Half of new accounts at private banks in Singapore industry group opened in a month: ABS

[SINGAPORE] Nearly half of all new accounts opened at member banks of the Private Banking Industry Group (PBIG) were opened within a month, amid an industry push to reduce account-opening times, said the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS).

These account openings, which were completed from June to August 2026, were part of PBIG’s target to reduce the median account-opening time to within one month by end-2026, ABS said in a statement on Monday (Oct 5).

Gillian Tan, assistant managing director (development and international) of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and co-chair of PBIG, said: “The progress made in shortening account-opening times is a strong signal of the industry’s commitment to meet clients’ needs and strengthen Singapore’s competitiveness as a trusted and efficient wealth management centre.”

Observers previously noted that private bank onboarding time is still a sticking point, with the broader onboarding process taking three to 12 months, particularly for complex cases.

MAS and PBIG set up an Account Opening Working Group in mid-2025 to tackle this issue, and most member banks have reduced their account opening times since end-2025, added ABS.

The association said that this was done by deploying artificial intelligence and digital tools in onboarding processes, adopting more risk-proportionate approaches to source-of-wealth due diligence and removing excessive processes.

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Shee Tse Koon, group executive and group head of consumer banking and wealth management at DBS and co-chair of PBIG, said that as PBIG continues to work towards its target, it will still prioritise risk-management standards equally with the client experience.

“This strengthens Singapore’s standing as a wealth management hub, anchored on stability, trust and sound risk management, while staying nimble to innovate and improve,” he added.

“Trust is something we build together, and we will keep at it.”