Dbs Bank: Gaining the Hearts and Pockets of Singaporeans
Edward Charles Gador May 24, 2013
MarkMan, M10
WAC2: DBS Bank
The Problem
DBS CEO, Jackson Tai, needed to formulate a strategy to arrest the negative consumer sentiment brought about by the merger between DBS and Singapore’s Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) and from attempts to remove the identity of POSB from the market while, at the same time, keeping the bank competitive both locally and internationally.
The Situation and Analysis
Jackson Tai had just become the CEO of the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS), the largest bank in Singapore and Southeast Asia. Between 1998 and 2001, DBS had acquired six financial institutions around the region. Incidentally, this was also the time when the bank has seen a change in leadership three times in a span of only three years.
Singapore is known throughout the world as an economic powerhouse despite its small size. Likewise, its banking sector is known to be robust, well regulated and competently managed. In 1999, the government liberalized the banking sector and instituted reforms to free up entry to domestic wholesale banking, enhance competition in retail banking, and place safeguards needed for the industry. Foreign banks could now own more than 40% of domestic banks and were allowed to expand operations to compete with local banks. Local banks, on the other hand, were encouraged to consolidate their businesses to meet the challenges of international competition and global expansion.
DBS played a key role in the government’s strategy to expand abroad as Singapore’s home market for retail banking has reached saturation. Following a series of mergers and acquisitions initiated by reforms, the country’s local banks have moved up the Asian ranking lists although still falling below their counterparts in the region. Despite regional expansion, Singaporean banks remained relatively small.
There is pressure, therefore, for the local banks to compete with international banks. This forced banks to
MarkMan, M10
WAC2: DBS Bank
The Problem
DBS CEO, Jackson Tai, needed to formulate a strategy to arrest the negative consumer sentiment brought about by the merger between DBS and Singapore’s Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) and from attempts to remove the identity of POSB from the market while, at the same time, keeping the bank competitive both locally and internationally.
The Situation and Analysis
Jackson Tai had just become the CEO of the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS), the largest bank in Singapore and Southeast Asia. Between 1998 and 2001, DBS had acquired six financial institutions around the region. Incidentally, this was also the time when the bank has seen a change in leadership three times in a span of only three years.
Singapore is known throughout the world as an economic powerhouse despite its small size. Likewise, its banking sector is known to be robust, well regulated and competently managed. In 1999, the government liberalized the banking sector and instituted reforms to free up entry to domestic wholesale banking, enhance competition in retail banking, and place safeguards needed for the industry. Foreign banks could now own more than 40% of domestic banks and were allowed to expand operations to compete with local banks. Local banks, on the other hand, were encouraged to consolidate their businesses to meet the challenges of international competition and global expansion.
DBS played a key role in the government’s strategy to expand abroad as Singapore’s home market for retail banking has reached saturation. Following a series of mergers and acquisitions initiated by reforms, the country’s local banks have moved up the Asian ranking lists although still falling below their counterparts in the region. Despite regional expansion, Singaporean banks remained relatively small.
There is pressure, therefore, for the local banks to compete with international banks. This forced banks to