OCBC stepping into the metaverse for next-gen customers

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) O39

becomes the first local bank to launch its own metaverse experience as an avenue to acquire young prospective customers. Called OCBCx65Chulia, it is built off Decentraland, a 3D virtual world browser-based platform. It is the 43rd iteration of the product since the idea arose from an internal innovation sprint in 2021 as part of the bank’s digitalisation and transformation efforts.

OCBCx65Chulia was built by an in-house technology team at OCBC, together with Web3 firm Memotics, which specialises in creating dynamic and social spaces through digital architectural design. It is named after the location of the bank’s headquarters.

Speaking at the media launch on April 5, OCBC’s head of group technology architecture Peter Koh says that the bank’s venture into the metaverse was their effort to have a presence in the virtual world. It is free to the public, including non-OCBC customers, who want to learn more about the bank’s latest products and services.

He was joined by the bank’s head of digital channels Malie Foo, Singapore Management University's professor of communication and technology Lim Sun Sun and Alan Kueh, founder of homegrown Web3 design firm Memotics.


OCBCx65Chulia occupies nine plots of virtual land on Decentraland, resembling a garden with a large red spherical installation as a centrepiece modelled after OCBC’s red logo. Users begin their journey by creating an avatar floating in space with no gravity, a design choice Kueh of Memotics says is “able to change the perspective of what a building can do in real life.”

The main attraction, which happens inside the sphere, is split into several sections. The first is a heritage park featuring OCBC’s history, innovations, people and sustainability efforts. The second is a virtual banking space which allows users to enquire about the bank’s products, such as credit cards, and to brush up on financial literacy.

However, users are not able to make actual transactions on OCBCx65Chulia itself. They will be directed to an external link, which brings them to the bank’s website, where the banking services already exist.

Attracting younger clients

Given how the hype seen last year has seemingly faded, why dabble into the metaverse now?

The metaverse will be another “touch point” between the bank and younger customers, says Koh.

“[As a business], you need to have multiple channels to reach out to the wide range of customers we are doing business with,” he says. “We don’t just have the [physical] branches; we don’t just have the website; we also have Facebook, social media, our app, and now the metaverse.”

He believes that the metaverse will help expose OCBC — 91 years old this year — to the younger generation, which he identified as having a huge potential for good banking customers.

When asked whether the user interface and experience of OCBCx65Chulia would attract younger audiences to adopt and remain on the platform, Kueh said that the aesthetics of the metaverse has little to do with retaining users. He says it is not about the look; it is really about the content.

“No matter how beautiful, how many super functions there are inside this metaverse, people will not want to go back the second, third, or fourth time,” he says. “If you don’t educate people, you don’t bring something new to them that lets them have that spark in their head in their heart, it’s very difficult [to keep them on the platform].”

During the live demonstration of OCBCx65Chulia, the media observed that users who logged in through Decentraland could link their cryptocurrency wallets to the platform. When asked about young customers' financial and digital safety, Koh reiterated that the metaverse is another avenue to connect with audiences. “I will put it that way because it’s very similar to any social media platform,” he says.

OCBCx65Chulia does not require users to log in with a cryptocurrency wallet; anyone can visit as a guest user. Koh says OCBC intends not to make money from venturing into this metaverse. Rather, it is a channel they want to experiment with and learn from. “The key objective is the process of experimenting, learning and partnership,” he adds.

OCBCx65Chulia will see its next phase to be ready in the third quarter of this year, where there will be gamification involved to enhance the experience further. The bank will collaborate with Nanyang Polytechnic Diploma in Interaction Design students for this to come to life.