Can Singapore banks find formula for growth and dividend?

SHAREHOLDERS of banks would be cheered by the stronger dividend payout from all three Singapore banks this year, with two of the three also issuing special dividends following greater clarity from regulators on capital structures.

But what should weigh increasingly on shareholders' minds is how competitive the banks are today, or have to be, in order to sustain dividend payouts in the years ahead.

With the shareholders' meeting coming up, there are three key questions that shareholders should ask all three banks to understand how the lenders are growing efficiently.

Firstly, how are the banks tackling the commoditised nature of the business, such as mortgages and credit cards, or in acquiring sticky customer deposits that - all things being equal - would give it a lift in net interest margins as rates head h…