#WinningWednesdays: How ASEAN’S Top Banking Brands Foster Financial Inclusion ✨🪙
#Financialinclusion refers to the practice of ensuring that various communities have access to affordable and sustainable financial products such as banking services, credit and insurance. The top ASEAN banking #brands listed in Brand Finance’s ASEAN 300 2023 report (https://lnkd.in/gBWZuk9k) have played pivotal roles in the pursuit of economic #empowerment and social inclusion. Read on to find out more!
1. They are committed to safeguard children and provide them with financial knowledge 💡
In April 2022, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed between DBS Bank and the Singapore Ministry of Education, Singapore (MOE), which introduces the “Smart Buddy's School Subsidy System”, enabling participating schools to administer meal subsidies to students from lower-income families through their in-school “Smart Buddy” payment smartwatch or card. This approach aims to eliminate stigmatisation and discrimination, as these students can redeem their meal subsidies discreetly.
Last year, OCBC staff visited the AWWA Ltd School@Napiri to educate students with special needs about #financialliteracy. Catering to the learning styles of these students, the staff incorporated fun into the lessons to create teaching tools that help them learn how to budget, save and make payments through a supermarket simulation experience.
2. They equip the public with digital savviness 📱
As the #digitalisation of financial services continues, it is important that no one is excluded from the benefits and opportunities provided by technology. UOB has “Digital Advocates” at its branches in Singapore to guide less digitally-savvy customers on how to use the “UOB TMRW” app for daily banking activities, also educating them on the latest financial scam tactics and sharing tips on how they can protect themselves.
3. They support marginalised communities through financial empowerment 💪
Maybank and Etiqa Insurance Singapore, an insurance entity under the Maybank group, formed a joint community initiative under “ePROTECT family” to provide personal accident insurance coverage to low-income families. The benefits offered under the scheme cover accidental death, accidental permanent disablement, medical expense reimbursement, hospitalisation allowance and more. In 2022, 350 individuals benefitted from this initiative.
Cooperating with its subsidiaries, PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk launched a synergistic holding company called Ultra Micro (UMi), which is aligned with the objective of raising the national financial inclusion target. Last year, UMi empowered underprivileged women’s groups in Indonesia through the provision of intellectual and social capital by providing them access to capital and capacity building, showing BRI’s commitment to supporting #genderequality in the realm of finance.
#ASEAN #BrandValue #BrandStrength #BrandStrategy #Sustainability #Banking
