Personal loans rebound powers DBS momentum

DBS Bank (Hong Kong) said its consumer banking business has been picking up since the third quarter and is accelerating in the fourth quarter, helped by an improving lending business, especially in personal loans.

"Lending remains the key driver for our consumer banking section," said Linda Wong, managing director and head of consumer banking, for Hong Kong and China. "We will increase our budget for developing non-branch business. A budget will be allocated for system upgrades at the call center, as direct banking is growing."

Wong said about 70 percent of non- branch banking is conducted online, and 30 percent through the call center.

DBS also plans to hire more frontline sales and marketing staff in the coming year to handle growing demand, she said. The bank recently set up a call center at One Island East.

The center now has about 350 staff and can accommodate 460 if needed, said senior vice president Henry Wu.

Consumer banking business in the industry dropped up to 50 percent this year, when compared with the peak in 2007. But Wong said the market is now picking up faster than expected since the third quarter.

"Both personal loans and tax loans are on the rise. As wealth management income was hurt by the financial crisis last year, lending will be the profit driver for our consumer banking business."

Wong said DBS has seen substantial growth in its credit card and mortgage divisions.

DBS is now second and fifth in the market, respectively.

Equities-related products have also seen sales growth of between 30 and 50 percent, as low interest rates drive clients to seek higher returns in investments.

Regarding recent calls by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the International Monetary Fund for tightening measures on mortgage lending and insurance, Wong said the impact on any measure on the mortgage market will be limited.

Source:
http://www.thestandard.com.hk