Published : 3 months ago, on 27/08/2024

OCBC Securities, a wholly owned subsidiary of OCBC Group, is a top brokerage firm in Singapore offering reliable, secure, end-to-end encryption trading. It serves customers ranging from retail to corporates and institutions. Wilson He has held the position of Managing Director since 2020, when he was brought on board to use his years of experience in online trading platforms to drive the brokerage’s digital transformation. OCBC Securities has recently launched A.I. Oscar, Singapore’s first artificial intelligence (AI)-powered model which gives personalised stock ideas to customers.

This year, for the third year running, OCBC Securities won the Global Banking & Finance Awards for Singapore’s Best Mobile Trading Platform and Most Innovative Trading Platform. “These accolades validate our commitment to pioneering digital solutions, enhancing our customer experience, and maintaining a competitive edge in the market,” Wilson told Wanda Rich, editor of Global Banking & Finance Review. “They reflect our dedication to integrating advanced technology with personalised service, reinforcing our position as a leader in innovation within Singapore’s brokerage industry.”

Reflecting on OCBC Securities’ 38+ years of experience, he offered his perspective on the drivers behind the organisation’s success. “The pandemic period marked a pivotal moment for OCBC Securities, accelerating our move towards digitalisation,” he said. “We revamped the iOCBC Mobile Trading app based on extensive customer feedback through customer labs. This redesign has made our platform more intuitive and user-friendly, enhancing the overall trading experience.

“Our focus on customer needs has been central to our success,” he continued. “Through experiential labs, we gather insights directly from our users, which guide our continuous platform enhancements. This customer-centric approach has led to the development of features that address specific pain points and improve usability, such as real-time profit and loss tracking and integrated banking and trading services.

“The competitive brokerage landscape, especially with the rise of fintech brokers, has driven us to innovate and improve continuously. Our integration with OCBC Bank allows us to leverage the  OCBC Group’s resources, providing customers with a more comprehensive financial ecosystem.” Wilson provided some insight into the strategy behind the firm’s digitalisation efforts, much of which, as mentioned, was driven by the pandemic and the effects it had on customer behaviours.

“The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated our digital transformation, increasing our focus on the iOCBC Mobile Trading app,” he revealed. “This shift resulted in a significant rise in online trading, with digital transactions surging during the pandemic. This trend underscores the growing preference for digital solutions among our customers, where trading activity among our young investors increased 50% during the pilot period with the use of A.I. Oscar’s stocks from October 2023 to April 2024.”

One of OCBC Securities’ primary goals has been to integrate its trading platforms with OCBC Bank’s other digital banking services. “We now provide OCBC Bank customers with the option to manage their banking and investment needs through a single app,” Wilson said.

“This integration ensures a seamless financial experience, providing a comprehensive view of their assets and enhancing their potential investment opportunities.” In line with OCBC’s corporate strategy, of which investing in accelerating transformation and digitalisation is a key pillar, OCBC Securities is looking for new ways in which AI can be incorporated to enhance the trading experience for its customers. “This will help them make more informed trading decisions and stay updated with market trends. Our aim is to offer a high-tech yet high-touch service, balancing advanced digital tools with personalised support from our trading representatives.”

Given its decades of experience, it’s fair to deduce that OCBC Securities has become more than equipped to take on the challenges of the ever-evolving securities industry. The digital transformation journey presents its own hurdles, and Wilson went into how the firm is working to overcome them. He first discussed the surge of fintech companies entering the increasingly competitive market.

“These fintech competitors have deep pockets for both digitalisation – without the barrage of legacy systems – and marketing promotions,” he said. “While we benefit from the strong reputation of our parent company, OCBC Bank, we are also committed to overcoming this challenge by investing significantly in digital transformation, in terms of both IT infrastructure and employees.”

Second was the rise in digital scams and cybercrimes, which requires prudent action to be taken and additional safeguarding deployed in order to protect customers. “To overcome this challenge, we worked closely with our business risk, cybersecurity, and IT colleagues to reduce the time and resources required to implement the additional safeguards,”

Wilson continued. “We have implemented comprehensive educational initiatives, including regular notices and detailed educational content on our website to raise scam awareness. This proactive approach not only protects our clients but also reinforces our commitment to their security and well-being.”

Another challenge that OCBC Securities has faced as digitisation has boomed is how to address the many different user experiences and expectations across its diverse customer base. “Younger generations may be prioritising transparency, convenience, digital accessibility, and personalised services, often with a focus on lower costs,” Wilson reported. “In contrast, our traditional customer base values trusted human relationships that are complemented by our digital offerings. To bridge these differing preferences, we have focused on creating a balanced approach that integrates the best of both worlds, ensuring that all segments of our customer base find value in our services.

“To do so, we collaborate closely with our customer experience colleagues and conduct frequent and extensive customer labs to better understand the different needs of our customers. Our trading representatives have found A.I. Oscar to be useful too, as the stock ideas generated can serve as a starting point for discussion between our trading representatives and customers.”

He went into more detail about A.I. Oscar, an AI enhancement that OCBC has leveraged to great effect in order to stand out amongst increasing competition. “A.I. Oscar is our AI-powered virtual trading assistant that is able to help traders reduce time spent on research for market updates,” he explained. “It is trained using machine learning, and continuously improving with new feedback. A.I. Oscar can highlight stocks that are showing potential for short-term price movements. The model trawls through large volumes of market data, including historical prices as well as fundamental and technical indicators, to identify stocks with potential for short-term price fluctuations.”

He noted that while past performance is not necessarily indicative of future trends or performances, the use of AI tools to automate some elements of research can save customers valuable time and help them make better-informed trading decisions. “What’s unique about A.I. Oscar is that it can offer personalised stock highlights based on a customer’s past trading behaviour with OCBC Securities. The more a customer trades with OCBC Securities, the better A.I. Oscar will be able to offer personalised stock ideas.”

While the introduction of a hyper-personalised AI system offering stock ideas based on a user’s trading history is groundbreaking, Wilson emphasised that maintaining data privacy remains paramount. “The model does not make use of sensitive personal data. Despite being personalised, all data that is processed is anonymised using system-generated identifiers,” he explained. “To put it simply, a customer is tagged as a six-digit code.

The specific customer cannot be identified in any way. While we harness the vast amount of platform data with the intent to generate more useful and relevant content for our customers, personal and identifiable data is never used by A.I. Oscar.”

He added that the stock suggestions generated by A.I. Oscar are based on market data provided by LSEG Data & Analytics, a renowned data provider, which does not receive any user information or customer data. “LSEG Data & Analytics solely supplies the market data necessary for stock analysis, such as P/E ratios, analyst predictions, and high and low-price targets. To ensure user privacy, stringent measures are implemented throughout the process. Customer data are securely stored and processed internally within the Bank’s ecosystem, which operates independently of the market data provider. This separation ensures that user data remains confidential and is not shared with external entities.”

In such a changeable financial landscape, it’s wise to anticipate and prepare for emerging trends or disruptions that might not yet be on the industry’s radar. One way in which OCBC Securities keeps an ear to the ground is by hosting experiential labs with customers to understand their motivations and pain points firsthand. “Conducted frequently, in detail and with several different customer groups, the labs allow us to discover customer behaviours across various segments,” Wilson said. “Using such insights, OCBC Securities can design a trading platform that caters to the needs and wants of customers.”

He revealed how the intel derived from the labs led to the creation of an order ticket that allows key details to be viewed in one holistic look before customers place a trade. “We upgraded our platforms with a more comprehensive set of trading tools so that customers would not have to navigate to multiple places to perform their technical analysis. The portfolios have been revamped to reflect real-time values and even include corporate action adjustments.

“By continuously improving our platform based on detailed customer feedback and behaviours, we stay ahead of the curve,” he went on. “Designing an order ticket that consolidates key details ensures that our platform remains user-friendly and efficient, addressing potential disruptions in the user experience. Upgrading our platforms with comprehensive trading tools and real-time portfolio values helps us meet evolving customer demands and market conditions, ensuring our services remain relevant and robust amidst industry changes.”

Though change can be challenging for large, established institutions, Wilson recognises the importance of OCBC Securities upholding a culture that is deep-rooted in understanding and addressing customer needs sothat, as an organisation, it can remain adaptable to change. “Human nature causes us to perceive change as daunting, but we at OCBC Securities endeavour to view change as opportunity,” he reported. “As a team, we work together towards the common goal of progress; we actively foster a philosophy of seeing challenges and mistakes as stepping stones. We acknowledge our small victories and take our mistakes as lessons learnt, working cohesively to take the first step and move towards greater goals.”

OCBC Securities’ commitment to innovation is reflected in its strategic priorities, which include championing new ideas, embracing digital transformation, and embellishing its advanced technologies with AI. “As we leverage digitalisation to improve ourselves, we strive to remain grounded in our uncompromising, customer- centric approach to stockbroking. This ensures that our innovations are aligned with our actual customer needs, making it easier for our team to embrace and implement changes that genuinely improve the customer experience.”

An additional influence on OCBC Securities’ innovative efforts is its collaborative environment. Wilson gave the iOCBC Mobile Trading app as an example; while being largely driven by the digital business team, the app’s development and continuous improvement are made possible by the firm’s collaboration-centric culture. “This environment integrates expertise and insights from multiple teams, ensuring a holistic approach to innovation,” he said. “The collaborative efforts involve constantly reviewing customer feedback to identify strengths, areas for improvement, and potential new features.

Enhancements are rigorously tested internally to ensure they meet the highest standards before being launched. This process includes leveraging advanced analytics to personalise user experiences, optimising app performance, and aligning the app’s capabilities with customer needs and financial goals. By fostering open communication and collective problem-solving, OCBC Securities ensures that diverse perspectives are considered, leading to well-rounded and customer-centric solutions. This multi-team collaboration is key to the continuous evolution and success of the iOCBC Mobile trading app, keeping it at the forefront of digital trading solutions.”

A potential drawback to continued digitalisation is the lack of a personalised, human touch. However, OCBC Securities seeks to set itself apart from online-only brokerages with a steadfastly customer-centric stance. “As we continue to embrace digitalisation, we take measures to ensure the human touch is not left in the dust,” Wilson confirmed. “We believe that the human touch always has a place in the world of trading, regardless of expertise and experience. Our trading representatives are committed to assisting clients to stay ahead of the latest market trends and shifts, offering personalised support. They are equipped with the knowledge and expertise to help investors navigate the dynamic market landscape. Our trading representatives assist customers to see beyond numbers. Their empathy and soft skills serve to complement the information that AI provides, enabling our customers to make much better use of that information.”

With the seamless integration of advanced digital tools andthe personalised support of trading representatives, OCBC Securities strives to offer a balanced experience where technology and human interaction go hand-in-hand. “This synergy allows us to offer the convenience and efficiency of digital services while maintaining the trusted, human-centred relationships that our customers value. Our trading representatives are always just a call away, ready to assist our customers in their trading journey. This approach ensures that we continue to provide the personalised service that differentiates us from purely online brokerages.”

Finally, Wilson commented on the further advancements he predicts for OCBC Securities in the near future, namely technological integration, product innovation, and enhanced client support.

“We will continue to integrate advanced technologies like AI to offer personalised, data-driven insights and timely market updates, helping customers make more informed decisions,” he said.

“We will expand our product offerings to include more innovative and sustainable investment options, like our recent collaborations with Lion Global Investors to launch ETFs. These products allow investors to capitalise on major market trends such as technology growth, China’s market potential, and the need to transition to a low-carbon economy.

“Despite our focus on digital tools, we will maintain a strong emphasis on human interaction,” he added. “Our team of trading representatives provides guidance, helping customers navigate the complexities of the market. This combination of high-tech solutions and high-touch services will ensure we meet the diverse needs of our clients.”