The move marks an about-turn after years of banks reducing their physical presence. Over the past decade, off-premise ATMs and branches in Singapore fell at an average of 2% a year, according to figures from the Monetary Authority of Singapore in response to parliamentary questions in January and February this year, while ATM withdrawals dropped by over 30% between 2015 and 2024. Off-premise ATMs refer to those that are not part of a branch.
Policies are fixed, people aren’t. The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) proved that when they announced, on June 25, that the three Singapore banks — DBS, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) and United Overseas Bank (UOB) — and Nets have pledged to provide an ATM, branch or cashpoint within 500m of every HDB block by the end of 2027.
Cashpoints refer to participating merchants that allow bank customers to withdraw cash using their bank ATM card or debit card while making a purchase via Nets in Singapore. DBS’s cashpoint partners include Giant, Cold Storage, 7-Eleven, Guardian, Buzz and Jason’s Deli. OCBC’s cashpoint partners are 7-Eleven and Sheng Siong, while UOB’s cashpoint partners are 7-Eleven, Hao Mart, U Stars Supermarket, Shell and Sheng Siong. OCBC and UOB also share a network of nearly 1,000 ATMs.
