[SINGAPORE] UOB aims to grow its Asean retail card customer base to 10 million by 2027, through more partnerships in the entertainment space.

The Singapore-based bank doubled its regional footprint to 5.5 million retail card customers in 2022 after acquiring Citigroup’s retail franchise in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam that year. That number increased to 8.4 million in 2024, with 2.4 million of these customers from Singapore.

As the largest regional bank in terms of retail cards, UOB leads in Visa and Mastercard credit card billings across Asean, and in debit for Visa.

Jacquelyn Tan, head of group personal finance services at UOB, emphasised the bank’s focus on growing within the Asean region, which is seeing rising affluence and purchasing power.

“We aim to address customers’ needs through strong value propositions, cashback, and have been consistently serving miles (through the cards),” she said.

The bank saw card billings surge 35 per cent week on week when four of the six The Eras Tour concerts by Taylor Swift took place in Singapore last March.

In response to queries from The Business Times, Tan said that the bank did not see disengagements in UOB cards after the end of the big event.

“We’ve attracted quite a bit of new, young customers over the past year and have seen continued spending and engagement, because we don’t only serve that one category, like (entertainment). We have other offerings such as dining, travel, and shopping that are relevant to them.”

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