“Do Well and Do Good” – this succinctly encapsulates our values of doing well to deliver consistent and sustainable business performance and doing good by employing fair and socially-responsible business practices. – Samuel N. Tsien

Company profile

CEO: Samuel N. Tsien

Mission

OCBC aspires to operate as an honourable corporate citizen that sustainably moves with the society by:

1. Exceeding public expectations by developing and providing innovative financial products and services.
2. Relying on corporate networks created on the backbone of mutual trust.
3. Creating a work environment to ensure growth with a familial spirit.
4. Building pillars of public trust through ethical and prudent behaviours.

Challenge

OCBC faced a major challenge in engaging with the millennials as their outreach efforts mainly comprised of conventional advertisements and long reports. As per a conducted by OCBC, they identified the major banking challenges faced by millennials:

1. Millennials find the technical banking jargons used, tedious banking process and substandard customer service offered by the banks to be unimpressive.
2. Millennials are not well-versed with financial management and need someone to help them.
3. Moreover, they expect personal and authentic interactions with the bank to make judicious decisions.

Solution

To overcome the stated challenges, OCBC launched FRANK in May 2011 to target millennials, more specifically, students and young professionals. OCBC describes FRANK as:

1. Simple: Explains finance in simple terms and avoid jargons.
2. Stylish: Offers features such as 120 card designs and creative user interface powered by AI.
3. Meaningful: Creates simple hacks to help millennials manage their finances by:
   1. Saving well
   2. Spending wisely
   3. Protecting early
   4. Investing smartly

Background

1. OCBC was born through the consolidation of three banks- the Chinese Commercial Bank Limited, the Ho Hong Bank Limited and the Overseas-Chinese Bank Limited in the 1930a. In 2011, they created a sub-brand, FRANK to target millennials.
2. It uses cutting-edge technology to provide its customers with insightful and agile banking solutions.
3. FRANK is continuously evolving with time to meet the youth’s demands.

Business Model

FRANK has two customer segments – executives and students:

1. Products offered for executives:
   1. Savings account
   2. 360 account, which provides 6% cashback on online purchases
   3. 6% mobile payment cashback
   4. Customised saving options
   5. Debit and credit card
   6. Personal loans
   7. Insurance
   8. Byte-sized investment options
2. Products offered for Students:
   1. Saving account
   2. Frank account with zero deposit value, specifically for the youth below 26 years old
   3. Hyper-personalised debit cards with 120 designs
   4. Cashback offers and zero annual fees
   5. Student loans
3. Frankpreneurship: Moreover, OCBC offers a 4-month bank-wide summer internship programme for individuals aiming to become game-changers in the banking industry.

People strategy

1. Simplifying the HR processes through- HR In My Pocket (HIP):
   1. It significantly reduces manual processes by allowing employees to adopt automated IT solutions.
   2. Employees can select their benefits and file claims, apply for leaves, view internal job opportunities, and retrieve a whole range of information on the move.
   3. CBC frequently releases more services to simplify and enhance employees’ experience.
2. Understanding employee preferences to enhance existing schemes by:
   1. Analysing spending patterns on medical expenses.
   2. Analysing parental claims by the older employees to extend medical coverage.

Technology strategy

1. The bank has built data science and data lake platforms, and deployed solutions supported by Artificial Intelligence (AI) for all their core units.
2. The core technology architecture is a shift from a monolithic infrastructure to a more nimble microservices platform.
3. The bank has employed Robotic Process Automation to raise productivity across functions, increased the number of Cloud applications across the Group and collaborated with more than 30 major API partners to build a robust open banking structure.
4. The Open Vault at OCBC (Fintech unit) and AI Lab continue to drive digital transformation and serve as launchpads for innovative solutions.

9 products offered by FRANK that makes it a millennial-centric bank

1. 4x times higher saving interest rates on saving accounts
2. Cashbacks on minimum monthly spends
3. Bonus interests up to 1.25% on salary credits
4. Easy transactions via mobile numbers
5. Café-like physical interface
6. 120 personalised card designs and cashbacks
7. Presence in university campuses and shopping malls
8. User-friendly website
9. Zero initial deposit and zero monthly ‘fall below balance’ fees

The way forward

FRANK by OCBC has revolutionised the neo banking market in the Asia Pacific. In conclusion, OCBC proves that by understanding the growing trends and employing the right technologies, even the oldest traditional banks can succeed in attracting the youth. To stay ahead of the curve, FRANK should:

1. Invest more in technological infrastructure to create more innovative products and services which can fulfil millennial needs.
2. Organise training and development programs to equip employees which relevant knowledge and skills that are needed to survive in a tech-driven world.

Note

Saksham Verma and Rajvardhan Bhatia contributed toward this research by conducting preliminary analysis and conceptualising the topic.