A closer look at how OCBC's wealth management business works

The bank is fanatical about customer segmentation.

OCBC has spent the past five years building its wealth management business and its digital banking efforts. According to CIMB, OCBC’s efforts have paid off because its name has now become synonymous with Wealth Management.

Besides serving the higher-end of the wealth spectrum, CIMB said that there are signs of a very coherent and credible WM strategy for the mass market segment too.

“Compared to other banks, we see that OCBC is more fanatical about customer segmentation. The strategy in consumer banking initially started with the aim of building a wealth halo, i.e. if anyone thinks about wealth management, OCBC wanted to be the first name that comes to mind. To execute the strategy, OCBC moved away from a typical bank’s product-centric model to a customer-centric model," CIMB said.

Here’s more from CIMB:
A customer-centricity focus saw OCBC move towards customer segmentation, cutting the consumer pie down to: 1) premier private client, 2) premier, 3) youth, 4) family, 5) emerging affluent.

Within the bank, each product line (wealth, cards, mortgages) evolved from taking ads on their own products, to more thought on customer segment, managers "owning" each client segment and working with product teams to come out with the product suitable for the segment.

We are impressed. We see signs of a forward-thinking bank, making the effort to differentiate themselves in a competitive wealth management market. 

We see results of OCBC quiet investment in digital banking capabilities. Some mobile initiatives (fullaccount access) will curb the growth of call-centre expenses, others (open-access money transfer) invariably mean more short-term costs but will delight customers and improve customer stickiness, yet others (personal investment platform) are potential revenue generators. Together, the digital efforts are not inferior to peers and will position OCBC in the new world of banking.