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Adding my $0.02. I've had a non-trivial # of bank accounts in numerous countries, and generally speaking, DBS is good. I think people constantly complaining ab

by latch 5y ago

Adding my $0.02. I've had a non-trivial # of bank accounts in numerous countries, and generally speaking, DBS is good. I think people constantly complaining about DBS have no clue how awful retail banking usually is (especially internet-banking), and that most definitely includes other Singapore banks. Apps are generally modern, usable and responsive, and I find their fees and transparency reasonable. But what sets the bank apart is their customer service, the people on the other side of the phone (or counter, those few times) are incredibly friendly and helpful (again, compared to, say HSBC). (I didn't need to interact with any other bank during COVID, so I can't compare, but I was particularly pleased with how well DBS let me do even complex banking remotely, and I hope they adopt it as a permanent option). Things do seem to be getting _slightly_ worse though. One issue I have with the bank is that they use push notifications to advertise products and also use push notifications for security purposes. It makes me wish apple/google would require push notifications to be categorized. Also, over the last year, push notification spam seems to be linked directly to my purchases, e.g. "Got a new gadget, consider DBS payment plans..." shortly after buying new phones. It's like they've confused digitization with social network.

qsi 5y ago
As an addendum to my previous reply on the DBS's abysmal UX, I will echo the point made here that once you get to talk to someone, it's generally fine. I've had some great service when I could get through to a human, but they're making it increasingly difficult to do so as they're going all digital. Many branches have closed, and even the higher-end Treasures locations are now down to just two I think (a major mistake IMO especially as you target the wealthier). Navigating their phone support. takes. a. lot. of. patience. I also agree that other banks can be a lot worse, and HSBC in particularly has been abysmal. (edited for grammar)
- ValentineC 5y ago
  > I also agree that other banks can be a lot worse, and HSBC in particularly has been abysmal. At least HSBC got something right with their app UX: they give me an option to log in using my PIN instead of automatically trying Face ID multiple times, in this era when masks are still mandatory.
m3nu 5y ago
Push notifications are categorized on Android. At least on 11. If the app also offers multiple categories, you can disable them selectively. A few apps use ‘General’ for everything, but not seeing this often.
ValentineC 5y ago
> But what sets the bank apart is their customer service, the people on the other side of the phone (or counter, those few times) are incredibly friendly and helpful (again, compared to, say HSBC). They've started to follow a Singapore trend of limiting non-fraud phone customer support to between 8am and 12 midnight [1], which IMO is ridiculous and counts strongly against their "customer service". I also thought that their counter staff tend to be overwhelmed and overworked, because DBS, as they bought over Singapore's post office bank [2], also acquired a lot of (now) elderly customers — I believe still a magnitude larger than other banks. [1] https://www.dbs.com.sg/personal/bank-with-ease/contact-us https://www.dbs.com.sg/personal/bank-with-ease/contact-us [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POSB_Bank#Acquisition_by_DBS_Bank https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POSB_Bank#Acquisition_by_DBS_B...
- refurb 5y ago
  Yup. I remember trying to open an account and getting the “we’ll respond in 7 days”, then 5 days later getting “missing document, please provide and we’ll respond in 7 days”. Going to a branch in person took an hour of waiting. Once I got in front of someone it was pretty efficient but hold crap that was way more painful than US banking which isn’t exactly known for its customer service.
  - zxspectrum1982 5y ago
    w00t!!!??? 7 days to open an account? It takes 5 minutes for most banks in Europe, fully online, low or no fees.
  - _tik_ 5y ago
    When is this ? Are you a resident? Opening an Bank account in Singapore is just one or two click for resident. Just need to click the opening account then grant access to applicant information in Singapore's government Apps. And it will be approved in 5 minutes.
d99kris 5y ago
I share the same general experience with DBS. > One issue I have with the bank is that they use push notifications to advertise products and also use push notifications for security purposes. This was my main issue with DBS as well until about a month ago. I then contacted their customer service and complained that I was receiving notifications/emails, despite having opted out from marketing material in my DBS internet banking profile. I didn't expect they would stop, but I figured if enough people complain maybe someone higher up will review this one day. Within an hour I got a response that they will "opt you out from receiving non-marketing/service messages from all channels".

by latch 5y ago

qsi 5y ago

As an addendum to my previous reply on the DBS's abysmal UX, I will echo the point made here that once you get to talk to someone, it's generally fine. I've had some great service when I could get through to a human, but they're making it increasingly difficult to do so as they're going all digital. Many branches have closed, and even the higher-end Treasures locations are now down to just two I think (a major mistake IMO especially as you target the wealthier). Navigating their phone support. takes. a. lot. of. patience. I also agree that other banks can be a lot worse, and HSBC in particularly has been abysmal. (edited for grammar)

ValentineC 5y ago
> I also agree that other banks can be a lot worse, and HSBC in particularly has been abysmal. At least HSBC got something right with their app UX: they give me an option to log in using my PIN instead of automatically trying Face ID multiple times, in this era when masks are still mandatory.

m3nu 5y ago

Push notifications are categorized on Android. At least on 11. If the app also offers multiple categories, you can disable them selectively. A few apps use ‘General’ for everything, but not seeing this often.

ValentineC 5y ago

> But what sets the bank apart is their customer service, the people on the other side of the phone (or counter, those few times) are incredibly friendly and helpful (again, compared to, say HSBC). They've started to follow a Singapore trend of limiting non-fraud phone customer support to between 8am and 12 midnight [1], which IMO is ridiculous and counts strongly against their "customer service". I also thought that their counter staff tend to be overwhelmed and overworked, because DBS, as they bought over Singapore's post office bank [2], also acquired a lot of (now) elderly customers — I believe still a magnitude larger than other banks. [1] https://www.dbs.com.sg/personal/bank-with-ease/contact-us https://www.dbs.com.sg/personal/bank-with-ease/contact-us [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POSB_Bank#Acquisition_by_DBS_Bank https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POSB_Bank#Acquisition_by_DBS_B...

refurb 5y ago
Yup. I remember trying to open an account and getting the “we’ll respond in 7 days”, then 5 days later getting “missing document, please provide and we’ll respond in 7 days”. Going to a branch in person took an hour of waiting. Once I got in front of someone it was pretty efficient but hold crap that was way more painful than US banking which isn’t exactly known for its customer service.
- zxspectrum1982 5y ago
  w00t!!!??? 7 days to open an account? It takes 5 minutes for most banks in Europe, fully online, low or no fees.
- _tik_ 5y ago
  When is this ? Are you a resident? Opening an Bank account in Singapore is just one or two click for resident. Just need to click the opening account then grant access to applicant information in Singapore's government Apps. And it will be approved in 5 minutes.

d99kris 5y ago

I share the same general experience with DBS. > One issue I have with the bank is that they use push notifications to advertise products and also use push notifications for security purposes. This was my main issue with DBS as well until about a month ago. I then contacted their customer service and complained that I was receiving notifications/emails, despite having opted out from marketing material in my DBS internet banking profile. I didn't expect they would stop, but I figured if enough people complain maybe someone higher up will review this one day. Within an hour I got a response that they will "opt you out from receiving non-marketing/service messages from all channels".