OCBC named best managed bank during Covid-19: Asian Banker

OCBC has been named the best managed bank during the Covid-19 crisis at this year's Asian Banker Leadership Achievement Awards.

Its chief executive officer Samuel Tsien also won the Leadership Achievement Award for best Covid-19 response in Singapore.

In a statement on Thursday, the Asian Banker said OCBC had rolled out various relief measures to support its customers, including the deferment of loan repayments.

The bank extended moratorium relief across the region that amounted to US$19.4 billion, or S$27 billion, of which 88 per cent are secured. This accounted for about 10 per cent of its total loans. In Singapore, 6.8 per cent of total loans are under moratorium, with 96 per cent secured.

Other measures include lowering interest for personal unsecured credit, waiver of fall-below bank account service fees and failed Giro deduction charges, and extension of debt consolidation plan loan tenure.

The Asian Banker said Mr Tsien drove the bank's digitalisation efforts during the crisis that saw "significant" enhancements in operational resilience and security, process efficiency as well as customer experience.

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The bank saw a sharp uptake in the adoption of digital banking services in the first half of 2020, with more than 100,000 new users of its digital banking services. The number of accounts opened by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and consumers digitally grew 1.8 times and two times respectively from a year ago.

PayNow Corporate transactions jumped 8.7 times, while SME loans applied digitally stood at 42 per cent, up from 20 per cent a year ago.

Amid the bleak job market, OCBC in June announced plans to hire more than 3,000 workers and said none of its 30,000 employees will lose their jobs due to the pandemic.

The bank also offered over US$1.8 million worth of aid to help health workers, seniors, migrant workers and needy families affected by the pandemic.

The Asian Banker's annual Leadership Achievement Awards programme focuses on the performance of CEOs/chairmen and boards in the financial services industry in the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.