DBS RATED LEADING INTERNET BANKING WEBSITE IN ASIA PACIFIC

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Only Bank Out Of Seventy Financial Institutions In Asia To Receive A Perfect Ten for Design Quality

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LONDON-BASED WEB AUDITING FIRM GAVE DBS A FOUR-STAR RATING - THE HIGHEST AWARDED IN THIS ISSUE

LONDON, 5 JULY 2000 - Lafferty Group today said DBS has just been judged to have the top-ranked Internet banking Website in the Asia-Pacific region, outside of Australia.

This prestigious ranking has just been awarded by Lafferty Internet Ratings, a Website auditing research service that monitors the development of Internet financial services globally. It is produced by Lafferty Group, the international financial publishing and research company based in London.

The DBS Internet Banking - www.dbs.com - received a high forty-three points score from Lafferty, out of a possible maximum fifty points. It is also awarded a high four-star rating, the highest awarded in this issue of Lafferty Internet Ratings.

In addition, DBS was the only bank out of seventy financial institutions across Asia to receive a perfect ten for the quality of its design of its Website. The Lafferty ratings are centered on five key criteria, including design. The others are interactivity, content, navigation and speed.

In other Singaporean ratings, Overseas Union Bank came seventh, United Overseas Bank was ranked tenth, Keppel Tatlee Bank fifteenth and OCBC Bank twentieth.

Michael Lafferty, chairman of Lafferty Group, commented: "The Internet is fundamentally changing banking, in Asia as well as Europe and America. In building a class-leading online presence, DBS has clearly realised that the Internet is going to be the key financial services battleground for the future. As the Internet banking phenomenon explodes across the region, DBS must have surely laid the ground for further pan-Asian expansion by DBS in consumer financial services and other fields."

DBS Bank's Managing Director and Head of Individual Banking, Mrs Elsie Foh said the Bank is delighted with the Award. "It reflects our commitment to deliver superior service to our customers through innovation and the adoption of the latest technology. Our approach is to provide our customers with convenient, seamless and value-added banking services through product bundling and focusing on meeting the needs of our customers," said Mrs Foh.

"The Internet is fast revolutionising the way people live, do their business and manage their finances. What we aim to do is to leverage the best in terms of talent and technological capabilities and to embrace the ideas and innovations the Internet has to offer to deliver best functionalities based on our customer lifestyle needs, not only in Singapore but across the region. We currently have more than 130,000 on-line users and are targeting to grow this base to more than 200,000 by the end of this year. We also want to extend our internet banking service to our customers in the region." Added Mrs Foh

Latest Lafferty research shows that by this April, the Asia-Pacific region had four million Internet banking accounts. By comparison, Europe and North America had 10 million and 11 million accounts respectively.

However, Internet bank accounts across Asia-Pacific will rise by 650 percent to at least 30 million by 2003 compared to 50 million in Europe and 40 million in North America. Of the 70 Asian-Pacific Internet bank sites reviewed by Lafferty Internet Ratings, 42 (60 percent) currently offer full transactional Internet banking services. Of the remainder, the majority are expected to launch transactional services by the end of 2000.

Of the DBS site, Robin Arnfield, Editor of Lafferty Internet Ratings, noted, "It offers comprehensive Internet banking and share-trading services, an extensive range of interactive calculators, online applications for seven different types of loan, and a service allowing Internet banking customers to apply online for shares in any DBS-managed initial public offering."

The Top 10 Lafferty Rating placings for Asian/Middle East showed Australian banks in a very strong position. Six out of the top 15 banks in the region were Australian. Singapore was next, with its banks accounting for three of the top 15 positions. The ratings, with several tied positions, are:

Source: Lafferty Internet Ratings

About the Lafferty Group

The Lafferty Group provides high value business information and research to executives in the consumer financial services and the business profession worldwide. The company's focus is on banking, cards, payments and e-commerce, wealth management and insurance and accounting and consulting, bringing a global perspective in these industries. The Group has offices in London, New York, Dublin, Sydney and Singapore.

About DBS Bank

DBS Bank is the largest bank in Southeast Asia, and the 70th largest in the world. A key focus of the bank is providing innovative, responsive and affordable banking solutions wherever it operates. In Singapore, DBS Bank is the market leader in Singapore-dollar loans and deposits and a recognised leader in Internet banking and e-commerce solutions. With a strong focus on customer needs, the Bank delivers a full range of innovative services in the areas of retail, institutional banking, asset management, private banking and stock broking. Beyond Singapore, DBS Bank serves corporate, institutional and retail customers through subsidiaries in Hong Kong, The Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand, and a network of overseas branches and offices.