Singapore banks rush to heed e-commerce call

With more Singaporeans shopping on U.S. Web sites, banks are scrambling to partner logistics providers to take care of an existing hole in service-many sites do not ship to Singapore.

These banks are offering a packaged service where shoppers can pay by credit card and have the item processed by the banks’ delivery service provider partners, regardless of whether the sites offer international delivery.

Card merchants are hoping the one-stop service will hit a high note with the current rise in demand in online shopping in the country.

Radha Suvarna, Director of Portfolio Management and Cross Sell, Credit Payment Products at Citibank Singapore, said in an e-mail interview: “Citibank’s service comes at a time when online shopping is a fast-growing trend in Singapore. More secure shopping websites and a favorable U.S. currency conversion have helped boost the popularity of such services.”

Customers are also interested in shopping online for exclusive deals and products that cannot be found in physical shops here, he added.

The bank has a five-year contract with U.K. based e-commerce service provider, Borderlinx, which provides a U.S. mailing address for users to use with U.S. sites that only provide domestic shipping. Borderlinx has its own agreement with third-party logistics giant, DHL, to complete the loop and provide shipping back to Singapore.

Feedback the bank gathered reveal customers were drawn by the convenience of the packaged service as well as the brand name of DHL.

Another bank, OCBC Bank, has also been eyeing the e-shopping market.

Lynn Gaspar, Head of Lifestyle Credit at OCBC said Internet shopping has become “such an integral part of our cardmembers’ lifestyles”, adding that response has been positive to the “lower delivery rates” the bank has offered.

OCBC’s partner, comGateway, provides the logistics backend for the service, providing the U.S. mailing address and shipping for customers.

With more Singaporeans shopping on U.S. Web sites, banks are scrambling to partner logistics providers to take care of an existing hole in service-many sites do not ship to Singapore.

These banks are offering a packaged service where shoppers can pay by credit card and have the item processed by the banks’ delivery service provider partners, regardless of whether the sites offer international delivery.

Card merchants are hoping the one-stop service will hit a high note with the current rise in demand in online shopping in the country.

Radha Suvarna, director of portfolio management and cross sell, credit payment products at Citibank Singapore, said in an e-mail interview: “Citibank’s service comes at a time when online shopping is a fast-growing trend in Singapore. More secure shopping websites and a favorable U.S. currency conversion have helped boost the popularity of such services.”

Customers are also interested in shopping online for exclusive deals and products that cannot be found in physical shops here, he added.

The bank has a five-year contract with U.K.-based e-commerce service provider, Borderlinx, which provides a U.S. mailing address for users to use with U.S. sites that only provide domestic shipping. Borderlinx has its own agreement with third-party logistics giant, DHL, to complete the loop and provide shipping back to Singapore.

Citibank’s customer have responded better than it expected–the bank enjoyed more than double the targets it set for sign ups in the first week, said Survana.

Feedback the bank gathered reveal customers were drawn by the convenience of the packaged service as well as the brand name of DHL. “Over the past few months, shipment volume has easily doubled. We’ve had thousands of sign-ups and more than a hundred shipments a day,” he added.

Another bank, OCBC Bank, has also been eyeing the e-shopping market.

Lynn Gaspar, head of lifestyle credit at OCBC said Internet shopping has become “such an integral part of our cardmembers’ lifestyles”, adding that response has been positive to the “lower delivery rates” the bank has offered.

OCBC’s partner, comGateway, provides the logistics backend for the service, providing the U.S. mailing address and shipping for customers.

Quoting a recent Nielson global survey, 82 percent of Singaporeans have made at least one online purchase in the past, and almost 39 percent have made at least one transaction in the last month, said Gaspar, in an e-mail.

Since the start of the service, the top five sites visited by OCBC customers are Amazon.com, Ralphlauren.com, Gap.com, Victoriassecret.com and Macys.com, she said.

Both banks were vague on whether they felt their branding would take a hit in the event of delivery issues.

OCBC said customers should go to comGateway to check on delivery status, as well as lost packages.

Citibank said it would work together with partners, Borderlinx and DHL, to resolve problems, adding that no issue has been encountered yet.