DBS Bank will now interact with its HNI customers using WeChat and WhatsApp. The bank said it will start registering interested customers for the service known as Wealth Chat. It will initially provide content such as investment reports and research insights, with services such as trade placement to be added progressively next year. DBS said records of chats between its relationship managers and clients will be archived and the service will meet compliance standards. The aim is to provide banking services that are embedded in the customers’ everyday lives, while maintaining client privacy and keeping to the bank’s rigorous security requirements, said Tan Su Shan, DBS’s group head of consumer banking and wealth management, in a statement. DBS Bank developed Wealth Chat in partnership with regulatory-technology startup FinChat. WeChat has close to a billion users, is owned by Tencent Holdings, while more than 1.5 billion people use WhatsApp.
