DBS, one of the “big three” local banks in the city-state, added 1,000 people to its total staff size last year, reaching 8,800.

Singapore-headquartered DBS, one of the “big three” local banks in the city-state, added 1,000 people to its total staff size last year, reaching 8,800, according to the Singapore Business Review.

DBS later confirmed the figures to WealthBriefingAsia.

DBS, the SBR report said, is second to CitiBank which reported 10,000 employees. DBS displaced United Overseas Bank, with number of employees only growing by 150 more to 8,000, it said. A spokesperson for DBS told this publication that the basis of the numbers may differ between Citi and DBS because the DBS headcount number excludes agency staff.

“DBS has had a number of long-standing programmes, including a highly sought after Management Associate Programme and a Technology & Operations Graduate Programme, in place. To further strengthen our talent pool, in 2013, we launched three new talent development programmes designed to groom leaders in different parts of the bank such as consumer banking and SME banking. In 2013, we increased the number of new graduates recruited through these programmes,” DBS Bank’s head of human resources, Theresa Phua, said in an emailed statement to this publication..

The bank has won the top spot for having the most valuable brand in Singapore, according to an index published recently. And OCBC and United Overseas Bank, two of the other big locally listed banks in the city state, ranked in the top five for their brand value. Brand Index, a UK-based consultancy that tracks brands’ potency and visibility, said Singapore-listed DBS has a total brand value of $4.011 billion and enterprise value of $32.36 billion; that puts it above Singapore Airlines. The carrier has a brand value of $3.25 billion and enterprise value of $7.009 billion (interestingly demonstrating how the airline has a narrower gap between the brand and enterprise values than is the case for DBS).

The data was carried in a report called The Brand Finance Top 100 Singapore Brands Report 2014.