Roles coverered by the programme include those of digital developer, customer service executive, and digital ambassador.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC), parent of Bank of Singapore, has launched a banking career programme for 500 polytechnic students over the next three years. The roles include anti-money laundering compliance.

The programme is called OCBC Ignite, operating alongside all five polytechnics in Singapore. OCBC said the initiative contributes to the Asian city-state’s goal of boosting the number of polytechnic graduates with full-time jobs in the financial sector.

OCBC said its Ignite programme aims to double the bank’s annual intake of fresh polytechnic graduates. Such programmes are designed to handle oft-repeated concerns about a talent crunch in the region as demands for financial services rise alongside a rising, affluent middle class. (See here for a roundup of graduate and post-graduate courses, with a focus on wealth and financial services, around the world.)

The government launched the Polytechnic Talent for Finance Scheme last year. It wants to boost the number of polytechnic graduates who take on full-time permanent jobs in the financial sector by more than 80 per cent, from about 160 in 2021 to at least 300 by 2025. 

The scheme is being administered by the Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF). 

OCBC Ignite builds on OCBC’s current 12-month tech internship programme with Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Temasek Polytechnic students. More than 70 students have completed this programme to date, the banking group said. 

OCBC Ignite offers an accelerated career pathway comprising an internship that will take place during their final year of studies and a structured full-time apprenticeship after they graduate. 

At the end of the 18-month learning and development journey, OCBC Ignite participants will be appointed to the assistant manager rank. This compares with what would currently take about three years. The rank of an assistant manager is typically accorded to fresh university graduates, OCBC said.  

Besides the AML compliance officer position, other roles covered by the programme include data scientist, full-stack developer, mobile developer, customer service executive, and digital ambassador.

Photo, left to right:

Lee Hwee Boon, head of group human resources, OCBC; Lim Kok Kiang, principal and CEO, Ngee Ann Polytechnic; Russell Chan, principal and CEO, Nanyang Polytechnic; Alvin Tan, Minister of State for Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, and board member of MAS; Helen Wong, group CEO, OCBC; Jeanne Liew, principal and CEO, Republic  Polytechnic; Georgina Phua, deputy principal, Singapore Polytechnic; and Aw Tuan Kee, deputy principal, Temasek Polytechnic.