Public trust in banks in S'pore dips slightly but industry remains one of the most trusted: Survey

The Singapore banking industry remains one of the most trusted institutions locally, coming in closely behind the Government, according to the survey. ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
Public trust in banks in S'pore dips slightly but industry remains one of the most trusted: Survey
SINGAPORE – Public trust in the Singapore banking industry dipped slightly between 2022 and 2024, according to the results of a survey released on May 20.
The Banking Trust Index for Singapore (BTIS), which is in its fourth iteration, is commissioned by the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) to enable greater understanding of consumers' trust in banks and how else banks can build confidence. The latest survey was conducted by Edelman Data and Intelligence from Sept 27 to Nov 5, 2024, while the last survey was in 2022.
The dip signals a slowdown in the upward trend of trust in the banking industry since 2020, the report says.
The 14 participating banks attained an Edelman Net Trust Score (ENTS) of 68, down two points from 70 in the last survey in 2022.
The ENTS is derived from the difference between the proportion of respondents with high trust in the banks and those with low trust.
The dip reflects a significant shift in what the public prioritised for their trust in banks, with growing expectations for banks to positively impact society.
On top of the ENTS, the Edelman Trust Management framework used four key pillars to study what shapes public trust – ability, integrity, dependability and purpose.
Ability refers to how good banks are at what they do; integrity refers to the bank's honesty; dependability refers to how well banks keep their promises; and purpose refers to how hard banks try to leave a positive impact on society.
The survey found that while ability continued to be the major contributor to trust, there has been a shift towards purpose.
Ability saw a dip of three points to 30 per cent, while purpose saw a significant increase by six points to 19 per cent. Meanwhile, integrity saw a dip of two points to 26 per cent and dependability maintained status quo at 24 per cent.
Even though banks have made substantial progress in giving back to the community, improving customer accessibility and employee diversity, purpose remained the lowest performing pillar.
The growing importance of purpose to trust, along with the flattening performances of ability indicators, contributed to the dip.
However, despite the drop, the Singapore banking industry remains one of the most trusted institutions locally, coming in closely behind the Government, which has an ENTS of 72.
'We are heartened by the robust trust that the public places in banks in Singapore, and with it, the rising expectations for us to do more for the common good,' said Ms Helen Wong, ABS chairman, and group CEO of OCBC Bank.
Banks could strengthen public trust by prioritising improvements to ethical conduct, acknowledging mistakes and demonstrating proactiveness in preventing re-occurrences, and enhancing customer centricity, said the report.
The increasing importance of purpose to trust also calls for further efforts by the industry to expand community involvement and customer accessibility, it added.
'We hear the call to do even more – to demonstrate our purpose for the greater good and bring positive impact to society – and look forward to rise to the occasion, building on the industry community initiatives we started last year,' said Mr Shee Tse Koon, chairman of ABS' Culture and Conduct Steering Group and DBS' group head of consumer banking and wealth management.
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