Tag Archives: Financial Services

Easy-to-understand OCBC home loans

Posted on 2 Jun 2011 | Comments Off on Easy-to-understand OCBC home loans

To make it easier for first-time home buyers to apply for housing loans, the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) has rewritten in plain English its documents relating to HDB mortgages.

The move comes as OCBC secures the “Crystal Mark” from the London-based Plain English Campaign. The seal of approval, given to companies that are able to communicate effectively with the public in plain English, is becoming popular in Europe and the United States.

“Worldwide, the financial industry has a problem with communicating clearly. We don’t want our customers to feel like they don’t understand and they might be making the decisions that are not in their best interests. And that’s what we’re focused on – clarity,” said Mr David McQuillen, head of group customer experience at OCBC.

Earlier, an OCBC study showed that financial jargon and legalese were among the top turn-offs for consumers looking to buy financial products. The bank said the plain English initiative would be replicated for its private home loan segment, where clients are expected to put in the biggest investments.

OCBC’s housing loan portfolio accounts for roughly 25 per cent of its total loan book.

Source : Today – 1 Jun 2011

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Bank loans up 21.9% in April

Posted on 2 Jun 2011 | Comments Off on Bank loans up 21.9% in April

Lifted by rising housing loans despite the Government’s property cooling measures, local bank lending grew 21.9 per cent year-on-year in April to hit a 30-month high.

Data released yesterday by the Monetary Authority of Singapore showed that total loans and advances by banks hit S$351 billion in April but the record high amount of bank lending came as no surprise to some analysts.

Apart from the sustained draw-downs from housing loans amid persistently low interest rates, they say the strong initial public offering market and positive business sentiment have pushed bank borrowings higher.

Housing and bridging loans accounted for S$118 billion of bank lending in April. Loans for businesses also grew to S$192 billion, boosted by borrowings for building and construction, which reached S$57.8 billion.

Credit card spending amounted to S$6.8 billion and car loans totalled S$11.5 billion.

CIMB estimates there are 7.7 million credit cards in Singapore, of which around 6.31 million are main and 1.39 million are supplementary cards. This is a 12.3-per-cent year-on-year increase and the strongest since November 2007.

Source : Today – 1 Jun 2011

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