Singapore banks to add ATMs and cash access points after decade of cuts
DBS, OCBC and UOB will add more ATMs, branches and cash points across Singapore so every Housing & Development Board block is within 500 metres of a cash access point by the first quarter of 2027.
Source: The Business Times · July 22, 2026 at 7:30 AM · AI-assisted report
CorroboratedSINGAPORE, 22 JULY 2026 —
DBS, OCBC and UOB will add more ATMs, branches and cash points across Singapore so every Housing & Development Board block is within 500 metres of a cash access point by the first quarter of 2027.
Market Impact
The trio will also simplify legacy planning processes and give more targeted help to elderly customers showing signs of cognitive decline, according to the Association of Banks in Singapore.
The plan follows a decade in which off-premise ATMs in Singapore fell an average 2% a year as withdrawals slumped more than 30% from 2015 to 2024 with the rise of digital payments.
Chee Hong Tat, Singapore’s minister for national development and deputy chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said low-use ATMs were removed to prioritise locations with higher traffic.
DBS now runs more than 1,100 ATMs islandwide, while UOB and OCBC each operate about 1,000 through their shared network. DBS has more than 70 retail branches, UOB has 45 and OCBC has 33.
Cash points—partner merchants that let customers withdraw cash when paying with Nets—will also be expanded so key public amenities such as transport hubs, hawker centres and major supermarkets have coverage.
The banks said the push responds to feedback that cash remains important to some seniors even as banking moves online, increasing the risk of exclusion.
They unveiled 20 measures at the ABS annual dinner on June 25, including digitising Supplementary Retirement Scheme withdrawals and standardising guidance on lasting power of attorney, deputyship and deceased estate administration.
OCBC said it now lets executors file one form to close savings, current and investment accounts of a deceased customer and plans to digitalise the process by end-2026. The bank also introduced a four-step framework to guide executors.
By Q1 2027, the industry will publish consolidated public guidance on estate administration through ABS and individual bank platforms. It will also work with the Agency for Integrated Care to strengthen safeguards for vulnerable seniors.
Front-line staff will get training to recognise signs of cognitive decline and the banks will pilot escalation protocols from 2027 under an industrywide referral process.
ABS called the effort Asia’s first sector-wide response to ageing, saying it reflects “a shared recognition across the banking sector that ageing is a journey, and that banking services must evolve alongside the evolving needs of seniors.”
For Malaysian banks, the move underscores how digital adoption is reshaping physical footprints, and how incumbents are recalibrating networks to serve older customers who still rely on cash.
Related: DBS · Monetary Authority of Singapore · Singapore