DBS BANK TO TAP SINGAPORE CUSTOMERS' VIEWS AND EXPERIENCE IN DRIVE TO FURTHER IMPROVE SERVICE QUALITY

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Establishes Formal Customer Advisory Panel

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CUSTOMER GROUP A FIRST IN SINGAPORE, AND FIRST AMONG SINGAPORE BANKS

SINGAPORE, Oct. 20, 1999 - DBS Bank said today it is establishing a Customer Advisory Panel to advise the Bank on matters such as service quality and new products and services.

Bank officials said the Panel is believed to be the first such consumer initiative by a commercial organisation in Singapore. Under the plan announced today, a total of 60 Singaporeans will be invited to serve on the Bank's Customer Advisory Panel for a 12-month period beginning in early 2000.

During the first year of its operation, panel members will be drawn from a group of DBS Bank customers who use two or more of the Bank's products or services and who are frequent users of DBS Bank's various delivery channels. In 2000, the Panel will focus its attention on ways DBS Bank can upgrade and improve service delivery in its branches and through its extensive electronic banking services.

Panel membership will be changed annually to involve different groups of customers. Subsequent panels will focus on customers who use specific bank services such as internet banking or credit cards, for example, in an effort to ensure such products and services, and service delivery, are focused appropriately on the changing needs of consumers, and delivered in a way customers want and need.

"While not the most extensive or expensive customer service initiative the Bank has undertaken, this is certainly one of the most significant in the Bank's 31-year history," said Mrs Elsie Foh, Managing Director and Head of Individual Banking.

"The Customer Advisory Panel is a unique and engaging way for us to involve our customers in a much deeper way in assessing how well we serve them, and we believe it will generate a wide range of new ideas and ways to improve the way we do things," she said.

According to Foh, the 60 DBS Bank customers invited to serve on four different panels will convene at least three times each year to meet with Bank representatives and service quality advisors. Consumer research findings and internal service performance data will be shared with panel members, with discussion during its meetings focused on specific changes or improvements the Bank can make in delivering superior service to customers. Panel members will help set the agenda, and the Bank will report periodically to the Panel on the changes it has made in response to their suggestions, and whether or not such changes have resulted in performance improvement.

"It would be premature and perhaps even foolish to say the Bank can or will implement each and every suggestion the Panel may make" said Mrs Foh, "but we anticipate the fresh perspective brought to us by these customers will contribute significantly to our service improvement efforts. We believe the panels will come up with ideas we have not thought of, and solutions we have not previously considered. And if that happens, both the Bank and its customers will benefit. That's the essential goal of this entire exercise," Foh said.

Panel members will not be paid for their participation, but instead will receive small honorariums in the form of shopping vouchers for each meeting attended.

The Customer Advisory Panel is an initiative by Individual Banking at DBS, and will be coordinated by the Marketing and Service Quality divisions. These divisions will ensure there is tangible use made of the Panel's work, and for implementing specific improvements recommended by the Panel.

To assist it in managing the panel's work, DBS has enlisted the assistance of Associate Professor Chandru Rajam and Dr. Jochen Wirtz from The NUS Business School of the National University of Singapore (NUS). They will guide the development of the whole process and ensure that the Bank obtains a clear understanding of the panel's thinking.

Mrs Foh pointed out that the Customer Advisory Panel is but one of many feedback mechanisms available to DBS customers.

"We constantly solicit customer views in every aspect of our operations," she said. "Service questionnaires and feedback forms are available at every DBS branch; the Bank's centralized Call Centre captures data on consumer concerns through every call it takes; customer service representatives carefully track consumer complaints and respond to them; and we periodically tap consumer sentiment on service issues through on-going research commissioned by Individual Banking. The establishment of this panel is not a first effort at improving service quality, but only the newest of a variety of means through which consumers can make known their views to the Bank."

Commenting on this new customer service initiative, Mr Tan Soo Nan, Senior Managing Director, Banking said "We believe this is the first such Customer Advisory Panel formed by a Singapore company, and it will be an integral way for us to obtain useful feedback, benchmark our services, identify new ideas and ultimately improve our performance. At the same time, it will bring new value to our relationship with customers."

"In today's world, the customer is king. He has choices, and he does not have to put up with sub-standard product or service quality. The organization that fails to recognize this cannot lead and will not prosper. It is as simple as that.

"Our goal at DBS Bank is to be the consumer's first choice for financial services. And the only way we can continue to deserve the customer's business and his loyalty is to perform beyond his expectations."

"The global focus on customer service improvement will not pass Singapore by, and DBS intends to set the standard wherever we operate," Mr Tan said.