AI avatars Wendy and Wayne debut in OCBC WoW app

New app debuts round-the-clock portfolio insights through virtual advisers.

OCBC has launched what it said is Southeast Asia's first AI-native banking app, introducing AI-powered avatars to deliver real-time wealth management services.

The new app, OCBC WoW, features two AI avatars, Wendy and Wayne, that interact with customers through voice or text to provide personalised portfolio insights, market updates, and investment ideas around the clock.

The app will initially be available through an invitation-only beta programme for selected OCBC Premier Private Client customers, with a wider rollout planned in phases.

OCBC Group CEO Tan Teck Long said the app marks a new way for the bank to engage customers.

"We are changing the face of banking. Starting with wealth management, we are transforming how we engage customers with the use of avatars and hyper-personalisation on a real-time basis, 24/7,” he said.

He added the bank's AI-native environment allows it to develop and roll out new features more quickly.

"The ability to roll out new features in quick succession in a viable manner is made possible because of an AI-native environment. Hyper-personalisation goes from being a buzz word to being a reality with intelligence built into the foundation,” he noted.

In its beta version, the avatars can show customers their investment portfolios, deliver curated market news, explain how market developments affect their holdings, and recommend investment ideas based on their investment profiles and risk appetites.

Customers will also receive OCBC Group research and market views, alongside real-time market data covering selected indices and commodities.

OCBC said the platform is also designed to help wealth advisers better understand customers' investment needs, enabling more timely and tailored engagement.

The bank said OCBC WoW is built on four technology layers covering data ingestion, AI guardrails, AI agents, and customer-facing applications, allowing it to deliver real-time wealth management services in what it described as a secure environment.

Future versions of the app will add support for Mandarin, Bahasa Melayu, and Bahasa Indonesia, as well as insurance products, banking services, lifestyle rewards, and additional avatars.

The launch builds on OCBC's broader adoption of artificial intelligence.

Earlier this year, the bank introduced a generative AI-powered training programme for its wealth advisers in Singapore.

According to OCBC, advisers who completed the programme doubled their weekly client appointments compared with peers who had not completed the training and recorded a 50% increase in revenue over the previous three months.

Last year, Bank of Singapore, OCBC's private banking arm, introduced an agentic AI-powered source-of-wealth tool that reduced the average preparation time for source-of-wealth reports from 10 days to about one hour, the bank said.