DBS

Best AI-enabled bank with a heart, Long-term growth

DBS’ vision is to be the Best AI-enabled bank with a heart
DBS’s vision, in its 2025 annual report

Best AI-enabled bank with a heart

DBS earned a record S$11.0 billion in 2025 on record income of S$22.9 billion, and in the second quarter of 2026 its total income passed S$6 billion for the first time. Its interest income is falling with rates, and its plan is to grow the income that does not: wealth management, transaction banking, treasury customer sales, and its coverage of global financial institutions.

1 / 5

An AI-enabled bank with a heart

  1. 1Scale data analytics, AI, and machine learning. DBS had deployed over 2,000 models and more than 430 use cases by 2025.
  2. 2Accelerate horizontal and vertical Gen AI use cases, so that AI is embedded at scale and customer outcomes improve.
  3. 3Make DBS-GPT, its personal AI assistant, available across the organisation.

Data analytics and AI generated economic value of approximately S$1 billion in 2025.

DBS-GPT aids two-thirds of employees, and over 20,000 corporate and SME customers have used DBS Joy, a Gen AI chatbot, since July 2025.

A Gen AI coding assistant cut data scientists’ coding time by up to 20% on certain tasks.

Fee income rose 25% while interest income fell

In the second quarter of 2026 DBS’s net interest income fell 2% and its net interest margin narrowed by 18 basis points to 1.87%, but fee income rose 25%, treasury customer sales and other income 30%, and total income crossed S$6 billion for the first time.,

−10%0%+10%+20%+30%Treasury customer salesand other income+30%Treasury customer sales were at a new high.Fee income+25%Wealth management fees rose 42% to S$919 milli…Markets trading income+12%S$469 million.Expenses+3%S$2,347 million, a cost-income ratio of 39%.Net interest income−2%S$3,581 million, as lower rates cut the margin…Net profit+9%A record S$3,079 million.

Treasury customer sales and other income: Treasury customer sales were at a new high.

Fee income: Wealth management fees rose 42% to S$919 million.

Markets trading income: S$469 million.

Expenses: S$2,347 million, a cost-income ratio of 39%.

Net interest income: S$3,581 million, as lower rates cut the margin.

Net profit: A record S$3,079 million.

Changes are on the second quarter of 2025. Total income was S$6.09 billion, up 6%.,

70% of DBS’s high-net-worth clients own or run businesses

DBS’s wealth segment passed S$500 billion of assets under management for the first time in 2026. These clients choose DBS for its One Bank approach and its corporate banking franchise.

Who the clients are

70%

of its high-net-worth clients are entrepreneurs and business owners.

Assets under management

S$0S$500bnS$516bn

S$516billion

of wealth segment assets under management, up 16% at constant currency, and past S$500 billion for the first time.

Wealth management fees

2Q25
S$645m
2Q26
S$919m
1H25
S$1,373m
1H26
S$1,826m

+42%

in the second quarter on the year before, to S$919 million, and a record S$1.83 billion in the first half, up 33%.

AI and data analytics brought about S$1 billion of value in 2025

By the end of 2025 DBS had deployed over 2,000 models and more than 430 use cases of AI and machine learning, and counts approximately S$1 billion of economic value from its data analytics and AI.

One tile for each of the more than 430 use cases.

2000+

models deployed.

Two thirds

of employees are aided by DBS-GPT in brainstorming, research, writing, translation, and summarisation.

20,000+

unique corporate and SME customers have used DBS Joy, a Gen AI chatbot, since July 2025.

Up to 20%

less coding time on certain tasks for data scientists using a Gen AI coding assistant.

  1. Grow the income that does not depend on the weather.

    DBS’s net interest income fell 3% in the first half of 2026 as rates came down, yet its total income rose 3% to a record because fee income grew 20% and wealth management fees 33%. We recommend sorting a plan’s income by what it depends on, and building the lines that do not depend on outside conditions, so that the total keeps rising when the outside line falls.

  2. Organise around where your customers overlap.

    70% of DBS’s high-net-worth clients are entrepreneurs and business owners, and they choose it partly for its corporate banking, which is why it runs as One Bank. We recommend looking for where two of a business’s customer groups are the same people, and organising the service around them, so that neither team treats a shared customer as someone else’s.

  3. Count what AI is worth in the same units as everything else.

    DBS reports over 2,000 models and more than 430 use cases delivering about S$1 billion of economic value, and it counts adoption too: DBS-GPT aids two-thirds of employees. We recommend putting a value on AI work in the same currency as other investments, so that it is managed by what it returns and not by how many tools exist.

Sources

  1. 1. DBS Group Holdings Ltd (2026). DBS Annual Report 2025: letter from the Chairman and CEO. dbs.com, 2025 annual report. dbs.com
  2. 2. DBS Group Holdings Ltd (2026). DBS second-quarter net profit up 9% to record SGD 3.08 billion as quarterly total income crosses SGD 6 billion for the first time. DBS newsroom, 6 August 2026. dbs.com
  3. 3. DBS Group Holdings Ltd (2026). 2Q 2026 financial results: record first-half income and earnings. CFO presentation, 6 August 2026. dbs.com

Headwater is not connected with DBS Group Holdings Ltd. DBS, DBS-GPT, and DBS Joy are trade marks of their owners. Updated 29 September 2026.