Keppel Corporation and DBS Bank have inked a multi-faceted collaboration, using digital technologies, to create new businesses and allow cross-selling of products and services.
They will be exploring synergies between the Keppel’s consumer businesses, such as M1, Keppel Electric and City Gas, as well as DBS’ consumer marketplace platforms.
The two companies will jointly create bundled services across mobile, fibre and electricity packages, and will leverage data analytics and insights from DBS and Keppel businesses to acquire new customers and enhance value propositions to existing customers of DBS and Keppel.
As such, the DBS consumer marketplace platforms, which allows customers to view the latest electricity and mobile plans from various utility providers online, will be a key avenue for customers to harness these offers.
Both sides will also work together to further catalyse 5G development and adoption in Singapore. Telecommunications group M1 will also collaborate with DBS to jointly develop digital banking solutions to enhance customer engagement.
For instance, DBS and Keppel will co-develop new 5G-enabled features such as advanced facial recognition solutions, high-definition video conferencing, and harness the use of augmented reality and Internet of Things’ (IoT) devices to deliver a more seamless experience for the bank’s customers.
Both parties will also collaborate in joint efforts to develop digital tools and platforms to provide bundled services from both M1 and DBS to large corporates, as well as to small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) in their respective customer networks.
Finally, the MOU will look into the feasibility of a Supply Chain Finance Program developed by DBS, to provide digital supply chain financing to Keppel Group’s large supplier ecosystem.
DBS will work with Keppel on an initial pilot with M1’s suppliers, many of which are SMEs –to co-create customised and commercially viable solutions to provide quick and cost-effective financing to these suppliers digitally, enhancing their working capital and cash flow management.
Based on the success of the pilot, Keppel would then work with DBS to extend the program to the rest of the Group and its suppliers.
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Tan Su Shan, Group Head of Institutional Banking, DBS Bank, said “The value of knowledge grows when it is shared. Our collaboration with Keppel’s ecosystem of businesses exemplifies this by demonstrating how the cross-pollination of expertise and networks from different industries can help Singapore seize new opportunities here and in the global marketplace.”
The three initiatives are expected to be rolled out progressively later this year, and Keppel said the developments are not expected to have a material impact on the net tangible assets or earnings per share of Keppel Corporation for the current financial year.
Shares of Keppel closed at $4.16, up four cents from its previous close of $4.12, while shares of DBS closed at $19.89, up 15 cents from its previous close of $19.74 on September 23.
