Customers can login using their SingPass via the mobile app.
OCBC Bank’s 1.8 million digital customers will now be able to use the SingPass Mobile app as an alternative login to access the full suite of digital banking services via the OCBC Mobile Banking app or Internet banking.
Using SingPass Mobile as an alternate login will especially benefit customers who currently use an access code and PIN instead of fingerprint or facial biometrics to log in to OCBC Bank’s digital banking platforms.
The need to remember multiple access codes and PINs is eliminated, while enabling customers to securely access digital banking services. This market-leading service has been enabled for OCBC Bank customers by integrating digital banking access with Singapore’s National Digital Identity (NDI) platform.
Since the Covid-19 outbreak in Singapore, digital transactions among OCBC Bank customers have surged as the pandemic accelerated digital adoption.
Close to 100,000 ‘digital debutantes’ have started using digital banking for the first time this year. There has been a 40 per cent jump in digital transactions performed by those aged 50 to 64, while those above 64 years old clocked a 48 per cent increase in digital banking transactions from last year.
Managed by the Government Technology Agency (GovTech), the SingPass Mobile app allows users to transact with over 60 government agencies online securely. More than 1.6 million Singapore residents today use the SingPass Mobile app to access government e-services including checking their Central Provident Fund (CPF) account balances, filing taxes and applying for public housing. Many now also use the app for SafeEntry logins at venues to facilitate contact tracing.
Aditya Gupta, head of digital business for Singapore and Malaysia at OCBC Bank’s said inclusion and accessibility have been core to our digital transformation narrative.
“I believe that offering SingPass – a trusted and widely used mode of digital authentication in Singapore – as an alternate login, will give more of our customers the confidence and convenience to bank with us digitally,” he said. “We have partnered with GovTech to pioneer the co-creation of a trust ecosystem for Singapore’s banking industry using the national digital identity platform, which will radically improve how our customers access and experience our digital services.”
OCBC Bank at the forefront of leveraging National Digital Identity infrastructure for digital banking services said Kwok Quek Sin, senior director and national digital identity at GovTech.
“OCBC Bank is known for many of its innovative efforts in leading digital transformation and has been one of the early adopters of our National Digital Identity strategic platform,” he said. “This month, OCBC Bank has started to offer SingPass as an alternative login to access their digital banking services.”
In June 2018, OCBC Bank became one of the first in Singapore to enable instant deposit account opening using MyInfo – the national data repository – integrated with the Bank’s proprietary real-time digital know-your-customer process (e-KYC).
A year later, in May 2019, OCBC extended the use of MyInfo and OCBC Bank’s e-KYC process to online applications for cards, personal loans and lines of credits. This was then extended to home loans and car loans in Feb 2020.
Sopnendu Mohanty, chief fintech Officer at Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), said the foundation of digital economy is the seamless integration of public digital infrastructures with essential services.
“We are delighted that OCBC Bank has broken new ground by enabling access to financial services with SingPass Mobile,” he said. “MAS has been working closely with the financial industry to foster adoption of foundational digital infrastructures such as national digital identity for seamless integration with the growing digital economy. With the convergence of SingPass Mobile, MyInfo, and PayNow, customers can open bank accounts, access banking services and make payments online seamlessly yet safely.”
