Zhang Yu

JeniZhang13@163.com

DBS China, a subsidiary of Singapore-based DBS Bank, has joined hands with Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com in green procurement, a move that is considered to lay a good foundation for the multinational bank’s digital management.

“With JD.com’s support, DBS branches can make flexible purchases fit for their needs, and we no longer have to sign contracts with suppliers all over the country, which reduces the risk of non-compliance and enhances efficiency,” said Benton Gong, head of technology and operations and chief information officer of DBS Bank (China) Ltd.

Gong said that in cooperation with JD.com, DBS China’s procurement cycle, which originally took an average of 25 days, has been cut into five days, shortening the procurement cycle by 80% for office equipment.

“Because of the whole digital process of having a track record, it also lays a good foundation for the digital management of the entire group,” Gong added.

DBS set up its China office in Beijing in 1993 and it became one of the first foreign-funded banks with legal person status registered in China in May 2007.

The bank now has 12 branches and 22 sub-branches in China, with a workforce of 2,000 employees, statistics from DBS showed.

Gong said the financial industry tends to have more stringent operations and internal controls than other industries. DBS has set its single procurement department at its China head office, and its branches are able to process independent procurement.

“The procurement process was characterized by numerous links and was time-consuming, relying solely on manpower for registration, urging, acceptance, among others, and in the absence of supervision throughout the whole process,” Gong said.

In the cooperation, JD Business, the enterprise business arm of JD.com, has established a unified group-wide online procurement portal for DBS China to centralize procurement needs, while integrating JD’s massive products, mall operation and mature logistics system and other resources to provide exclusive procurement scenario solutions.