UOB has become the first bank in Singapore to pilot the use of Sign with Singpass, the country's national digital identity framework, to confirm transactions or product applications using a customer’s digital signature.
UOB’s latest innovation comes off the back of research that shows Covid-19 has accelerated the move to online services, with more than 65% of customers expecting banking services to be digital by default.
Under an initial 12-month pilot, the Bank will test the use of Sign with Singpass with a set of its retail and corporate customers. Some of the transactions the pilot will cover include forms for individual wealth planning services and the PayNow Corporate application.
Once rolled out across all markets, electronic signatures will cut down the use of more than two million multi-page hardcopy documents each year which in turn will save more than 700 trees per year, says the bank.
Susan Hwee, head of group technology and operations, UOB, says: "The initiative will not only increase the convenience for our customers but also remove one of the roadblocks - the need for physical signatures - in fully digitalising the documentation process.”