During the circuit breaker, online banking saw a surge in activity, with many customers, especially seniors, going digital for the first time. Initiatives by OCBC to encourage seniors to bank online include a Chinese-language version of the bank's mobile app and a feature that enables online placement of fixed deposits. Concerted campaigns with simplified and intuitive user journeys were launched to help our seniors understand online banking and reap the benefits and convenience of banking digitally.
Such efforts have paid off, as users aged between 50 and 64 now make up about one in five of OCBC's active digital customers. Those aged 64 years old and above have also been the fastest-growing digital adopters. The bank's most recent data showed a 48 per cent jump in average digital transactions among those in this age group between end-Q1 2019 and Q3 2020.
'Beyond banking' partnerships to address healthcare concerns
Rising healthcare costs and inadequate medical coverage are key concerns in everyday life, made even more pressing by the pandemic. Based on the bank's estimates, about 1.2 million people in the working population of Singapore have gaps in their outpatient medical coverage.
In partnership with healthcare providers, OCBC has ventured beyond banking to address this societal demand. Through HealthPass by OCBC, a health and wellness app, both OCBC and non-OCBC customers can receive affordable and accessible healthcare services, from healthcare partners. Within the app, users can engage doctors via video consultations. It offers an extensive network of over a hundred doctors with whom users can book video consultations and in-clinic visits. This includes general practitioners (GPs) and healthcare specialists across several wellness modalities, including gynaecology and paediatrics. Since its launch in late June, the app has surpassed 100,000 downloads.
Cutting-edge digital business banking capabilities
To help businesses grow and remain competitive in a rapidly changing landscape, OCBC Digital Business Banking provides a full suite of advanced tools and features. The bank is the first in Singapore to integrate business financial management capabilities into its Digital Business Banking platform, OCBC Velocity. It includes tools such as cash-flow visualisation and free unlimited e-invoicing. OCBC Velocity, through the Digital Business Dashboard, also integrates a wide range of business apps seamlessly such as popular business accounting apps like Xero and QuickBooks, as well as e-commerce services such as Shopify.
Furthermore, the OCBC OneCollect app helps merchants collect payments in real-time through PayNow QR. This helps merchants buy, sell and operate better - they no longer need to verify if customers have paid at the point of sale, wait for days to receive payment, or waste time on paper-based reconciliation.
Another digital solution is the bank's integration of PayNow into Google Pay, which has been rolled out to Android™️ and iOS users. This enables individuals to transfer money to each other once they link their OCBC accounts to Google Pay. The solution was later extended to enable customers to make payments to merchants for goods and services through UEN or PayNow QR codes.
Another business platform is the bank's award-winning trade financing solutions. Through FX online, users can view live FX streaming prices and book real-time FX rates 24 hours a day, from Monday to Friday, covering all major currencies.
OCBC Bank is also connected to Singapore Customs' Electronic Banker's Guarantee Programme via the Networked Trade Platform. This allows Banker's Guarantee data to be submitted electronically and securely.
