United Overseas Bank, the Singapore-based financial services institute, has had a hugely successful second quarter and promised to reward its shareholders. It has also turned its attention to digital banking needs.

United Overseas Bank (UOB), the smallest of Singapore’s three homegrown banks, increased net income to S$1.08 billion in the second quarter, up by 28 percent from the same period in 2017, the company said in a statement on its website on Friday.

True to its commitment, the bank decided to pay an extra interim dividend of 50 cents per ordinary share.

Higher Trading Income

The bank in the second quarter profited from higher net interest income, which grew by 14 percent year-on-year to S$1.54 billion. It also reported higher net trading income compared with the first quarter.

UOB Deputy Chairman and CEO Wee Ee Cheong

«In the face of rising uncertainty globally, our stable asset quality, robust capitalization and diversified funding base put us in a strong position to drive future growth,» said Wee Ee Cheong, CEO of UOB (pictured above).

Digital Offering

The No. 3 of Singapore’s banks said it would launch a new digital offering for its ASEAN customers, an increasingly tech-savvy and mobile-phone-reliant clientele. The digital bank will be deployed in the key Southeast Asian markets with details about the launch due soon.
UOB hopes to build a customer base of three to five million with its digital bank estimated over a five-year period.

The digital bank is designed to learn about the customers’ needs to help it anticipate their needs, according to the statement released with the second-quarter earnings on Friday.

Singapore's DBS Bank reported results on Thursday, and next week, on Monday, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, or OCBC, publish half-year figures.