UOB chief's pay rises 12% to S$10.56m in 2018

Singapore

UNITED Overseas Bank (UOB) chief executive Wee Ee Cheong was paid S$10.56 million in 2018, up 12 per cent from the S$9.4 million he got in 2017.

Most of his pay package came from his bonus, which rose to S$9.33 million from S$8.14 million in 2017, according to the bank's annual report on Wednesday. Mr Wee owns 10.61 per cent of UOB.

In 2016, Mr Wee had his pay reduced by 8.7 per cent to S$8.4 million - as did the other two local banks' chiefs - as the oil rout forced them to take higher allowances for bad loans to customers in the offshore and marine segment.

Last Thursday, DBS Group Holdings disclosed in its annual report that chief executive Piyush Gupta received a 15.5 per cent pay raise to S$11.9 million for 2018. The bulk of his pay came from increases in his cash bonus and share plan to S$4.5 million and S$6.1 million, respectively.

UOB's net profit and revenue hit record highs last year, as efforts to tap intra-regional flows bore fruit. The bank saw a three-fold increase in deposit inflows in the past three years, with cross-border revenue making up 25 per cent of its wholesale banking income.

Against this backdrop, the bank also grew its permanent workforce to 25,250 in 2018, up from 24,146 in the previous year.

In 2019, the bank said it expects market volatility to remain elevated, with key risks coming from ongoing US-China trade tensions, US fiscal and monetary policy settings, and a slowing China.

In its financial results briefing in February, UOB had said it also expects mid single-digit growth for both loans and fee income, and net interest margin to be flat or see "limited potential upside" this year.

Bank lending in Singapore may have increased by 0.2 per cent in February, but housing loans shrank for the first time since 2006, according to preliminary figures from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

UOB has also been making an e-payments push, adding 112 near field communication contactless ATMs in Singapore last year, which now make up 60 per cent of the bank's ATM network.

On Wednesday, UOB also released the findings of a survey which found that two in three commuters in Singapore plan to use credit or debit cards for contactless transit payments.

UOB was among the parties who piloted the Land Transport Authority's SimplyGo initiative, which allows commuters to pay for bus or train fares using contactless bank cards. The initiative will be made available starting with all Mastercard users on Thursday. (see amendment note)

The bank currently processes all card payments made at the fare readers.

Amendment note: UOB clarified that SimplyGo is an initiative by the Land Transport Authority, not by the bank. Instead, UOB was one of those who helped pilot the initiative.