SINGAPORE - More than 300 seniors have learnt how to bank and pay digitally while staying safe from scams, and OCBC Bank aims to upskill 2,000 more by the end of 2023.
Under the Digital Silvers programme by OCBC, senior customers are given one-to-one training in everyday digital banking and payment skills, including how to make QR code payments and PayNow transfers.
The frequency of the workshops will be increased from about twice a month to three times a week, said OCBC. Every branch of the bank will run at least one workshop every two months.
The programme, which was launched last September, was developed based on an analysis of bank branch data.
The bank said that almost one in every three customers who walks into an OCBC branch for over-the-counter teller transactions today is aged 60 and above, and the top two reasons of such senior customers for visiting a branch are “cash withdrawals and deposits – basic banking services that could be reduced or replaced by digital payments”.
The bank has also launched a website to help customers recap what they learnt. It includes short videos covering topics such as checking one’s account balance or making PayNow transfers.
The website is in both English and Chinese. By the end of May, Mandarin and dialect versions of the videos will also be available.
A new segment on how to sign up digitally for fixed deposits has also been added to the programme, as demand for fixed deposits increases, fuelled by rising interest rates.
In the first quarter of 2023, just over 20 per cent of fixed deposit placements by customers aged 60 and above were done digitally.
For the same quarter in 2022, the figure was 5 per cent.
As OCBC’s workshops involve customers receiving training at the bank’s branches, the educational programmes demonstrate the relevance of physical bank branches even as digital banking becomes the new normal, said OCBC’s head of global consumer financial services Sunny Quek.
In January, DBS Foundation worked with the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore to hold digital literacy workshops at 12 locations. About 250 seniors attended the workshops, where they learnt how to make cashless payments and spot potential scams.
Retired tutor Albert Lam, 67, said he is more confident about digital banking after taking part in OCBC’s workshop. Before that, he knew how to use only basic app functions such as logging in to his account and checking his balance.
He said: “I have learnt how to add payees and make transfers, as well as the different safeguards the bank has put in place to minimise (the chances of) customers falling victim to scams.”
