Digibank by DBS sets new digital banking standards

Apart from speed and convenience, DBS stays ahead with exceptional personalisation, open banking, and enhanced security.

Whilst other banks’ digital services remain focused on individual areas, digibank by DBS claims to offer the best comprehensive digital services. Erline Diani, Head of Digital Banking at PT Bank DBS Indonesia, highlighted this as part of their “Live more, Bank less” mission, setting them apart from other banks.

“Starting from payment features, savings and investment options, to loan facilities and credit cards, all are accessible through a single application. Entirely branchless and paperless,” Diani told Asian Banking and Finance in a recent interview.

Diani said the digibank by DBS is the only one of its kind capable of providing quick loan processes, whether through instant credit card services, instant loan approval, or instant pay-later facilities.

Instant process

“We transformed our process that usually takes one week to 10 working days for loan disbursement. Now, we can do it within a maximum of 10 minutes,” Diani said. These 10 minutes include the data entry process, obtaining credit approval, and the loan transfer to the customer’s account or the availability of the customer’s virtual credit card.

 For credit approvals requiring verification, DBS employs a credit-decisioning engine, including live verification within the data. Additionally, to ensure the legitimacy of applications, it uses a fraud prevention engine with data pattern analysis.

 Face recognition is also used in the e-KYC (Electronic Know Your Customer) process, integrated with government population data. “So, we can verify if the application is genuinely made by a real customer,” Diani said.

The digibank by DBS also offers another instant option through virtual credit card technology and bank transfer Application Programming Interface (API) for instant disbursement.

By streamlining processes, DBS ensures that its customers not only have convenient access to financial services but also have the means to grow their portfolios and meet their lifestyle needs, said Diani.

Service democratisation

It would be incomplete for the digibank by DBS if it did not provide affordability. “Currently, we offer unlimited fee-free transfers, attractive deposit rates competitive with the market, and investment products starting from 100 thousand rupiahs,” Diani told Asian Banking and Finance.

“One unique aspect, probably not widely available among other competitors, is secondary and primary bond trading. Usually, such transactions involve several steps, including branch visits and various registration processes,” Diani explained.

 It is in this aspect that digibank by DBS provides affordability. For example, in the secondary bond market, trading often requires a minimum share of 50 million rupiahs. Through this digital bank, the service has been democratised to allow trading to start with only 1 million rupiahs, Diani said.

 The next differentiating factor lies in the diversity of product offerings. Again, she emphasised that the fundamental aspect of a digital bank is to simplify customer budgeting and provide access to optimal investment products.

As a major player in personal wealth, digibank by DBS offers various wealth management products. Its “DBS Treasures” banking proposition remains robust, managing one of the largest funds.

 “By utilising this, we provide various products through digital means, catering to various customer needs and profiles. This is our current difference,” said Diani.

Security measures

Switching to the topic of security, Diani assured that it is a primary focus especially given the rapidly evolving digital security landscape. “Our bank, which has consecutively received the title of ‘Safest Bank in Asia’ for 15 years, affirms our commitment to digital security,” she said.

digibank by DBS has several security steps, including biometric verification, involving fingerprint and facial recognition, both connected to the government’s population database. In addition it has “soft tokens” that limit access to the digital platform from specific devices.

Regarding authentication, DBS employs the standard two-factor authentication for all transactions.

However, Diani mentioned that they further tighten security by implementing measures to prevent their application from running on “jailbroken” devices. “This is important in combating emerging threats like malware,” she said.

Ongoing efforts in securing the digital bank’s backend include continuous monitoring to detect suspicious transactions, enabling DBS to provide early warnings to customers.

“In addition to these measures, we strongly believe that educating customers is crucial. Educating them about ongoing trends and ways to protect their data is equally important as securing our application,” said Diani.

She said digibank by DBS utilises its main features to deepen customer relationships and enhance customer engagement. This deeper engagement involves data analysis, categorising customers into segments based on their needs, ensuring clear communication on optimising their experience with the digital bank.

“When we observe customers actively saving, it indicates an opportunity to improve or expand their portfolios. If a customer uses standard instruments such as deposits, we understand that other instruments might potentially generate higher profits in the longer term. This is where cross-selling comes in,” said Diani.

By introducing different instruments, they can optimise customer portfolios. “For example, if we see a customer leading an active lifestyle through their transactions, we might offer a ‘pay later’ option to improve their cash flow comfort,” said Diani.

If a customer usually transacts but hasn’t explored other features, DBS will educate them by informing them about high-interest savings accounts and the ease of categorising savings. “We actively educate customers about such features,” Diani noted.

Enhanced personalisation

Diani emphasised the importance of data analysis for personalisation, stating, “Personalisation is key to our future competitiveness.” To do this, digibank by DBS group customers based on profiles, behavior, and needs. Then artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) are implemented to identify the best offers for each customer.

From there on, digibank by DBS gathered feedback from customers and learned how they respond to each offer to provide better and more tailored services to cater to their needs.

These personalisation strategies rely on big data analysis. User Interface and User Experience (UI/UX) form the foundation of DBS solutions, ensuring user-friendly navigation without the need for guides.

“We aim to maintain a friendly language in our communication and in our banking features, avoiding overly technical terms,” said Diani.

Digital ecosystem

Regarding the digital ecosystem, DBS focuses on two main pillars beginning with the lending ecosystem which involves partnerships with fintech and e-commerce platforms for seamless loan distribution.

The second pillar is open banking, using APIs to extend reach and collaborate with fintech partners for wider product accessibility.

Meanwhile, Diani said the digibank by DBS’ future improvement focus lies on three key areas that would keep it ahead:

·         Personalisation: A distinguishing feature in the digital landscape;

·         Open banking: Strengthening collaboration with fintech, wealthtech, and e-commerce for “invisible” yet accessible services;

·         Enhanced security: A crucial commitment to evolving security measures for customer protection.

“The rapid evolution of security measures is an aspect that cannot be ignored from our commitment to our customers,” concluded Diani.