EVENTS: REBUILDING THE RESILIENT BANK OF THE FUTURE
Standard Chartered, EastWest on the blueprint for building the bank of the future Data is the new oil, says Sarabjit Anand, Standard Chartered’s CIO for Singapore and ASEAN.
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ust going digital isn’t a guarantee for success—rather, it is built up by wielding the proper tools, working with the right talent, and properly making use of data. This is a key point that leaders and experts in the financial industry said on how banks, fintechs, and financial institutions can build a resilient, future-ready bank in an era of rapid digital change in the webinar Blueprint for Success: Building the Resilient Bank of the Future, co-hosted by Oracle and the Asian Banking & Finance events team on 7 May. In the opening presentation Sarabjit Singh Anand, Standard Chartered’s CIO, Singapore and ASEAN markets (Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, & Rep Offices) laid out four key areas that will empower the bank of the future: cloud, API, data, and of course, people. “Data is the new oil,” Anand told attendees. “[And] it’s not just the data which has the power. It’s the data combined with the tools which are available in the marketplace, which you can then effectively use to convert into information. That’s really where the power of data starts to play a role.” He noted how just like how oil was one of the cornerstones in driving the industrial revolution during the 19th century, data now plays a major role in driving the future of banking activities and refining customer journey. “What can you do with this data? How can you improve your offering to your clients?” Anand asked. For example, Standard Chartered has real-time offers and deals for their credit card clients, offered thanks to their machine learning capabilities. The bank also can make predictions on traffic and demand, such as onboarding predictions, in order to analyze both their current and expected future performance. Standard Chartered also offers algorithmic lending options in their business banking space, working 42 ASIAN BANKING AND FINANCE | Q3 2021
The modern ecosystem is all about partnerships and collaboration
with external partners to create such solutions, amongst others. But more than that, what Anand considers as any bank’s cornerstone when upscaling operations is the people. “The cornerstone for [our] success on digital transformation is our people. And we are committed to continuously upskilling, rescaling our technologists and staff so that we make them future-ready.” Partnership & collaborations For Asif Saleem, Oracle’s Banking Innovation Advisor for JAPAC, the modern banking ecosystem is all about partnerships and collaborations. Saleem notes that rapid changes in the banking space over the next two years will see banks having to go beyond offering basic financial needs such as loans, mortgages, amongst others, but offering services that are part of a consumer’s daily routine. “The modern ecosystem is all about partnerships and collaboration,” Saleem said. “To be able to offer these services--in which a consumer of yours is basically experiencing [it] from a daily routine perspective, say by ordering groceries, to watching their
favorite movie on Netflix, or listening to their favorite music on Spotify--you need to have a modern architecture, which is basically driven by cloud native technologies. “All of this will only happen when you properly leverage the power of cloud, and along with a stronger Machine Learning and Digital Analytics algorithm, which will help you understand your consumers better, and having a 360 degree view to be able to focus towards fulfilling the overall consumer needs. This is to me, basically, about enabling the platform of the future,” he added. Having worked with over 600 banks in the development of their data systems and digital processes, the software and data systems company Oracle have gained the insights and experience needed to help other banks and financial players in their digitisation journeys, adds Andre Wenas, Director and Cloud Architect for Oracle. Erosion, reselling A bank’s worst nightmare is for it’s customer base to erode, and with the pandemic having sped up customers’
From top left, clockwise: Timothy Charlton, Editor-in-Chief, CMG; Asif Saleem, Banking Innovation Advisor for JAPAC, Oracle; Ric Pusag, CIO and Head of Business Operations, EastWest Bank; and Sarabjit Anand, CIO, Singapore and ASEAN, Standard Chartered.
