UOB shapes up to be leading ASEAN bank

Singapore’s United Overseas Bank (UOB) is doubling down on its acquisition of Citigroup’s consumer banking businesses in Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia, winning two million clients from the buyout that has significantly boosted its retail banking.

The leading bank said Thursday that its completion of the merger with Citi's consumer banking arms in Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam had boosted its regional customer count from five million to over seven million as of the end of March. UOB has added 15 branches to its network across Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The move brings its total number of branches in the three countries to over 200, at a time when UOB, Singapore’s third-largest bank, aims to take a bigger bite of Southeast Asia’s vast retail market.

UOB said more than 90% of Citi consumer banking employees in Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia have also moved to it, helping expand its regional workforce from 6,000 to about 10,000. Most of them are front-line workers.

The Singaporean lender announced in January 2022 that it would pay around $5 billion for Citi’s consumer banking franchise in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. It finished acquiring the Thailand and Malaysia units in November 2022, and the Vietnam business in March.

The latest completion of the Vietnam acquisition enabled UOB to serve about 200,000 customers in the country, UOB said Thursday.

With the completion of the acquisition in Indonesia by the end of 2023, these four markets are expected to provide a S$1 billion (more than $753 million) boost to UOB’s revenue on a full-year basis, the major lender added.

Jacquelyn Tan, UOB’s head of group personal financial services, said the Citi acquisition has helped her bank beef up its cards business and further diversify its income beyond deposits, secured loans such as mortgages and car loans, and wealth management.

The deal is expected to have grown UOB’s retail customer base in the region to around eight million by the end of this year from the current number, of more than seven million.

With Citigroup’s portfolio more geared towards cards business and unsecured lending, net credit card fees for UOB almost doubled year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023, with Citigroup’s portfolio contributing a quarter of this, and total income from UOB’s unsecured business is expected to almost double by the end of 2023, UOB said. Separately, loans and deposits also grew almost 10% and 15% in the first quarter of 2023 compared with a year before.

For the first quarter of 2023, ASEAN-4 (Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam) accounted for more than 35% of the UOB’s group personal financial services income.

“Our transformative decision to acquire Citigroup’s consumer businesses in the four ASEAN markets during the pandemic has proven to be very timely, positioning us well as consumer spending returns with a vengeance following the reopening of economies worldwide post-pandemic,” Tan said in her bank’s Thursday statement.

“As consumers look for the best in dining, travel, and retail at home and abroad, our unparalleled regional network, further boosted by this transformational deal, enables UOB to serve their unique lifestyle needs and preferences across ASEAN.

“Coupled with our partnerships with renowned brands domestically, regionally as well as globally, we offer the best deals, privileges, and perks to customers for all that they love,” she said.

According to her, UOB’s ASEAN markets used to account for 30% of its consumer banking income, with Singapore at 70%, but the region’s share will grow to 40% after the acquisition. Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand will continue to be UOB’s strongholds, although Indonesia and Vietnam are seen as having big growth potential.

UOB claims it has garnered over 40 strategic partnerships with established brands across the region to offer more exclusive and customized rewards and privileges to both existing and new customers of the bank.

These partnerships, which include eight co-branded credit cards with key consumer brands across ASEAN, are in addition to more than 1,000 in-country deals, with all specially curated to the discerning preferences of the bank’s customers and bringing together like-minded partners whose focus was on building a strong regional presence.

UOB has just five branches in Vietnam, compared with 151 in Thailand and 55 in Malaysia, including the former Citi branches.