Comprehensive SWOT Analysis of OCBC Bank – A Multinational Banking & Financial Services Corporation

Quick Stats on OCBC Bank

Founder	Mr Lee Kong Chian
Year Founded	1932
Origin	Singapore
No. of Employees	29,000+
Company Type	Public
Market Cap	$41.96 Billion (2022)
Annual Revenue	S$9.7 billion (2019)
Net Income/ Profit	S$6.33 billion (2019)

 

Products & Services by OCBC Bank

Here are some products and services OCBC Bank has to offer:

• Financial services
• Corporate banking
• Investment banking
• Private banking
• Retail banking
• Treasury management
• Wealth management
• Investment management
• Asset management

Competitors of OCBC Bank

• DBS
• HSBC
• UBL
• Bank of Cyprus Group
• Mizuho Bank 
• CIMB Bank

Now since we learned about the bank, let us have a look at the SWOT Analysis of OCBC Bank.

SWOT Analysis of OCBC Bank

SWOT analysis of OCBC Bank is an examination of the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This allows the organisation to understand its market position, as well as what areas need to be addressed and where it can shine. It also aids the corporation in strategizing its business framework and elements affecting its growth.

To better understand the SWOT analysis of OCBC Bank, refer to the infographics below:

Below is a step-by-step detailed guide to help you with the SWOT analysis of OCBC Bank.

Strengths of OCBC Bank

OCBC Bank, being one of the industry’s leading corporations has several advantages that enable it to prosper in the marketplace. These advantages not only assist it in retaining market share in existing areas but also in expanding into new ones.

• Range & Spread: OCBC Bank has a wide distribution network of 570 branches in 18+ countries including Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong etc. that ensures its services are easily accessible to a large number of consumers in a timely way across the whole country.
• Number of Acquisitions: The bank has acquired several big companies in its course of journey including Four Seas Communications Bank acquisition in the year 1972, acquisition of Keppel Capital Holdings in 2001 etc. 
• Sustainability: The group is working towards South East Asia’s sustainable development by bringing emerging sustainable programmes like #OCBCCares. Such sustainable developments show the devotion of the group towards the country.
• Broad Range of Portfolio: One biggest strength that OCBC Bank has is that it offers a wide range of financial and consulting services to its customers ranging from investment banking, asset management, private banking and insurance.
• Automation of Activities: Successful automation of banking activities with a well-developed IT structure and Infrastructure has made the overall efficiency better.    
• Strong Digital Marketing Strategy: With a very strong online presence on every social media site has built a strong customer relationship. Want to know how social media works as a strength for OCBC Bank? Then you must check out the benefits of social media marketing to get the answer to your query.
• Diversified and Highly Skilled Workforce: Diverse people, perspectives and ideas have helped OCBC Bank to build a strong, dedicated and connected workforce. Additionally, the organisation has been investing huge resources in the development and mentoring of its employees.

Weaknesses of OCBC Bank

A company’s weaknesses keep it from realizing its greatest potential. To assist the company to excel in all areas, one should assess the weaknesses and seek to improve them. 

• Not Country’s No.1: The bank is the second largest in Southeast Asia by assets after DBS bank. It is still not at No.1 position which makes it one of the weaknesses of OCBC Bank.
• Cash Flow Problems: There is a lack of proper monetary planning at OCBC Bank in regards to cash flows, leading to certain situations where there isn’t suitable cash flow as needed leading to unnecessary unplanned borrowing.
• Need to Invest More in New Technologies: According to the country’s scale of expansion and the geographical areas OCBC Bank needs to invest more funds in technology to coordinate the processes across the board. Currently, the investment in technology is not on par with the vision of the company.
• Depend on Singapore & Southeast Asia: OCBC Bank’s global presence is not up to the mark. The bank is dependent more on Singapore & South Asian regions. Also, OCBC Bank lags behind the top Southeast Asian banks in terms of several branches. 
• Customer Service: Improper customer service, as well as lack of solving customer queries, can cause a negative image of the brand. This can either be through mouth publicity or by any other means.

Opportunities for OCBC Bank

Opportunities are external variables that work in the company’s favour, and the company can take advantage of them to grow.

• Moderate Growth Rate: Following a moderate growth rate in the business, a financial uptick and increase in client spending provide an opportunity for OCBC Bank to attract new clients and increase its share of the total industry.
• Expansion to Other Global Markets: The company is planning to expand to more developing countries as well as the Middle East nations too such as Abu Dhabi. This serves them as an opportunity to acquire a new customer base.
• Development of Technology: Since the FinTech industry is growing at a very rapid pace, there are advancements in technologies too. Using these kinds of technologies can increase efficiency and decrease cost.
• Interest Rate: Lower interest rates than compared to previous years provides an opportunity for OCBC Bank to undergo expansion projects that are financed with loans at a cheaper interest rate.
• Low Inflation Rate: The low inflation rate can bring more stability in the market and enable credit at a lower interest rate to the customers of OCBC Bank.

Threats to OCBC Bank

Threats are external elements that may have an impact on the bank. To avoid inflicting damage to the company, these concerns should be addressed as quickly as feasible. The threats to OCBC Bank are as follows:

• Global Competitors: If OCBC Bank wants to expand their business around the world, they have to be careful of what policies they make or how they provide their services in the foreign market or how they market themselves, where already existing local banks are what the people trust in. 
• Increased Marketing Efforts: Due to the rise of digital marketing, there is an increasing number of promotional messages which are being sent by competitors. It clutters up the space, which leads to losing out on customers. OCBC Bank is well versed and trying to adopt a variety of the latest digital marketing skills to get ahead of the competition. You must also check out these skills to achieve the same.
• Uncertain Conditions: The dynamic market environment makes it difficult not for a bank but for every company to be vigilant and to take precautions before any crisis occurs. One other example of an uncertain condition is the Covid pandemic which made most businesses go on a complete shutdown and only visioners were and can take advantage of such situations.
• Financial Risks: Because the company operates in several countries, it is subjected to currency fluctuations, which are exacerbated by the world’s increasingly volatile political climate in a variety of industries.
• Cyber Security: It’s been one of the major risk factors in the financial sector. It is a must for financial systems to have the ability to withstand this cyber-attack by increasing IT  monitoring and control.
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Now that we have come to the end of this thorough SWOT Analysis of OCBC Bank. Let’s see the summation of this article in the conclusion.