UOB launches high street Wealth Banking branch

It aims to cater to the 476,000 emerging affluent customers in Singapore.

UOB has unveiled its first high street wealth banking branch at Faber House that’s specifically designed to respond to the needs of Singapore’s emerging affluent.

Emerging affluent customers are those aged between 25 to 44 years old with between $100,000 and $350,000 in investable assets. As of end-2018, there were more than 476,000 such customers in Singapore and the segment is expected to grow by 15% by the end 2020, data from GlobalData show.

In UOB’s wealth banking branch, customers need only scan their ID card at the Self-Help Ticketing Kiosk to receive information and an eQueue number to their mobile phone. A relationship manager will also receive the same set of information. “[W]e designed our wealth creation journey so our customers would know the range of investment options available to them and also enable us to engage with them at a deeper level,” Jacquelyn Tan, Head of Personal Financial Services Singapore, UOB said in a statement.

Leveraging on the AI and data analytics, relationship managers stationed at the branch come equipped with a purpose-built digital investment advisory platform to provide deeper insights into building a Risk-First investment portfolio.

Also read: UOB unveils plans to launch ASEAN digital bank

The digital service provided by the UOB Portfolio Advisory Tools draws upon more than 12 years of historical market data to simulate the expected performance on an investment portfolio against various economic scenarios such as a bullish market cycle or an economic downturn. By using data visualisation to illustrate the potential performance of the investment portfolio, customers gain a better understanding of how their investments may perform over time.

“In the last year, we surveyed more than 1,200 UOB customers to understand their preferences for investing. More than half of our emerging affluent consumers want to be able to speak with a financial advisor before making an investment decision,” she said.

The branch is strategically located on the Orchard Road shopping belt given its status as a top destination for emerging affluent customers with over 100,000 of them visiting the retail hotspot in the first six months of 2018. “From our analysis, we found that our customers not only conducted their banking at locations where they live and work, but also when they shop, play and dine along Orchard Road. As such, we chose to launch our high street Wealth Banking branch at Orchard Road to be sure we remain close to them,” Tan added.

The UOB Orchard branch is open on weekdays from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm and on Saturdays from 9.30 am to 4 pm.