A Regional Powerhouse with Local Insights
Richa Tripathi, Head – Wealth Management and Treasures at DBS Bank India, showcases how a global banking leader can deliver deeply localised value to India’s evolving HNW segment. At the helm of DBS’s Treasures platform, Tripathi is advancing a unique model—one that blends regional reach, robust digital capabilities, and a commitment to tier-2 and tier-3 market inclusion.
She outlines how DBS is addressing the needs of globally minded clients with seamless cross-border services, while also enhancing domestic offerings with phygital delivery, preferential lending, and curated lifestyle privileges. From leveraging AI and hyper-personalised digital nudges to prioritising trust, transparency, and long-term partnership, DBS Bank India is charting a differentiated course for modern wealth management in Asia.
With big clients working with multiple private wealth managers, how do you differentiate your product and advisory proposition? Given that many firms offer similar investment products, how are you creating a unique value proposition?
In this market, DBS Bank India does not offer advisory services, but has a strong and differentiated proposition for high-net-worth (HNI) and ultra high net worth individuals (UHNI). With over three decades of experience in India, DBS possesses an unparalleled understanding of the nuanced needs of high-net-worth individuals domestically. With these local insights, coupled with our deep network across the key financial hubs of Asia, we are able to service the wealth needs of HNIs in India as well as NRIs and internationally oriented clients. DBS Bank India provides a highly personalised wealth management experience tailored to diverse client segments in India including senior citizens, SMEs and salaried professionals. DBS Treasures, our flagship proposition, offers a comprehensive suite of services encompassing personalised portfolio reviews, preferential product rates, and access to partner offerings such as curated luxury experiences, travel and health insurance, and even wellness programs.
Unlike domestic wealth management players, DBS is able to develop and deliver unique propositions for globally minded clients. DBS Treasures customers with a Total Relationship Value exceeding INR 30 Lakhs can enjoy seamless access to a complete suite of customised wealth management solutions, whether they are based in India, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, or China. Across our 6 key markets, eligible customers can access expert relationship management, exclusive privileges, and use the secure, reliable reach of the regional DBS network. This international offering is further enhanced with preferential foreign exchange rates, waived service fees, and zero ATM withdrawal fees.
What sets DBS apart from other MNC banks in India is our expansive network of branches across 350+ locations and 19 states across the country. This physical distribution allows us to go beyond the traditionally targeted metros and also focus on the significant wealth potential in high-growth Tier II and III markets. Instead of catering to just the saturated metros, DBS has expanded our focus to the top 30 cities including Surat, Coimbatore, Jaipur, Indore, and Bhopal that hold around 65% of India's deposits and 75% of its wealth management assets. It also allows us to offer customers the best of both worlds – all the advantages of digitalisation with personalised delivery supported by the branch network, putting their comfort at the heart of the experience. Our approach involves combining the expertise of senior relationship managers and specialists who provide exceptional service through a high-touch model, supported by digitally driven, data backed insights. This helps us build our relationship with clients as a trusted partner, who can help them grow their wealth in the long term.
DBS has been globally acknowledged for safety and stability, having being recognised as the Safest Bank in Asia by Global Finance for 16 consecutive years from 2009 to 2024 underlying the soundness and resiliency of the organisation, attributes that are favoured by clients, particularly in times of economic and geopolitical volatility. All these elements come together to truly differentiate the DBS offering for the HNI segment in India and abroad, solidifying the DBS Treasures' position as a premier wealth management partner for discerning clients.
How important is lending in your overall proposition? Are you seeing increased demand for credit solutions such as Lombard lending, structured loans, or real estate financing, and how are you integrating this into your wealth offering?
Unlike other wealth managers, DBS has a comprehensive suite of banking solutions spanning both retail and business banking, including credit cards, digital business loans and mortgages. With DBS, customers have all the advantages of having one bank serve them with a comprehensive offering. This is what differentiates us and allows us to go beyond to serve the customer in a more integrated manner.
DBS Treasures in India offers mortgages for our HNI clients who may be interested in buying/upgrading a house or refinancing an existing property. In line with our phygital focus, customers have the convenience of availing online and remote loan applications or leveraging the skills of a dedicated mortgage specialist.
For our Treasures customers who are senior citizens, DBS offers priority services via the branch network, where they can access attractive features on certain products. With DBS Golden Circle, senior citizens can avail facilities like Overdraft against Term Deposit and Deposit Loans at reduced interest rates, providing the flexibility of additional liquidity.
Talent scarcity and rising salaries are major concerns—how is your firm addressing this challenge? Are compensation models shifting towards fixed salaries with performance-based bonuses, or is there an increasing preference for incentive-driven structures?
While digital banking has made access to financial services seamless, there remains a strong need for in-person wealth advisory and guidance, particularly for premium clientele with unique needs, seeking bespoke solutions. Over last few years, the wealth industry in India has become extremely competitive and experienced relationship managers are becoming increasingly difficult to attract and retain. However, the premium DBS brand and our strong employee value proposition create a definite pull factor. At DBS, our investment in continuous learning helps develop and retain the best relationship managers and our expansive Asian presence creates opportunities for mobility and career growth. DBS relationship managers are equipped with the knowledge of various solutions and use an approach that extends beyond surface-level interactions, leveraging innovative digital tools and analytical models to anticipate client preferences. Our compensation model is based on a fixed and incentive driven structure, which is at par with market benchmarks.
How are you engaging technology to digitize your business and enhance the client experience? Which areas—whether advisory, reporting, or execution—are being transformed through digital tools and AI?
Launched in 2016 as India's first paperless, signatureless banking platform - digibank revolutionised the banking landscape in India. It continues to do so today, with innovative capabilities including a fully digital remittance journey and offerings like remote account opening for NRIs.Our digibank platform in India services 53% of the total DBIL retail customers and 86% of incremental individual savings accounts in DBS India get opened on the digibank platform.The platform offers distinctive investment solutions like digiPortfolio—backed by CRISIL research—which curates Mutual Fund baskets based on customers' risk profiles, alongside personalised stock recommendations that save customers time and research effort.
A core differentiator for DBS Bank is our thoughtful use of artificial intelligence to support clients through different life stages, underpinning the DBS wealth continuum model and charting the future for wealth management across Asia. The focus is on providing real-time insights, holistic wealth management solutions, and enhanced transparency to meet the demands of tech-savvy clients who seek convenience, customisation, and trust in their financial managers.
Across our markets, cognitive banking nudges are used to drive engagement with customers through AI-powered Next Best Conversations (NBCs) - to enable our front-line staff to have meaningful and deeper client engagement. This also includes NBCs sent to RM's to drive event led conversations with customers and support customers in their decision-making process. This has not only improved the customer experience in India, but also led to a positive impact on incremental revenues.
By integrating AI and machine learning algorithms, we generate hyper-personalised insights and nudges that cater to individual financial journeys. This level of personalisation simplifies banking, aligning with our brand promise—Live more, Bank less. Further, our data-driven approach enables predictive analytics and proactive monitoring, allowing us to anticipate customer needs, optimise digital interactions, and enhance the overall banking experience.
At the core of our digital transformation lies a comprehensive data strategy that ensures governance, high-quality data, and security-first principles. Our commitment to safeguarding customer data begins with the PURE Framework, which ensures all data usage is Purposeful, Unsurprising, Respectful, and Explainable. This responsible approach to data management fosters customer trust.
How do you charge clients for your investment advice? Are you seeing pressure to reduce fees, and how do you balance this with maintaining high-quality service? Do you negotiate aggressively with fund houses and product manufacturers to keep costs down?
In India, DBS is a distributor of wealth products and does not provide advisory. The bank prefers a pure fixed fee model.
In the Indian mutual fund industry, fees have significantly come down over the last 15 years with the elimination of upfront fees and limits on total expenses. The introduction of direct investing a few years ago has further eliminated distributor fees. For retail investors who invest through a mutual fund distributor, the fees can range between 0.1% to 0.7%, from passive funds to debt funds and equity funds. Passive funds and ETFs naturally charge much less than active management and we are seeing a customer shift towards passive investing.For alternate investments, fund managers offer multiple arrangements depending on customers specific needs
The DBS wealth continuum model is something that really sets us apart as we service the rapidly emerging wealth in India and Asia. This model addresses the needs of a broad spectrum of clients, from retail investors to ultra-high-net-worth individuals, providing a structured pathway for wealth management.
The continuum model is three-pronged, catering to the below segments in India:
This tiered approach ensures that we support our clients' wealth creation journey at every stage, democratising access to financial expertise, allowing more individuals to benefit from premium financial services as they climb the wealth ladder. Significantly, DBS is a full-service bank and being part of DBS Treasures means that clients get access to the full spectrum of wealth management and banking at one place, which is not always possible with other financial service providers.
How can wealth managers maintain high-quality advice if clients are unwilling to pay for it? Is there a growing risk of a "race to the bottom" on fees, and how do you justify the value of your advisory services?
Given the complexity of managing wealth across countries and generations, affluent individuals and families seek more than just conventional investment guidance. They want trusted partners who can help them navigate their financial journey, grow their wealth, balance short terms needs with long term goals and even meet more evolved aspirations like leaving a meaningful legacy.
With the advent of digitalisaiton and reduced overheads, there has been an industry trend over the years to rationalise fees and commissions charged. At DBS, our main objective is to maintain a high level of trust and transparency for our customers to build a long-term relationship with them. DBS has prioritised its focus on the customer journey and has adopted a hyper-personalised method to cater to heightened client expectations. This involves truly empathising with each client’s unique story and embracing an experimental mindset towards using technology to service unmet needs. DBS nuances our data-led approach with a more holistic understanding of the customer by leveraging tools such as client feedback, dipstick surveys, and in-depth interviews.
High quality expertise is a very critical element of wealth management in the private banking space. The approach starts with risk profiling, writing a detailed investment plan, strategic allocation and security selection that helps the client to manage risk better and delivers higher returns. DBS goes beyond banking to provide value added services such as custodial arrangements, or trusteeship services. Clients in India do understand that effective and agile service with reliable touchpoints, aided by data-backed insights, is important to manage their wealth and they are willing to pay for value.
What types of investment products are going into client portfolios today, and how is this evolving? Are you placing more emphasis on private debt, private equity, structured products, or ETFs? How do you balance traditional and alternative investments? How is this changing?
Over the last few years, the financial services industry has been experiencing a profound transformation due to a combination of factors reshaping the landscape - growing urbanisation, evolving regulatory frameworks and technological advancements revolutionising service delivery. As per a 2024 NSE report on Indian Capital Markets, India’s asset management industry, including Mutual Funds (MF), Portfolio Management Services (PMS) and Alternative Investment Funds (AIF), has seen a growth of 19% in the last decade. Specifically in the MF industry, India is seeing significantly more participation from tier-2 and tier-3 cities and overall growth in Systematic Investment Plans (SIP).
In volatile markets and with geopolitical risks skewed to the upside, it is important to work with experts to preserve wealth, rather than purely pursue returns so a balance is maintained as per the client’s risk preferences. The focus is shifting towards geographic diversification, holistic wealth solutions, real-time insights and enhanced transparency to meet the demands of tech-savvy clients who seek convenience, customisation, and trust in their financial advisors. DBS presence in Asia’s key financial hubs allow us to serve the need for diversification in a more integrated manner. As wealth accumulates, effective planning has become essential for clients to safeguard and manage assets across generations. DBS Bank India offers solutions through competent partners with subject matter expertise.
As featured on Hubbis
Asia’s Safest Bank, 2009 – 2024, Global Finance
Best Bank in the World 2022, Global Finance
World’s Best Bank 2021, Euromoney
India’s Best International Bank 2021, Asiamoney
World’s Best Banks - #1 in India 2021, Forbes
World’s Safest Commercial Bank 2021, Global Finance
