The primary transaction banking customers of Singaporean multinational banking group United Overseas Bank (UOB) have the highest level of satisfaction for liquidity management solutions in Asia, research from East and Partners suggests.
 
In the market research and analysis firm’s latest research, UOB attains a score of 1.70 (on a 1 to 5 scale, where 1= satisfied and 5= dissatisfied), ahead of Standard Chartered (1.75), Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, aka OCBC Bank (1.78) and DBS Bank (1.80) for this vertical which is considered extremely important by large corporates in the region.
 
The bi-annual research reviews demand for transaction banking products and relationships from the top 1,000 institutions across 10 major markets in Asia: China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. It is based on direct interviews with 942 chief financial officers (CFOs) and corporate treasurers.

The research finds that the top three Singapore banks are also ranked highly by their customers in terms of short -term debt with OCBC leading at 1.53, followed by UOB, Bank of China, CIMB Bank and DBS.

Top priorities

Together, liquidity management and short-term debt are nominated as the most important product lines by nearly 50% of the large corporates in Asia, highlighting the core areas of focus for treasury departments in the near future as they continue to prioritise optimising cash flow and enhancing working capital efficiency.

In terms of service metrics, the Singapore banks are also winning marks in critical factors including value for money and credit approval turnaround times, reports East. In particular, corporates in Asia are increasingly emphasising value for money when deciding on their transaction banking relationships as they take on cost cutting measures in their day to day operations.

“This actually plays into the Singapore banks’ advantage as the big international banks start to refine and rationalise their relationships with corporate clients,” said Sangiita Yoong, East and Partners Asia business head. “We know that over 90% of the corporates in Asia cite value for money as a key driver of switching to alternative providers if they are offered a better deal.

“The key issue now is how to turn these happy customers into advocates and subsequently ensuring a strong presence in the customer’s mind. In short, linking customer satisfaction with advocacy and wallet growth.”