DBS Bank Indonesia pushes ESG through Spark Savings

The savings account offers yearly interest rates of as much as 3.25%.

DBS Bank Indonesia has converted its Green Savings product into Spark Savings, which lets account holders donate a portion of their interest earnings to social partners.

“Consumers’ growing focus on sustainability is increasingly influencing corporate business strategies,” Melfrida Gultom, director of Consumer Banking Group at DBS Bank Indonesia told Asian Banking & Finance in an emailed reply to questions.

“We see this trend as an opportunity to enhance customer engagement in our ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) initiatives,” she added.

She said Spark Savings allows customers to participate in sustainability initiatives focused on the environment, education and community, in line with increasing public awareness of sustainable finance.

The financial product makes donating effortless simply by saving, ensures transparency through contribution reports, and gives easy access via branches, automated teller machines, phone banking, or the DBS app.

Spark Savings offers yearly interest rates of as much as 3.25% and periodic reports on fund distribution to curated social partners via email.

Spark Savings is part of the Indonesian lender’s efforts to integrate ESG principles in banking services, said Mona Monika, head of Group Strategic Marketing and Communications at DBS Bank Indonesia.

"We actively educate customers on the importance of sustainability through various digital platforms and financial literacy programs,” she said. “This way, we hope customers not only understand ESG but also incorporate it into their financial decisions.”

For corporate clients, DBS Bank Indonesia offers sustainability-linked loans and bonds to support greener energy projects.
The lender said its green and social financing has reached more than $368m (Rp6t) as of November 2024.

Monika said DBS applies risk management to ensure that every business decision remains profitable without compromising sustainability.

“Technology adoption is also a key part of DBS’s ESG strategy, such as through the digibank by DBS app, which reduces reliance on paper and physical branches for banking transactions,” she added.