OCBC's tech investments poised to boost growth prospects

Its in house AI unit is set to improve operating efficiency.

OCBC’s staggered tech initiatives are charting a positive growth trajectory for the bank as the combined efforts to digitise its systems are set to improve operating efficiency in the long-run, according to UOB Kay Hian.

This includes a move by the Singaporean bank to power its in-house AI unit, AI Lab@TOV, with a $10m investment to drive AI adoption across its commercial banking services.

UOB also lauds the bank’s tech investments in its app as retail customers are now able to do their banking transactions and cashless payments using only their voice using OCBC Mobile Banking and OCBC Pay Anyone apps using virtual assistant Siri.

“It is encouraging to see OCBC embarking on many IT initiatives to improve efficiency,” said UOB analyst Jonathan Koh.

The report also points out that the bank can further boost productivity by trimming its headcount with intensified IT investments as it posts the largest headcount at 29,174 amongst local banks.