Established in 1968 to support Singapore’s industrialisation, the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) has evolved into Southeast Asia’s largest bank by assets, playing a crucial role in the region’s economic transformation. Nearly six decades later, DBS continues to underpin Singapore’s ambitions of advancing a digitally connected economy and establishing itself as a trusted hub for artificial intelligence (AI).
DBS has expanded its footprint across Asia, leveraging its scale and digital expertise to compete on a global level. In July 2026, it became the first Singapore-listed company to surpass S$200 billion in market capitalisation, ranking it among the top 20 banks worldwide. This year, it received global recognition with awards such as “World’s Best Private Bank” from Euromoney and “World’s Best Corporate Bank” from Global Finance.
The bank’s growth strategy focuses on capitalising on Asia’s rapid wealth creation and shifting trade dynamics. Its wealth management business ranks as the fourth largest in Asia by assets under management (AUM), serving clients from 120 nationalities. DBS aims to exceed S$1 trillion in AUM by 2030 across both its retail and wealth segments. CEO Tan Su Shan highlighted the bank’s strong positioning to capture the region’s expanding wealth through its integrated wealth continuum and extensive connectivity.
Beyond wealth management, DBS is strengthening its role in facilitating regional trade and investment flows. It is the largest foreign bank in markets like India and Taiwan and employs a “One Bank” approach to deliver coordinated solutions across multiple sectors, markets, and customer segments. This approach draws on its deep expertise in trade, payments, treasury, and sector-specific knowledge.
Looking forward, artificial intelligence is set to redefine DBS’s operations. Rather than merely automating processes, the bank is integrating AI to enhance decision-making and customer engagement, combining technology with human judgment and empathy. Tan described the vision as becoming an “AI-enabled bank with a heart,” underscoring a commitment to balancing innovation with trust and human-centric values.
DBS’s AI strategy is built on three pillars: trust, data, and culture. The bank highlights trust as essential to confidence in financial institutions, data as the foundation for scalable AI deployment, and culture as the enabler for rapid adaptation. Early investments in digital infrastructure have already contributed roughly S$1 billion in economic value for the bank in 2025. DBS is also investing in workforce development, ensuring all 40,000 employees gain basic AI literacy, with targeted upskilling for over 11,000 staff in specific roles.
The institution positions itself as a dependable, diversified, digital, and disruptive bank. It focuses on resilience amid volatility, helping customers diversify across currencies, investments, and markets. At the same time, it leverages its technological edge to lead innovation, including launching tokenised physical gold products ahead of broader market adoption of digital assets and programmable money.
Chairman Peter Seah highlighted the bank’s long history of reinvention, from its founding mission to support domestic industrialisation to embracing digital banking and expanding regionally. He described AI as a watershed moment that will fundamentally change how banks operate, make decisions, and build trust with customers.
In response to rising wealth management demand, DBS plans to open 18 new wealth centres and upgrade 36 others across six core markets, targeting affluent and high-net-worth clients. maintaining a balance between rapid innovation and prudent risk management remains central to the bank’s identity.
Looking ahead, DBS aims to be a trusted partner supporting Asia’s economic growth by not only adopting new technologies but also using them thoughtfully to shape the future of banking. From its origins financing Singapore’s industrial foundation, DBS continues to evolve, blending technology, regional scale, and human judgment to meet the challenges of a complex and dynamic Asia.