DBS to Step up Hiring Engineering Talent to Fix Complex Software Bugs, Says CEO Piyush
by Fintech News Singapore November 8, 2023DBS’ CEO Piyush Gupta revealed that software bugs or technical glitches were the root cause of four out of the five major service disruptions experienced by the bank in 2023, according to The Straits Times.
Recognising the need for stronger in-house engineering expertise, DBS is reportedly expanding its engineering team to effectively identify and resolve complex software issues.
This move is part of a broader strategy to increase system robustness and reliability following the multiple service interruptions that customers have faced this year.
To address these challenges, the bank is committing S$80 million towards enhancing its systems’ resilience.
DBS also plans to implement more rigorous development and testing protocols to ensure new systems function correctly from the outset.
A further measure includes the structural decoupling of the bank’s systems to maintain service availability even when one system encounters issues.
Piyush Gupta
Reflecting on the surge in technical issues, Gupta speculated,
“It’s purely my speculation that post-Covid, people are working from home and I think there’s been more pressure on software quality in general around the world.”
As directed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), DBS will be instituting a six-month pause on non-essential IT activities to focus on improving technology resiliency.
MAS also prohibited DBS from taking on new ventures or reducing the size of its branch and ATM networks during this period.
Gupta acknowledged that while some new features and services might be delayed, the priority remains on strengthening the bank’s systems.
