every employee to raise staff productivity by 20 per cent, and a doubling of revenue attributable to AI.
Also slated for 2027 completion is its innovation hub, OCBC Punggol, part of the group's S$500 million investment in Singapore's Punggol Digital District. This includes a partnership with Singapore Institute of Technology to drive fintech innovation and talent development.
OCBC Punggol is slated for completion in 2027.
OCBC now looks ahead to quantum computing, with which it sees potential to supercharge Gen AI and revolutionise banking, says Praveen Raina, its head of group operations and technology. The Singapore government has recognised this too, committing nearly S$300 million to quantum technology research and talent development.
OCBC has a dedicated team exploring finance applications of quantum algorithms, such as derivative pricing and portfolio optimisation. In addition, more than 100 employees will receive specialised quantum technology training by 2026.
Partnerships are critical as OCBC prepares for the next technological frontier. In malicious hands, the superior computational power of quantum technology and decryption could devastate current cybersecurity systems.
'If banks do not act now, we might as well leave the vault door wide open,' Raina warns. OCBC is working with the Monetary Authority of Singapore and industry partners on quantum-powered cyber defences.
'We keep a very close eye on new developments and trends that are set to disrupt the banking industry in the next decade,' Raina says. 'Our vision is a future where our people do not just work alongside emerging technologies – they lead with them.'