Singapore is home to many ‘firsts’ in the world, from our airport to our passport to being the most expensive Asian city, and now, to the best bank in the world.
Yesterday (11 July), DBS Bank was announced as the ‘World’s Best Bank’ by Euromoney, an established business and finance magazine, at its 2019 Awards For Excellence ceremony.
According to DBS, they are the first Asian-headquartered bank to be named ‘World’s Best Bank’ since the award was launched in 1993.
Clive Horwood, Editor of Euromoney, said DBS was selected because it represents a standard for banks today.
No other institution has worked so hard to embrace and lead digital disruption, and while some banks demonstrate their technological prowess with impressive apps, DBS does so by embedding digital innovation into everything it does – with a tangible positive impact on the bottom line.
Clive Horwood, Editor of Euromoney
“It has achieved this with a clear-sighted focus on sustainability that positions it well for the years ahead.”
This award follows two other titles DBS received last year including Global Finance magazine’s ‘Best Bank in the World’ award and The Banker’s, a publication by Financial Times, ‘Bank of the Year – Global’.
These achievements come as DBS continues its push for digital transformation.
At end-2018, the bank saw 12.1% return on equity – the highest for a developed market bank.
Over 80% of DBS’ open systems were cloud-ready; its API platform had over 350 APIs, business and tech teams were co-drivers in 33 platforms and over 10,000 employees were trained on a data-driven curriculum.
DBS is also leveraging on its digital strengths by supporting sustainable businesses with its innovations.
The bank launched HeveaConnect, a digital trading marketplace for sustainable rubber, and continued to grow its mobile-only offering, Digibank, in India and Indonesia.
Digibank in India has acquired more than 2.5 million customers, using only one-fifth of the manpower compared to physical banks, while the Digibank in Indonesia now has over 460,000 customers.
DBS also provided green loans, sustainability performance-linked loans, and renewable energy financing amounting to more than S$2.4 billion in 2018.
This year, they inked Singapore’s first sustainability-linked loan for an SME with Chew’s Agriculture, a leading egg producer in Singapore, and Taiwan’s first sustainability-linked loan with electronics manufacturer AU Optronics.
This achievement underlines widespread recognition for our leadership in defining the future of banking, and our commitment to deliver a purpose beyond banking to create a more sustainable future.
Piyush Gupta, DBS CEO
Featured Image Credit: DBS Bank
