OCBC makes foray into metaverse to engage Roblox generation

THE metaverse community on Wednesday (Apr 5) welcomed its newest player, OCBC, with the local lender’s launch of OCBCx65Chulia on metaverse platform Decentraland.

Named after the bank’s headquarters’ address on 65 Chulia Street, the initiative aims to improve financial literacy among bank customers aged 18 to 25; it is also an alternative way for Web 3.0 enthusiasts to access OCBC’s suite of banking services.

Customers logging onto the platform will find links to services such as applying for a credit card, or opening a current or savings account. They may also customise their own avatar, or chat with other users in the virtual world – as is done in other metaverse applications.

OCBC said that the platform was part of a ground-up initiative by its own staff under an “internal innovation sprint” that was part of the bank’s digitalisation and transformation efforts.

It had noted that many of its younger customers were enticed by metaverse gaming, with online game platform Roblox and metaverse platform Bondee gaining traction shortly after they were launched.

Members of the bank staff then translated the idea into practice, in collaboration with Web3 firm Memotics and students from Nanyang Polytechnic, to design OCBCx65Chulia. The team said that they worked on 43 iterations of the platform and improved each version before it went live on Tuesday.

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Peter Koh, head of group technology architecture at OCBC, said that he believes the metaverse to be a new way for people to make connections, although the nascent space is one that the bank is still working to understand.

He also views the platform as an opening for some of his younger colleagues to learn how to create a metaverse platform on their own.

OCBC’s foray into the metaverse is not unique to the finance industry. Fidelity International similarly announced the launch of its own metaverse experience on Decentraland just the day before. The platform aims to encourage financial literacy, including the principles of financial planning, money management and investing, said Fidelity International.

Last September, DBS announced a partnership with decentralised virtual gaming platform The Sandbox, to create DBS BetterWorld, under the bank’s drive to “continually explore the potential of Web 3.0 opportunities”.