Bank of Singapore has significantly cut the time required to open client accounts to just 15 business days with the roll-out of a new artificial intelligence platform called HELIOS.
OCBC has introduced an agentic artificial intelligence (AI) platform called HELIOS (Holistic wEalth Lifecycle Insights & Ongoing Surveillance) to accelerate the client onboarding process, according to a statement.
Using the platform’s intelligence-gathering and relationship-network mapping capabilities, the bank will be able to enhance the accuracy and completeness of customer information needed for onboarding. In contrast with existing industry practice where know-your-customer (KYC) screening and risk assessment are conducted only after a relationship manager (RM) submits prospective client’s source of wealth (SOW) information, HELIOS will front-load collection, verification, and assessment of key data, streamlining and speeding up the process.
According to the bank, account opening can now be completed in 15 business days or half of the six-week industry median.
RMs and internal review teams maintain ultimate accountability on review, judgment, and decision making.
Beyond onboarding
HELIOS is expected not only to accelerate onboarding and allow the compliance function to help identify and surface high-quality leads to RMs. It will also support ongoing monitoring of client activity by proactively identifying changes in risk profiles, strengthen risk surveillance, and support more timely risk management and compliance reviews.
RMs from Bank of Singapore, OCBC’s private banking arm, have begun using HELIOS across Singapore, Hong Kong, and Dubai, with the full roll-out to be completed by the third quarter of 2026. Thereafter, the platform will be extended to the OCBC Premier Private Client segment within the consumer banking business by the end of the year.
“HELIOS is a powerful example of how we can leverage agentic AI to combine risk intelligence with business growth. In the industry, it is very rare for compliance partners to provide good quality leads that bankers can prospect with confidence. This will be a compelling differentiator in not only growing the business, but also attracting bankers to join us,” commented Bank of Singapore CEO Jason Moo.
OCBC Next Frontier
The new capability is part of the Singaporean bank’s core corporate strategy, OCBC Next Frontier, to invest in AI, digital, and data.
Last year, Bank of Singapore launched an agentic AI-powered SOW tool that independently initiates and coordinates tasks while also identifying data gaps and prompting targeted follow-ups when needed.
