Taipei, Aug. 14 (CNA) Singapore-based DBS Bank has completed its acquisition of U.S. Citigroup’s (Citi) consumer banking business in Taiwan, making it the biggest foreign bank in Taiwan by value of assets.
The integration involved large-scale data migration and was completed over the weekend, according to DBS Bank Taiwan.
In December 2022, Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission approved DBS’s acquisition of Citi’s consumer finance business in Taiwan.
The acquisition is expected to enable DBS Taiwan to accelerate the growth of its consumer banking business in Taiwan by at least 10 years and lead to annual revenues exceeding S$1.3 billion (US$939.9 million), Piyush Gupta, CEO and director of DBS Group, said at a news conference in Taipei Monday.
Meanwhile, DBS Taiwan General Manager Ng Sier Han (???) said at the event that following the acquisition, the number of DBS Taiwan deposit and wealth management customers has doubled to 1.1 million and the level of asset management capital has exceeded NT$280 billion (US$8.7 billion).
In addition, the number of credit card accounts has exceeded 3 million, and the value of loans and deposits has exceeded NT$740 billion and NT$830 billion, respectively. Around 3,000 former Citi workers have also joined DBS Taiwan.
With hopes to capitalize on the huge market potential in Taiwan, DBS Group gained approval to inject NT$52 billion of capital into DBS Taiwan in late June in order to pay for the purchase of Citi’s retail banking operations in Taiwan.
After deducting an acquisition premium of NT$22 billion from the NT$52 billion capital increase, the remaining NT$30 billion will be used for developing DBS’s business in Taiwan, according to Ng.
Over the past 18 months, DBS has invested S$300 million in systems and human resources, Ng added.
The effects of the acquisition on DBS Taiwan’s consumer banking business are expected to come to fruition in the fourth quarter of 2023, Ng said, adding that the bank aims to pursue business growth and improve efficiency through the integration of the two banks.
DBS also plans to complete taking over Citibank Taiwan credit cards, of which there are approximately 2.7 million. It will also take over around 600,000 savings accounts, which will bring the total number of those accounts managed by DBS to 1.1 million, said Seraph Sun (???), DBS consumer banking managing director.
After the acquisition, all Citibank Taiwan ATMs will be removed and DBS will operate in 72 locations around Taiwan.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of DBS entering the Taiwan market.
