DBS Makes Special Banking Arrangements For TTSH And CDC Staff And Patients

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Dedicated Hotline To Handle Banking Requests

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Bank's Gesture A Small Way To Show Its Support To The Extraordinary Healthcare Team And Concern For The Patients At TTSH & CDC

SINGAPORE, APRIL 9, 2003 - Inspired by the commitment and compassion demonstrated by the doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals at the two medical centres dedicated to handle SARS, DBS announced today that it has set up a dedicated hotline to provide extra banking services to the staff and patients of Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) and the Communicable Disease Centre (CDC).

This dedicated hotline number 6222-2222 will be available to all the TTSH and CDC hospital staff and patients who have an account with DBS or POSB. Specifically, these staff and patients can call the hotline to ask DBS to help them make payments to any third parties locally. In the event they receive a notice from DBS regarding late banking fees, the Bank will waive these late fees that may have been incurred during this period due to the staff 's busy work schedules or the patients' hospitalisation stay.

This dedicated hotline service is available 24-hour daily and will be operational till further notice.

DBS sent out letters to both TTSH and CDC to inform them of the special banking arrangements and will be able to take in requests with effect from tomorrow (April 10, 2003).

In his letter addressed to both the Chief Executive Officer of TTSH and the Clinical Director of CDC, DBS' Chief Executive Officer Jackson Tai said: "We are aware of the extraordinary dedication of your team of doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals in caring for patients during the SARS outbreak. They do so even though they put their own health at risk.

"DBS would like to do our part to help your healthcare team and patients. We understand that in dealing with the crisis, your staff may not have the time to attend to their personal matters, including banking transactions. In this respect, we would like to do our small part to help make it easier and more convenient for them during this period."

About DBS
DBS Bank is the largest bank in Singapore as measured by assets, with dominant positions in consumer banking, treasury and markets, securities brokerage, Singapore dollar loans, deposits, and equity and debt fund raising. With the receipt of executive and legislative approval for the merger of its wholly-owned Dao Heng Bank and DBS Kwong On Bank operations in Hong Kong, DBS Bank is now the fourth largest banking group in Hong Kong. Beyond the anchor markets of Singapore and Hong Kong, DBS Bank serves corporate, institutional and retail customers through its operations in Thailand, The Philippines, and Indonesia. The bank's credit ratings are amongst the highest in the Asia-Pacific region. More information about DBS Group Holdings and DBS Bank can be obtained from our website www.dbs.com.