DBS Bank

Universal bank · Singapore, Singapore

DBS is the largest bank in Southeast Asia, controlled by Temasek and headquartered at Marina Bay in Singapore. It runs locally incorporated banks in Hong Kong, India (530 or more branches after absorbing Lakshmi Vilas Bank), Indonesia, China and Taiwan. Its Business Multi-Currency Account holds 13 currencies for 10 Singapore dollars a month on the starter bundle, with online opening for locally owned Singapore companies. DBS operates its own regulated digital exchange with custody and tokenisation. It reported net profit of 11 billion Singapore dollars for 2025 with a CET1 ratio of 17 percent. MAS still holds extra operational risk capital against the bank after repeated digital outages, the latest in March 2026.

Legal name: DBS Bank Ltd (DBS Group Holdings Ltd)
Regulated by: Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), HKMA (DBS Bank (Hong Kong)), Reserve Bank of India (DBS Bank India), OJK Indonesia (Bank DBS Indonesia), NFRA China (DBS Bank (China)), Taiwan FSC (DBS Bank (Taiwan))
Licence confirmed: yes, on a regulator's own list
Established: 1968
Website: www.dbs.com

Scores, 0 to 10

10.0Asia-Pacific (SG, HK, AU, JP, KR)

Licences in Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Australia with local rails FAST and PayNow. · source

10.0Financial strength & stability

Aa1/AA-/AA- ratings, CET1 17 percent and named Asia's safest bank 2009 to 2025. · source

8.5Trade, manufacturing & import-export

Largest bank in Southeast Asia with locally incorporated banks in China, India and Indonesia supporting trade corridors. · source

8.5Crypto wallet and custody for a business

DBS Digital Exchange offers trading and custody of digital assets to financial institutions, corporate accredited investors and market makers under MAS oversight; ordinary companies that are not accredited investors cannot join. · source

8.5Bitcoin

BTC trades against SGD, USD, HKD and JPY on DDEx with DBS custody for institutional and corporate accredited members; no BTC lending for companies was found. · source

8.0Cross-border payments, FX and multi-currency accounts

13 currencies in one account, telegraphic transfers at a flat 30 Singapore dollars plus agent fees. Multi-currency accounts, DBS IDEAL platform and locally incorporated banks in six Asian markets under one relationship. · source

8.0On-ramp: buy crypto with fiat

Eligible corporates buy crypto on DDEx 23/7 against USD, SGD, JPY or HKD with RFQ for large trades, and DBS safeguards client fiat for MAS-licensed exchange Independent Reserve; access is limited to accredited and institutional members. · source

8.0Off-ramp: crypto to fiat in a business account

Members sell crypto on DDEx and settle in USD or SGD into their DBS accounts, with RFQ execution for large orders. · source

8.0Ethereum

ETH trades in four fiat pairs and is held in DDEx custody for members; no staking service is listed. · source

7.5Fast digital onboarding

Fully online application for Singapore-incorporated companies owned by citizens or PRs; foreign-owned companies apply separately. · source

7.0Crypto-friendly bank

Runs a regulated digital exchange with trading and custody for institutional and accredited clients. · source

7.0Lowest fees

Starter bundle 10 Singapore dollars a month with unlimited free FAST and GIRO payments and no set-up fee for locally owned companies. · source

7.0Online businesses: e-commerce and SaaS

Multi-currency collection in 13 currencies with FAST, GIRO and PayNow rails. The 13-currency business account feeds Xero, QuickBooks, Financio and Info-Tech, and the DBS developer portal offers fund transfer and deposit APIs; no revenue-based financing is offered. · source

7.0Business cards (Visa, Mastercard)

Visa Business Advance+ Debit has no annual fee and zero FX fees when linked to the multi-currency account, with spend controls in DBS IDEAL, plus Platinum Business and World Business Visa credit cards; a standard SGD account pays 3.25 percent FX on card spend and no virtual card programme is listed. · source

6.5Latin America, Africa & South Asia

DBS Bank India with 530 or more branches and Bank DBS Indonesia with 39 branches in 11 cities. · source

6.5Stablecoins (USDC, USDT and others)

DDEx lists USDC against USD only, and DBS completed a weekend USD tokenised deposit payment with Citi on 5 September 2026 over the Swift Digital Ledger, but offers no stablecoin payouts to businesses. · source

6.0Fintech companies that need a partner bank

Operates its own regulated digital exchange and custody used by tokenisation platforms; no published safeguarding programme for EMIs. · source

6.0Startups & VC-backed companies

Starter bundle at 10 Singapore dollars a month with unlimited local payments for new companies. · source

6.0Foreign-owned & non-resident companies

A separate foreign-owned company track accepts foreign-incorporated firms, foreign corporate shareholders and companies run by non-resident foreigners with certified documents and a relationship manager; only Singapore companies owned by citizens or PRs get the instant online path. · source

4.5Best interest on business balances

The Business Multi-Currency Account page lists fees but no credit interest on operating balances. · source

3.5United Kingdom

London branch serves corporate clients; no UK business current accounts. · source

3.5Middle East & Gulf

Dubai office serves corporates and wealth clients; no local business accounts. · source

3.5High-risk verticals (iGaming, cannabis, adult, forex)

DBS's responsible financing prohibited list covers illegal logging, weapons and similar activities but says nothing about gambling, adult, cannabis or forex clients, and no onboarding path for such operators is published. · source

3.0United States

US office serves corporate and institutional clients only. · source

3.0Customer satisfaction

Trustpilot 1.3 out of 5 from 195 reviews, and MAS still holds extra operational risk capital against DBS after repeated digital outages, the latest on 19 March 2026. · source

1.0Accept crypto payments

DBS corporate digital asset pages cover exchange, custody and tokenised deposits, and no merchant crypto acceptance product was found, checked September 2026. · source

Sources

Built on public information and the BankStore team's own aggregated experience; no confidential client or partner data. Bank Index and BankStore are not banks. This is information, not financial advice.