Fee income, recovery in loan growth are key drivers for Singapore banks in 2026

[SINGAPORE] Fee income and a recovery in loan growth will likely be the key earnings drivers for the three local banks – DBS, OCBC and UOB – in 2026 as net interest income continues to fall, analysts said.

Meanwhile, wealth management will probably remain the biggest contributor to non-interest income growth. But analysts also believe other non-interest income segments can become bigger contributors in the year ahead as interest rates decline.

“This year, non-interest income was largely just the wealth segment picking up steam, while the other contributors weren’t really there yet,” said Thilan Wickramasinghe, Maybank Securities’ head of research and regional financials.