Helping customers start CNY right with AI/ML

22 February 2026

If I were working a regular nine-to-five job, I’d definitely see my family and my girlfriend more often.

I work in DBS’ Operations Monitoring Centre (in the room you see behind me), in the team that provides 24-hour support to the bank’s 1,200-strong ATM network.

You can think of us like air traffic control – except instead of planes, we’re watching the “traffic” of 1,200 ATMs across the island, like how frequently they’re used by our customers.

To do this, we rely on multiple dashboards powered by AI/ML. These tools help detect patterns and early signals – where cash levels are dropping faster than usual, which machines are nearing capacity with deposits or coins, or which ones will soon need servicing – so we don’t have to manually track every machine.

Instead, we can focus our time on interpreting what we’re seeing and deciding what action to take, like coordinating with cash‑in‑transit auxiliary police officers and engineers often before any issue becomes visible on the ground.

If we do our job right, most customers will never see the complexity behind the scenes. They’ll just simply walk up to an ATM, withdraw or deposit their cash, and move on with their day – and that’s exactly the experience we’re aiming for.

Working in this role has also meant learning new skills. Understanding how to read data, trusting machine‑generated signals and working alongside AI‑driven tools is now part of the job.

Of course, as you’d expect, there are daily peak periods – lunchtime, morning and evening rush hours.

There are also peak seasons like the two weeks before Chinese New Year, where we add an additional 71 pop-up ATM machines to the network so customers can withdraw their notes for gifting, and Li Chun, where people deposit money based on their zodiac’s lucky hours.

To support 24/7 coverage of the ATM network, the team runs on fixed 12-hour shifts – either 6am to 6pm or 6pm to 6am. We usually work three days on and two days off, rotating between day and night shifts.

I’m now three years into this role at DBS, but this was my first foray into shift work, so it took quite a bit of time to get used to.

My first few shifts were especially hard, my sleep was disrupted, I was falling sick more easily, and my body took time to adjust.

I had to pick up practical habits along the way from my colleagues – things like using blackout curtains to sleep at 7am, taking short naps before night shifts, and learning what worked for me through trial and error.

We get our schedule months in advance, so nothing’s a surprise, but since I wasn’t much of a planner to begin with, I found that I wasn’t seeing my family or my girlfriend as much as I used to. (They all work regular office hours).

So I’ve had to be far more intentional about how I use my time. The same habits I learnt on the job – planning ahead, paying attention to patterns, and making small adjustments early – have started carrying over into my own life.

I’m now a lot more deliberate and present with my time – I enjoy the quieter weekdays and fewer crowds when I’m out running errands and I’m fully present when spending time with my loved ones.

- Russell Chee, Operations Monitoring Centre

DBS Group

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