Bank of Singapore’s new AI tool does in one hour what used to take 10 days

Besides being a time saver, the tool cuts down on human error from examining documents on clients’ employment, business and investment history

Bank of Singapore (BOS) has launched an agentic artificial intelligence (AI) tool that enables its relationship managers to automate the writing of source-of-wealth reports, cutting preparation time from 10 days to just an hour.

Beyond improving productivity, the new tool helps reduce human errors, the private banking arm of OCBC said on Friday (Oct 10).

Previously, relationship managers manually reviewed hundreds of pages of documents detailing clients’ backgrounds, investment histories, business activities, professional careers and other corroborative evidence.

These included financial statements, tax notices, property valuation records, corporate filings and payslips.

With the new tool – called Source of Wealth Assistant – relationship managers can generate a “comprehensive, well-structured and standardised” report once the relevant documents are uploaded.

The bank said in a statement: “The accuracy of the report is substantially improved. Human errors, such as inconsistent and missing information – often associated with the earlier manual process due to the varying experience among relationship managers – are minimised.”

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Establishing a client’s source of wealth is a key control in managing money laundering and terrorism financing risks.

Using data from BOS and OCBC, the tool also validates the plausibility of information provided by clients by using benchmarks such as salary levels and company revenues.

Relationship managers still maintain oversight of the process by reviewing and refining the AI-generated draft before submitting it for internal assessment, BOS said.

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“With AI integrated into the source-of-wealth reporting process, relationship managers can shift their focus from manual documentation to meaningful client engagement and risk assessment,” said Kam Chin Wong, global head of financial crime compliance at BOS.

“This not only strengthens client relationships, but also maintains high standards of regulatory compliance while delivering greater value,” he added.

The new tool was among several AI initiatives lauded by National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat in his keynote address at an awards ceremony organised by the Institute of Banking and Finance Singapore on Thursday evening.

Other AI tools in OCBC’s suite include OCBC Buddy, which answers employees’ queries on internal policies such as parental leave and expense applications; OCBC GPT, which assists in writing, research and ideation; and OCBC Whisper, which provides real-time call summaries for contact-centre agents.