Once upon a time, there were about 6 or 7 local banks in Singapore. But after the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 and MAS’s commitment in 1999 to liberalize foreign access to Singapore’s domestic banking market, the local banks started merging with each other to consolidate their balance sheets. Finally, we are now left with the 3 local stalwarts: DBS, OCBC and UOB.
With the influx of foreign banks like Standard Chartered (of the Manhattan Card, X Saver accounts, Bonus Saver accounts fame) and continuing competition from local banks like DBS (with recent products like the POSB Invest Saver and POSB HDB loan), OCBC is really feeling the intense competition.
Other than purchasing Wing Hang Bank to gain headway into the HK and China market, OCBC has retaliated by launching a seemingly irresistible product less than a week ago. Yeah, I am talking about the OCBC 360 Account.
Besides ......