Southeast Asia’s Second-Largest Bank Considers Offering Crypto to Customers

As demand for crypto services continues to rise, more banks are looking to enter the space by seeking ways to offer digital asset services to customers.

According to a report by Bloomberg, southeast Asia’s second-largest bank, Overseas-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC), has joined the growing list of banks considering offering crypto services to clients.

This was revealed by OCBC CEO Helen Wong after she was asked if the institution will respond to customer demands by offering crypto services as its competitors are doing.

“We are looking at it and seriously there are some work being done in the bank,” she said.

Wong further noted that OCBC is researching cryptocurrency in order to give its customers a better knowledge of how to handle the emerging asset class.

“If you say we are looking at it, it is very much in addressing customer needs, but in a safe manner… We want to help them to recognize the investment and how to handle it.” 

Large banks and financial institutions continue to seek ways to offer crypto services, with some banks already offering these services, while others with the fear of losing their customers are now looking to offer their clients the same.

A recent report noted that banks are now going through a huge crypto talent hiring spree, paying a 50% premium to employ individuals with such talent.

Data shows that large financial institutions including Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Citibank, and Morgan Stanley, Capital One, UBS, Bank of America, Credit Suisse, and Barclays are among the institutions looking for these talents.

Meanwhile, American investor Vikram Pandit, in an interview last week, aired his view on the future of cryptocurrencies, saying that in one to three years, large banks will start thinking about it and offering crypto services to their customers.

In another development, Australia’s Commonwealth Bank (CBA) noted it would be the first banking institution in the country to offer crypto services.

The bank stated that the move was made as a result of the increasingly growing demand for cryptocurrency from its customers.