SINGAPORE - Financial firm DCS Card Centre has named the chief for its new digital innovation unit as the company moves further to turn its business around.
The company has named Ms Ceridwen Choo, in her 40s, as chief executive of the new independent enterprise, DCS Innov, which is focused on emerging payment trends and identifying new revenue opportunities.
It has four key focus areas: to actively seek partnerships and engagement; to look at Web3 payments using digital tokens and blockchain; to integrate financial services into non-financial platforms via cards; and to serve as an incubation hub for ideas.
In a statement released on Feb 20, Ms Choo said disruptive technology has rapidly opened up new possibilities for businesses to grow by integrating financial services into their core offerings. It has also allowed customers greater flexibility in how they manage their payments.
Formerly known as Diners Club Singapore, the company went through a reorganisation in 2023.
The new business unit has its roots in a payments and innovation team that was created during the reorganisation.
The company’s traditional business lines, including consumer cards, commercial cards and merchant acquisition, accounted for three of four new business units.
The payments and innovation team was set up to generate new revenue streams for the 50-year-old business. In the past year, the team launched several initiatives, including the introduction of D-Vault. This is an account that allows card holders to “card their assets” by way of increasing card spend limits via bank transfers and the conversion of digital assets into fiat.
The team also created DCS Tokens, which is the first payment token to be issued by a financial institution governed under the Banking Act in Singapore.
When asked about the payment sector’s outlook, the company said physical card payments have been dominant for three generations, starting from charge cards to credit cards, then debit and prepaid cards.
Now, card payments are extended across all customer segments and have lost their prestige, remaining only as practical payment tools. This is the space that has become highly saturated and competitive, the firm said.
It added: “However, the next-generation payment trends point towards players that are able to offer mobile-first payment experiences that are integrated with non-financial platforms. The new breed of consumers is impatient, value-savvy and non-loyalists. It will take a lot of technology to retain such consumers.”
Ms Karen Low, CEO of DCS Card Centre, noted that collaboration with more fintech players will open the room for collective expertise and diverse perspectives.
Diners Club Singapore was founded in Singapore in 1973 as an exclusive franchise of United States-based global payments company Diners Club International.
Diners Club Singapore and its DinersPay subsidiary recorded combined losses of $656,000 in 2018, $5.2 million in 2019 and $3.04 million in 2020, which prompted Malaysia-listed investment holding company Johan Holdings to sell its stakes in both entities.
A Singapore electronic payment solutions provider Ezy Net paid $103.6 million for Johan Holdings’ stakes in 2021.
Diners Club Singapore was later rebranded as DCS Card Centre in October 2022.
DCS Card Centre has about 300,000 card holders across all its credit cards, including the co-brand cards and new ones issued under the Mastercard and UnionPay networks. It employs nearly 200 people in Singapore.
