InvestIdeas

August 30, 2010

DBS consumer head resigns: sources
* Raju leaves bank after 11 years with DBS: sources, memo
* Departure comes after recent high-level hiring at bank

SINGAPORE - DBS's head of consumer banking, Rajan Raju, has resigned after spending 11 years with Southeast Asia's biggest lender, sources familiar with the move told Reuters on Monday.

Mr Raju, who joined Singapore's DBS from Citibank, will end his current role on Aug 31. His official last day is on Sept 30, according to a staff memo made available to Reuters.

His successor will be announced shortly, the memo said. DBS confirmed his departure.

CEO Piyush Gupta, who joined the bank in November from Citigroup, has made high-level changes at the bank as he tries to boost market share in Singapore and Hong Kong.

He hired Sebastian Paredes, a former Indonesia's Bank Danamon executive as head of its Hong Kong unit and named Sim S Lim, a former Citibanker, for a newly created post of country manager DBS Singapore.

'After almost 11 years with DBS, Rajan Raju, group executive, head consumer banking, has decided to pursue new opportunities outside DBS,' CEO Mr Gupta said in the memo.

The memo said that in the interim Linda Wong, Jeremy Soo and Domenic Fuda will assist in managing the consumer banking business.

Mr Raju was not immediately available for comment.

Source: REUTERS

from mastering dim sum cuisines previously, now dbs staff have to be well acquainted with tandoori chicken....

kennynah wrote:from mastering dim sum cuisines previously, now dbs staff have to be well acquainted with tandoori chicken....

For the last 10 years or so, DBS has flopped badly.

DBS just lost another customer (in this case, the MRS... I am no longer a customer from long long time ago).

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What happens?

DBS for the longest time ever has been diligently sending cheque books to the MRS before it is used up.

Out of the blue, they decided they are going to STOP sending it and without any advanced notifications. In fact, MRS only found out about it after the last cheque has been used up and decided to call the helpline.

Calling the hotline does not helps as there is nothing they can do. Can't expedite it and MRS was also told that she can't get it from the branch.

L has said that DBS has lost a decade.

I think they lose more than that. They lose the trusts that people have in a bank.

What's the use of a bank if I can't trust that the cheque book is delivered on time (when it has been doing so diligently for so many years)?
What's the use of your helpline if it can't help me?
What's the use of your branch if it can't serve me?

Retail banking is the simplest form of banking business. And when you can't even get it correct at the basic level, I doubt it has the ability to move on to larger things.

Banking is a business of trust. And I am sad to say that I have found none through this little incident that the MRS is going through.

same here....the wife also had to call up Dumb Big a*S to have a new cheque book and some more had to pay for it....

kennynah wrote:same here....the wife also had to call up Dumb Big a*S to have a new cheque book and some more had to pay for it....

Wah... poor customer service! Try UOB. I have been using UOB for the longest time liao. Cheque book sent way in advance without me asking. I guess they just track the no. of cheques you issue out and the cheque numbers to know that you will need a new cheque book soon.

I'm pretty old and rigid and so have stuck to my childhood bank for current account banking services.
But I have yet to experience this....maybe experience coming soon my way . Maybe that bank flash failure for 7 hours has triggered this and the bank is unaware of it Thank Q for the alert.
Yes, UOB is far better except for their safe deposit box services unless one lives in Siglap

Ah, DBS's lost decade.

If not because of the GIRO/EPS arrangements ( Rather troublesone to change ), I would have closed my a/c with them.
Anyway the recent incident had prompted me to open new a/c with another bank.
FTs really destroy the shareholder value of DBS.
Who was the one who strongly support FTs and believed DBS can be an International Bank ?

Follow up on the DBS story :

DBS is now able to do an express delivery for the cheque book (Surprised??? What happen to "can't do it ...." ??)

And, while waiting for the cheque book, if there's a need to use any cheque, they will do a cashier order with fees waived.

Not too sure if they will remember to send the cheque book the next time round.