StanChart customers to ‘gain from wider range of services’ after move to Trust Bank: digital bank CEO

[SINGAPORE] Customers who will be transferred to Trust Bank from Standard Chartered (StanChart) will stand to gain from a wider range of rewards and services than they did before, said Trust Bank chief executive Dwaipayan Sadhu.

“The two banks are going to focus on what they are really good at,” Sadhu said, noting that Trust is known for its digital retail financial services while StanChart focuses on wealth management.

This comes as customers are increasingly using Trust as their primary bank, Sadhu said in an interview on Thursday (Aug 13).

Its credit card activation rates are in excess of 85 per cent, and its cards are used on an average of 25 times a month, he noted.

Sadhu pointed out that Trust has built a “very strong suite” of digital innovation since its launch, and StanChart clients will be able to benefit from the whole suite once they move over in October.

In July, StanChart said that it will transfer part of its credit card and personal loan clients to Trust Bank in a bid to deepen both banks’ combined abilities to serve retail banking clients in Singapore.

Sadhu declined to comment on the number of customers being moved, or how many of them are new to the bank.

He also could not comment on further collaborations, although he said that Trust will continue to “work very closely” with StanChart.

Sadhu was speaking at the sidelines of the launch of the bank’s revamped credit card. On Thursday, Trust announced that it was adding stockback benefits to its cashback card – where customers can earn rewards that go into fractional investment whenever they spend.

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The bank is also looking to offer miles as rewards in the next two to three months.

To increase flexibility and convenience, a single card will offer all benefits – customers just need to choose the rewards programme they want, with the option to switch every quarter.

Trust is the first in Singapore to offer stockback as a rewards programme for credit cards, although online brokerage Tiger Brokers has a similar offering for debit cards. The Tiger Boss debit card awards fractional shares per spending.

Commenting on competition, especially in the investing space, Sadhu said that Trust “cannot be compared” with any other fintechs or financial organisations, given its range of products and services.

Since its launch in 2022, the digital bank has grown from offering debit and credit cards, to providing unsecured personal loans, distributing funds and insurance, and facilitating trading and investment of US stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

“Clients are not using us only for one product; they are increasingly using us for multiple products, and they’re using us very, very frequently,” he explained.

Sadhu said that the bank has already started offering London-domiciled ETFs in July, and will look to offer Singapore-listed stocks some time in the next few months.

Investing habits among Singaporeans

The revamped credit card rides on the results of its recent survey of investing habits among Singaporeans.

Lack of confidence is the biggest barrier to investing among non-investors in Singapore, according to Trust’s Everyday Investor Report released on Thursday.

Some 44 per cent of respondents are worried about losing money, and 41 per cent said that they do not know enough to feel confident.

Some 38 per cent also said that they do not know where and how to start investing.

Meanwhile, life priorities and market uncertainty are the main drivers of investor attrition.

Some 40 per cent of those who stopped investing said that they needed money for other expenses. Some 30 per cent said that the market made them nervous, and 27 per cent said that they lost money and became cautious.

Nevertheless, Trust pointed out that investing is mainstream among young everyday Singapore residents, with 51 per cent aged 18 to 40 actively investing today.

Investors are also starting earlier, with 74 per cent of active 18 to 24-year-old investors making their first investment by age 20.

Artificial intelligence is becoming part of the investing journey, with AI chatbots the third most-used investing tool after watch lists and price alerts.

Trust’s study was conducted among 1,050 Singapore residents aged 18 to 40 between May and June 2026.