DBS not relocating jobs from Singapore to India hub

Singapore's largest lender DBS yesterday refuted "misleading statements circulating on social media" about its expansion plans for its new technology hub in Hyderabad, stating this would not result in 1,500 jobs being relocated from Singapore.

The bank was referring to a report last Friday on local news website The Independent, which said that the bank was outsourcing 1,500 jobs to India. The report resulted in comments from netizens on Twitter and Facebook.

DBS said the report likely arose after the bank's announcement in India earlier last week that it is setting up a technology hub in Hyderabad, which will be its biggest outside of Singapore, with plans to recruit 1,500 people for the facility over the next two years.

"To be clear, DBS is not relocating its existing tech operations to another location, nor does it have such plans," said the bank in its statement yesterday.

It added: "DBS Asia Hub in Changi Business Park continues to be the group's largest tech hub anywhere in the world, supporting its digital strategy. The new tech centre in Hyderabad is an addition to DBS' operations as the bank expands."

A DBS spokesman told The Sunday Times that the bank hired 600 people in Singapore last year, bringing its total headcount here to 10,300. "DBS continues to hire in Singapore across different functions, including in technology," she said.

The Independent has changed the headline on its DBS report and appended the bank's statement.

DBS said last week its Hyderabad hub will boost the bank's technological capabilities across Asia as well as its digital banking strategy. It launched India's first mobile-only bank last month, a move that will allow it to ramp up its presence in Asia's third-largest economy.

DBS chief executive Piyush Gupta said last month that the bank will slowly take capabilities it builds in India and add them to its Singapore operations.

This means Singapore consumers can look forward to banking entirely on their phones, without even needing their laptops to go online.

ann@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on May 22, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.