OCBC holds digital workshop for the elderly
Event is part of an initiative that aims to equip 10,000 ‘digitally shy’ elders with digital banking skills
OCBC kicked off the official launch of its digital workshop this year for the elderly on Jun 15 with a carnival held at Bishan Community Club.
This is in line with the expansion of its OCBC Digital Silvers Programme.
The event attracted more than 800 seniors, who picked up skills – such as learning how to make digital payments – using a gamified approach. Participants were also taught to spot the signs of various online scams.
Jean Oh, head of Branch Service and Risk Management, OCBC, noted the importance for banks to run digital literacy programmes, adding: “It is a win-win for both the bank and customers when they know how to bank online safely. It is convenient and, in many instances, much faster than going to the branch since you do not need to wait for your turn. The reality is that there are fewer physical branches than there were before, and we want to help as many elderly as possible get started on their digital journey as soon as possible.
“Also, as a bank, our goal is to help grow our customers’ money – part of that means helping them to protect their money – and that’s why having our customers know how to protect themselves from scams and using tools like OCBC Money Lock is very important to achieving that goal.”
Hence, the OCBC Digital Silvers Programme aims to equip 10,000 “digitally shy” elderly people – those who do not use much technology, including digital bank apps, due to a lack of confidence or feeling overwhelmed by the speed of changes – by the end of 2024 with digital banking skills and scam prevention awareness.
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To reach this target, the bank will go beyond conducting workshops in its branches to host mini carnivals and outreach activities at various community nodes such as community centres and pavilions in public housing estates.
OCBC has planned at least five such community events this year, starting with the one at Bishan Community Club.
Sunny Quek, head of OCBC’s Global Consumer Financial Services, said: “The Digital Silvers programme is now in its third year, and we are heartened by the results of our consistent educational efforts.”
The bank said that it is confident that the expanded programme will continue to yield good results with noticeable changes in participant behaviour within the first 60 days of attending the workshop.
Among past attendees, the proportion of customers who physically went to a branch for basic banking needs dropped by 76 per cent. PayNow transactions among this group also surged by 28 per cent.
Also, OCBC added that none of the workshop participants reported being a victim of a scam to OCBC, demonstrating that the programme goes some way in increasing the resilience of elderly customers against scams.
Participant Kong Kam Kay said: “When it comes to digital banking, we have no choice. We must learn or be left behind. I wanted to find out how to adjust payment transfer limits for my bank account, and the OCBC staff helped walk me through.”
The 64-year-old added that it would be good if all organisations, not just the banks, take the elderly into consideration when it comes to digital payments.
“Please consider putting your signs in different languages, printing your prices in bigger font. It would really help us older folks feel more a part of this new world.”
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