UOB and Amazon Web Services sign Memorandum of Understanding to explore AI-driven banking innovation across ASEAN

The collaboration will develop a hybrid infrastructure model for banking in ASEAN and explore strategic opportunities across data, analytics and customer engagement.

SINGAPORE, Oct. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- UOB and Amazon Web Services (AWS) today announced plans to collaborate through a dedicated cloud environment in Singapore as part of a first-of-its-kind hybrid infrastructure model for banking in ASEAN.

Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), UOB and AWS intend to explore how cloud and Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities can help the Bank strengthen operational resilience while meeting regulatory and data residency requirements and improve banking experiences for customers across its five ASEAN markets^[1]. The collaboration brings together UOB's regional banking expertise and governance framework with AWS's cloud infrastructure, data, and AI services. Initial areas of focus include hybrid cloud architecture, data and analytics, and AI-powered customer engagement.

Mr Lawrence Goh, Head of Group Technology and Operations, UOB, said: "At UOB, we see AI as a transformative capability that can help us become a more adaptive, intelligent and responsive organisation. Realising this vision requires a secure and resilient technology foundation, strong governance, and the right ecosystem of partners. Our collaboration with AWS reflects our strategic intent to accelerate innovation, enhance customer experiences, increase productivity and create long-term value for our customers, employees and stakeholders across ASEAN. We also see potential to broaden this collaboration over time and explore additional areas with the wider Amazon group."

Mr Jaime Vallés, Vice President & Managing Director for APAC, AWS said: "Financial services touches the lives of millions of people across APJC every day. This collaboration with UOB is about making sure those experiences get better, faster, more personalized, and built on a foundation customers can trust. UOB will have the tools to innovate and the training programs to build AI fluency and cloud skills across its workforce all while keeping customer data secure. This is what's possible when a bank with deep regional expertise and a culture of innovation is combined with AI and cloud technology that drives true transformation."

Building a secure foundation for future innovation

This MoU will explore the development of a future hybrid infrastructure model that enables UOB's systems and data to operate across on-premises infrastructure and cloud environments. The model leverages an isolated cloud extension that can be strategically deployed in specific countries or jurisdictions to meet regulatory requirements.

This marks the first collaboration between AWS and a bank to bring together hybrid cloud capabilities in ASEAN with security, governance and data residency controls aligned to the requirements of a highly regulated industry.

For UOB, this means a dedicated cloud environment located within Singapore that is designed to meet its security, governance, and data residency requirements across the five ASEAN countries in which it operates. UOB's data and systems remain within this dedicated environment and can be configured to support compliance with each market's regulatory requirements. At the same time, UOB will have access to the cloud tools to modernise its technology and build new capabilities in areas like AI and data analytics.

Opportunities across data, AI and customer experience

The collaboration will also explore how AI can improve UOB's customer experience and internal operations, including conversational banking capabilities and more personalised services built on AWS's AI tools.

Building on the Bank's existing Enterprise GenAI Platform (EGP), UOB will explore how Amazon Bedrock, AWS's fully managed service for building and scaling Generative AI (GenAI) applications, can support the rapid development and deployment of AI-powered solutions across the Bank, from employee productivity tools to enterprise-grade applications.

Investing in future-ready talent

To strengthen cloud and AI capabilities across its workforce, UOB will explore AWS's structured learning and enablement programmes to equip employees with skills needed to develop, deploy and scale cloud and AI-powered solutions responsibly. Training in cloud technologies, GenAI, data and analytics, security and compliance, will further help employees build future-ready capabilities while supporting the Bank's ongoing workforce transformation efforts.

About UOB

UOB is a leading Asian bank with a global network in Southeast Asia, Asia Pacific, Europe and North America. Operating through our head office in Singapore and banking subsidiaries in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, we have a global network of about 430 branches and offices in 19 markets.

Since its incorporation in 1935, UOB has grown organically and through a series of strategic acquisitions. Today, UOB is rated among the world's top banks: Aa1 by Moody's Investors Service and AA- by both S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings.

For more than nine decades, UOB has adopted a customer-centric approach to create long-term value by staying relevant through its enterprising spirit and doing right by its customers. UOB is focused on building the future of ASEAN – for the people and businesses within, and connecting with, ASEAN.

The Bank connects businesses to opportunities in the region with its unparalleled regional footprint and leverages data and insights to innovate and create personalised banking experiences and solutions catering to each customer's unique needs and evolving preferences. UOB is also committed to help businesses forge a sustainable future, by fostering social inclusiveness, creating positive environmental impact and pursuing economic progress.

UOB believes in being a responsible financial services provider and is steadfast in its support of education, children and art, doing right by its communities and stakeholders.

About Amazon Web Services

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is guided by customer obsession, pace of innovation, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. By democratizing technology for nearly two decades and making cloud computing and generative AI accessible to organizations of every size and industry, AWS has built one of the fastest-growing enterprise technology businesses in history. Millions of customers trust AWS to accelerate innovation, transform their businesses, and shape the future. With the most comprehensive AI capabilities and global infrastructure footprint, AWS empowers builders to turn big ideas into reality. Learn more at aws.amazon.com and follow @AWSNewsroom.

SOURCE UOB