Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, Limited (), often known as OCBC Bank (), is a Singapore multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in OCBC Centre, Singapore. OCBC Bank was born out of the Great Depression through the consolidation of three banks in 1932 — the Chinese Commercial Bank Limited (incorporated in 1912), the Ho Hong Bank Limited (incorporated in 1917) and the Oversea-Chinese Bank Limited (incorporated in 1919).
OCBC Bank has assets of more than S$521.3 billion, making it the second largest bank in Southeast Asia by assets. It is also one of the world’s most highly-rated banks, with an Aa1 rating from Moody’s and AA- rating from Standard & Poor's.
OCBC Bank is consistently ranked amongst the top three "safest banks in the world" by the magazine Global Finance. The Asian Banker named OCBC Bank Singapore's strongest bank for 2018-2019, and the 5th strongest in Asia-Pacific. The bank's global network has grown to comprise more than 570 branches and representative offices in 18 countries and regions. These include over 320 branches and offices in Indonesia under subsidiary Bank OCBC NISP, and more than 100 branches and offices in Hong Kong, China and Macao under OCBC Bank (Hong Kong), OCBC Bank (China) and OCBC Bank (Macau) respectively. OCBC Bank was awarded World's Best Bank (Asia-Pacific) in 2019 by Global Finance Magazine.
History
On 31 October 1932, three banks – Chinese Commercial Bank (1912), Ho Hong Bank (1917), and Oversea-Chinese Bank (1919), merged to form Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation under the leadership of Hoklos Tan Ean Kiam and Lee Kong Chian. In the subsequent decades, the bank expanded its operations and became the largest bank in South East Asia.
In 1942 during World War II, all the local banks in Singapore closed briefly during the early days of the Japanese Occupation. By April 1942 most banks, including OCBC, had resumed normal operations. In Indonesia, the Japanese occupation authorities closed OCBC's branches in Sumatra. During the war, the bank moved its head office to Bombay, India and only re-registered back in Singapore after the war ended. OCBC's branch in Xiamen survived the war and in the 1950s, OCBC was one of only four foreign banks to have branches in China.
After the war, OCBC re-established its branches in Jambi, Jakarta, and Surabaya. However, the 1963 conflict between Indonesia and Malaysia (which then included Singapore) resulted in the closure of OCBC's branches there. That same year the revolutionary government in Burma nationalized OCBC's two branches there, which became People's Bank No. 14.
The bank was criticized for not expanding fast enough to meet the needs of the post-war Chinese business community, especially in the smaller towns of Malaya. One of the critics was Tan Sri Khoo Teck Puat, who subsequently resigned to set up Malayan Banking. By 1970, OCBC's total assets exceeded 1 billion SGD, making OCBC the largest financial institution with the biggest deposit base in Singapore.
In 1972, OCBC acquired Four Seas Communications Bank, the oldest surviving Chinese bank in Singapore. The bank had been founded in 1906 as the Sze Hai Tong Bank and its founders had targeted the Teochew community.
On 9 May 1989, OCBC took on a new corporate identity by changing its logo and its name to OCBC Bank.
The bank had branches in Hong Kong and in Bangkok, where it had become the first Chinese bank there when it opened its branch in 1909.
The next major acquisition occurred in 2001, when OCBC Bank acquired Keppel Capital Holdings and all its subsidiaries, including Keppel TatLee Bank, Keppel Securities, and Keppel TatLee Finance. The next year OCBC operationally and legally integrated Keppel TatLee Bank. In 2003 OCBC merged OCBC Finance into OCBC Bank.
On 25 June 2004, OCBC Bank established a wholly owned subsidiary e2 Power Pte Ltd to provide back-office support and transaction processing services in Singapore. A similar operating company, e2 Power Sdn Bhd was also set up on 21 July 2004 in Malaysia.
In June 2005, OCBC Bank saw the official opening of its new corporate HQ in Kuala Lumpur, and in July the same year, opened an off-shore branch in Brunei.
2007: Commencement of business of OCBC China Bank. 2008: Acquired 67% shareholding in PacificMas Berhad.
In March 2020, OCBC announced its partnership with Xero, a New Zealand-based cloud accounting software, to help clients digitize their operations.
In July 2020, OCBC launched HealthPass, a healthcare mobile application that aims to connect patients with medical doctors in Singapore via online consultation.