Financial products and payment services will soon be available at online classifieds site Carousell, thanks to a new initiative with DBS Bank.

It is not yet clear what DBS will be offering on Carousell, but it follows moves by the bank to strengthen its presence in the digital economy.

DBS is an investor in Carousell, having been a part of the company's latest Series C fund-raising round, which raised US$85 million (S$113 million).

The bank's group chief executive Piyush Gupta said: "DBS has been leveraging digital technology and innovation to seamlessly integrate banking into the lives of customers.

"We are stepping up our participation in ecosystems, improving the customer journey and using data to inform our offerings. The investment in Carousell further builds on that."

Carousell's mobile app, which enables anyone with a smartphone to buy and sell online, serves 19 major cities in seven markets in Asia. It has around 144 million listings.

It was reported earlier that industry figures said the US$85 million raised in the Series C round was the largest amount in the online classifieds space regionally.

It is also seen as being high for a six-year-old start-up that is loss-making and which implemented revenue models such as listing fees and advertising partnerships only in the past year.

The Carousell marketplace has expanded beyond pre-loved items to include cars, property, jobs, services and finance over the past year.

"We are thrilled to add DBS as an investment partner and look forward to a long collaborative relationship," said the firm's co-founder and chief executive Siu Rui Quek. "We are excited to work together to make buying, selling and connecting with one another faster and simpler than ever."

DBS has tied up with a range of partners over recent years to offer more integrated banking processes.

Last year, it launched DBS Car Marketplace, Singapore's largest direct seller-to-buyer car market, and earlier this year, DBS Electricity Marketplace was unveiled. This allows homes to seamlessly switch to other retailers following the liberalisation of the retail electricity market. In addition, the bank runs Property Marketplace to connect tenants and landlords.