With billions of people using social media, the Swiss bank and Singapore-based fintech firm are developing a solution to be used by the bank's advisors and clients to chat securely with one another.

UBS and FinChat, a Singapore technology company, have joined hands to develop a solution in the Swiss bank’s design and innovation centre that allows clients and advisors to chat online securely, tapping into demand for such social media channels. 

The agreement centres around EVOLVE - UBS Centre for Design Thinking and Innovation.

"Our clients have told us repeatedly they want to use chat apps for communication with their client advisors and to receive product and investment recommendations," Ketan Samani, chief digital officer, UBS Wealth Management Asia Pacific, said.

Dirk Klee, chief operating officer and head of digital strategy, UBS Wealth Management, said the use of such chat technology by the bank was a “first and it is an essential step for the industry”. 

"It is important for us to break any impasse between the ever-increasing usage of social media platforms and rise in compliance monitoring standards. In the future we look to engage with thousands of clients through their favourite social messaging platforms,” Klee said.

The move comes at a time when around 2.8 billion people are active social media users worldwide and around a billion people, for example, use WhatsApp monthly, while WeChat is used by nearly 850 million people.