UOB and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore a hybrid cloud banking model for ASEAN, built around a dedicated cloud environment in Singapore. The two companies announced the agreement on 9 October 2026 and described the model as the first of its kind in the region.
Under the MoU, UOB and AWS will look at how cloud and AI can strengthen operational resilience and improve banking experiences across the bank’s five ASEAN markets: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. Initial areas of focus are hybrid cloud architecture, data and analytics, and AI-powered customer engagement. The agreement is exploratory, and no investment figures or timelines were disclosed.
Hybrid cloud banking built for data residency
The model would let UOB’s systems and data run across on-premises infrastructure and cloud, using an isolated cloud extension that can be deployed in specific countries to meet local regulations. For UOB, that means a dedicated environment in Singapore designed around its security, governance and data residency requirements. Data and systems stay inside it, and it can be configured to match each market’s rules.
According to the companies, this is the first collaboration between AWS and a bank to bring hybrid cloud capabilities to ASEAN with those controls in place.
Generative AI plans build on UOB’s existing platform
UOB will explore how Amazon Bedrock, AWS’s managed service for building generative AI applications, can work with the bank’s Enterprise GenAI Platform. The aim is quicker development of AI tools, from employee productivity applications to enterprise-grade systems. The two sides will also look at conversational banking and more personalised services built on AWS’s AI tools.
UOB also plans to use AWS training programmes to build cloud and AI skills across its workforce, covering generative AI, data and analytics, and security and compliance.
Lawrence Goh, Head of Group Technology and Operations at UOB, said AI needs “a secure and resilient technology foundation, strong governance, and the right ecosystem of partners.” He added that the bank sees room to widen the collaboration to the wider Amazon group over time.
Jaime Vallés, Vice President and Managing Director for APAC at AWS, said UOB “will have the tools to innovate and the training programs to build AI fluency and cloud skills across its workforce” while keeping customer data secure.
Goh and Vallés signed the MoU. UOB Deputy Chairman and CEO Wee Ee Cheong and Greg Pearson, AWS Vice President of Global Sales, witnessed the signing.
