Who's Who of Financial Services Asia Pacific 2015/2016

THE

WHO’S WHO

15 16 OF FINANCIAL SERVICES ASIA PACIFIC

FUTURESCAPE 2020 Innovations to watch

THE 3D EFFECT Digital, data and disruptors ALWAYS GREENER? The CIOs trading places ON THE RECORD Exclusive insights from leading visionaries

EXCLUSIVE CXO INTERVIEWS Patrick Maes, ANZ David Whiteing, CBA Renee Roberts, NAB Dave Curran, Westpac Paul Cobban, DBS Bank Geoffrey Stecyk, Maybank Todd Schofield, Standard Chartered Bank Arthur Wong, China Construction Bank + more

THE 2015/2016 DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION

THE WHO’S WHO OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

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MANAGING DIRECTOR Andrew Jensen

GENERAL MANAGER – ASIA Anna Wong

SALES DIRECTOR – ANZ

By David McLean, Chief Executive Officer, Westpac New Zealand

COLUMN: CYBER-SECURITY IN THE NEW ECONOMY

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Natasha David

By Matt Harris, Chief Executive Officer, AIG Asia Pacific Insurance

JOURNALISTS Daniel Paperny Patrick Buncsi Mark Maric

SUB EDITOR Kim Sinclair Forbes

ACCOUNT MANAGERS Aman Malhotra John Mebberson Marcus Sedman Evangeline Teo Thomas Youngs

WHO’S WHO COORDINATORS Jill Nunan Charmaine Tan

GENERAL ENQUIRIES info@fst.asia

PUBLISHER FST Media (a division of Cirrus Media) Tower 2, Level 3 475 Victoria Avenue Chatswood NSW 2067 Australia

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FUTURESCAPE 2020

In a landscape of technology-enabled innovation, betting on the right agenda can be make-or-break. IDC Financial Insights reveals the decision imperatives facing the financial services CIO.

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ALWAYS GREENER

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As technology startups enter the market, opportunities abound for seasoned players to join the next wave of disruptors.

FST Media investigates the changing career path of the financial services CIO.

By Mark Pesce, Founder of FutureSt, and is an internationally renowned futurist, technologist and author

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Transforming to survive and thrive in a digital world.

COLUMN: 2020 – A FUTURIST’S PERSPECTIVE

ART DIRECTOR

#24-03 Peninsula Plaza 111 North Bridge Road Singapore 179098 www.fst.asia

COLUMN: THE BEST NEXT CONVERSATION

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Kelly Purcell

Dale Ashworth Emma Charter Karan Chopra Brooke Dalton Lily Liu

Contents

COLUMN: PAYMENT GATEWAYS OF THE FUTURE

By Oscar Darmawan, Chief Executive Officer, Bitcoin Association, Indonesia

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COLUMN: WHY INSURANCE MUST EMBRACE AGILITY

By Symon Brewis-Weston, Chief Executive Officer, Sovereign

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EXECUTIVE ROUNDTABLE

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THE WHO’S WHO OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

A conversation with Asia Pacific’s most influential technology chiefs.

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EXECUTIVE ROUNDTABLE

Revolutionising the Australian payments landscape to deliver world-class banking.

THE 3D EFFECT – DIGITAL, DATA AND DISRUPTORS

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Harnessing innovation to navigate the customer evolution.

A concise catalogue of Asia Pacific’s leading product, service and solution providers.

With digital transformation underpinning tech spending in Asia Pacific, Forrester Research explores the trends that are disrupting the incumbents.

EXECUTIVE ROUNDTABLE

TOP 10 TO WATCH

Key influencers from marketing, digital, operations and out of industry faces who are shaping the future of financial services.

DIRECTORY LISTINGS

W HO ’ S W HO O F FS I

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www.fst.asia

Where the Market Meets

Foreword The customer may reign supreme in the world of financial services, however this publication is all about you: our esteemed reader.

While innovation continues at full throttle, one must consider the confusion it can leave in its wake – particularly when it comes to what will shape your role, your future? As industry observers, FST Media is at the forefront of the trends and rumblings of change that are shaping the industry.

Disruption is the catch-cry and if industry pundits are to be believed, no corner of the world will remain untouched. Your future as leaders of technology and innovation is at stake. Within our feature on careers, “Always Greener”, we discuss the disruption of technology, the business models, the customer and where you stand.

From a macro perspective, our industry is facing a digital tsunami and with it comes the imperative that you must adapt or perish. As many industry leading executives note within our interviews, the financial services industry is on the cusp of significant transformation that is being “pulled rather than pushed by digital.” This trend has reinforced within customers the insatiable appetite for transparency, immediacy and value.

Our exclusive features, penned by internationally-renowned IT market analysts from IDC and Forrester Research, underscore digital’s role in the future landscape. These insightful features offer practical advice to navigate the road ahead and highlight some of the critical trends to consider.

Experts are stressing that to remain competitive, the financial services sector must zealously harness digital technologies to deliver a superior customer experience and drive agility and operational efficiency in their business.

This requires digitising customer experiences, products, and services and automating responses with analytics. Effective use of big data should lead to customers feeling the institution knows them on a more personal level and that it is making useful and thoughtful recommendations based on that knowledge.

It gives me great pleasure to bring you the eighth annual issue of our industry-leading publication, The Who’s Who of Financial Services.

On behalf of the FST Media team, I would like to thank you for your continued patronage. I also extend my gratitude to the industry executives, our columnists, analysts and contributors.

Natasha David Editorial Director FST Media

W HO ’ S W HO O F FS I

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OPIN I ON

The ‘next best’ conversation

BY DAVID MCLEAN

With customers tapping on the spending meter daily, the tool is allowing us to have a richer and more rewarding conversation with our customers.

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WHO ’S WHO O F FS I

From the way you hail a cab, to where you stay on holiday, to how you order your coffee in the morning – today’s innovative companies are challenging traditional ways of doing things to win over the hearts and wallets of customers by delivering the things that their clients truly value.

For an organisation like Westpac, which has been in business for almost 200 years, remaining relevant in the market and being positioned for the future, is a significant challenge. We know we never rest on our laurels or stand still.

We have learned that innovation strategies which deliver always start with the customer in mind. It is critical to remove friction, deliver usability and provide customer experiences that are ‘human’. It is about being clear on what our customers value and what they will pay for.

Online and mobile banking have been some of the most important technologies for the industry in the last two decades, so the launch of our new platform, Westpac One, presented a unique opportunity for us to collaborate with our customers. The bank underwent an 18 month BETA-testing programme to develop the features that our customers wanted.

After launching the platform this year, Finalta, the leading global financial services benchmarking company, observed that Westpac New Zealand now has one of the highest levels of digital engagement globally.

This success comes from empowering customers to be able to do more of their banking on mobile devices and delivering frequently-used features, like account balances and transfers, without needing to log in. It is about faster and easier ways to bank.

Engaging with and empowering our customers has also been made possible, through our personalisation and ‘know me’ programme – Symphony. It allows us to use the information we have collected on customer behaviour and activity to identify the ‘next best’ conversation to have with them, across every channel.

So a customer who has just incurred a late fee may, for example, be reminded

about a payment at an ATM, sent a text alert or emailed a guide to setting up automatic payments.

The transformation we have seen through this programme is extraordinary. In 2012, we spoke to less than 40 per cent of our customers. Last year, that number had more than doubled, to 92 per cent. As Symphony underscores, whatever the channel and whatever the technology, our focus for the future is on using every opportunity to get closer to our customers.

Embracing disruption means recognising that no organisation can be an expert in everything, so our digital strategy has embraced strategic partnerships, particularly those that represent the best new thinking.

A good example of this is Moven, a New York startup that we have partnered with to provide our customers with deeper insights into their financial position and spending habits. With customers tapping on the spending meter daily, the tool is allowing us to have a richer and more rewarding conversation with our customers.

We are also gaining constant inspiration from our relationship with Samsung.

Partnering with the world’s leading electronics developer, not only helps us understand how customers are using devices like smartphones, tablets and desktops now, but also how those interactions may change in the future, through innovations like smart-watches and smart-TVs. Commercialising our innovation initiatives is critical to maintaining a sustainable investment strategy.

Rapidly evolving technology may mean that the customer might be doing things in completely different ways, but our relationship with them – and the support, expertise and security we can provide – remains the same. Any business that understands that is one that can comfortably focus on the next 200 years, using the tools available now and in the future, to make the biggest difference to their customers.

David McLean is the Chief Executive Officer of Westpac New Zealand

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With over 25 years’ industry experience, we offer our clients specially-tailored business technology solutions that are smart, robust and highly secure.

And that’s why we’re the partner of choice for over 50 Australian financial services organisations.

Please refer to the Who’s Who directory listing for further information.

www.tasol.com.au/fst

OPI N I ON

Cyber-security in the new economy

BY MATT HARRIS

We are constantly looking at opportunities to use data solutions, cloud computing and mobile technology.

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WHO ’S WHO O F FS I

The insurance industry has a big challenge on its hands. Across both personal and commercial insurance, insurers in Asia Pacific are facing extraordinary pressure to adapt to evolving client demands and higher service expectations in an increasingly online economy. Insurers are also striving to incorporate new, unstructured data while upgrading their capabilities to leverage the considerable amount of information they already have at their disposal.

In the consumer insurance segment, the digital experience is starting to shape personal insurance considerations. In part, this is complementary to technological movements in related industries – with travel being the most common example – and through the convergence of traditional and non-traditional service providers.

On the commercial insurance side, the industry continues to face an increasingly complex environment in emerging risks.

This is partly driven by political and economic factors, but more interestingly its destiny is also being determined by the way social media and data continues to change engagement practices throughout the insurance value chain.

In the broking community, for example, insights and big data are allowing brokers to understand their customers more comprehensively. Technology is changing how business is conducted, from the flow of information to analytical capabilities.

At AIG, we are committed to introducing innovative products, better identifying fraud and offering potentially lower premiums to customers through our investment in the use of data and science globally.

We also continue to innovate so that we can provide our customers with products and services that meet their diverse needs in more complex and emerging risk areas such as cyber-security. The rise in cyber threats prompted AIG to develop a new specialised insurance product called ‘CyberEdge’, a unique and comprehensive cyber coverage solution which provides an insurance solution for cyber liabilities exposure that current commercial insurance policies may not cover.

Organisations are becoming increasingly aware of the impact a cyber-security breach can have, with incidents being reported daily.

We are also seeing an increase in efforts by regulatory bodies to improve and implement cyber-security legislation. The cost of a cyber-attack can affect several areas of a business including: multi-million network security breaches; loss of productivity; supply chain disruptions; loss of business and customer data; legal ramifications from privacy breaches; regulatory fines; reputational damage and a negative impact on shareholder confidence.

‘CyberEdge’ provides a plan to help businesses protect themselves against cyberincidents such as data breaches, computer hacking, dumpster diving, identity theft, loss of information, employee error or sabotage.

While the first line of defence is prevention, in the event that a cyber-attack successfully breaches a company’s defences, our cyberinsurance solution can help with its team of cyber-claims specialists and an extensive vendor network to help businesses get back on their feet as soon as possible, as well as mitigating financial losses.

‘CyberEdge PC’ has been expanded to encompass property damage and bodily injury exposures. This market-leading offering provides commercial customers with a way to manage physical risks to their operations from cyber-attacks and cybersecurity failures – for example, equipment failure, physical damage to property, and physical harm to people. These broad coverage limits and terms are typically not available in standalone cyber-data breach policies.

Consumers and businesses can also access up-to-date information from AIG’s ‘CyberEdge’ mobile app to understand cyberrisk and how to respond to it.

AIG is committed to becoming the most valued insurance company in the eyes of our customers by being focused on embracing technology and innovation as a way to consistently deliver an interactive and engaging customer experience.

Matt Harris is Chief Executive Officer, AIG Asia Pacific Insurance

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OPI N I ON

2020 – a futurist’s perspective

BY MARK PESCE

Within five years the major players will have launched.

Within a decade, they will dominate the industry.

Within twenty years, they will be the industry.

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WHO ’S WHO O F FS I

Four years ago, IBM launched ‘Watson’, the result of a decade-long research project, which has the capacity understand ‘natural language’, and an unprecedented capacity to read and ‘digest’ electronic documents.

To prove these claims, IBM arranged a tournament of “Jeopardy”. With Jeopardy’s inverted answer-question format, IBM tested the limits of Watson’s natural language abilities. In a final show of strength IBM challenged the two greatest human contestants (neither of whom had ever been defeated) to play against Watson in a live broadcast event. If Watson failed, it would do so publicly and spectacularly. In fact, Watson demolished its human competitors.

Immediately after that triumph, IBM sent Watson to medical school. In some very significant ways, Watson’s capabilities far surpass those of any doctor. Fully cognizant of tens of thousands of experimental trials for every treatment-resistant form of cancer, Watson can recommend those trials when conventional treatments fail. No matter how conscientious, no doctor could ever stay on top of that continuously evolving body of knowledge. Watson does it effortlessly.

But it also means that any mistakes Watson makes will be replicated just as broadly.

So would it be the doctor who is guilty of malpractice, or Watson, the quiet voice whispering in the doctor’s ear? Where does the liability lie? How are these companies indemnified and insured against decisions these artificial intelligences make thousands of times faster than any human can track?

We may have one answer this year, but in a decade’s time – when artificial intelligences have become pervasive and unavoidable – we could have a different one. Medicine is far from the only area where connectivity will begin to affect how we assess risk. As the cost to connect things drops, more of the world is becoming connected. We are entering an era of an ‘Internet of Things’, where nearly everything will be connected to a global network of devices.

The connected world brings incredible capacities, but comes hand-in-hand with unprecedented risks. There is no escaping these risks. We can work to mitigate them, to establish standards and testing, but the essential nature

of connectivity is that it adds unpredictability.

Where connectivity builds flexibility and resilience that can be a great thing, but connected systems often collapse when attacked. The world of finance is likewise being hit by a wave of innovation greater than anything that has ever come before. Much of this is driven by the smartphone.

Furthermore, the advent and adoption of digital currencies such as Bitcoin has proven algorithms can make redundant much of the infrastructure of banking – such as the need for clearinghouses and currency exchanges.

Banking will be transformed by digital currencies, and banks will come to live more on smartphones than in smart steel and glass skyscrapers. But that is just the beginning.

The barriers to creating financial instruments – whether banks or insurers – are dropping precipitously. By the end of this decade a range of smartphone apps will be functionally indistinguishable from banks.

Soon after, we will see a generation of smartphone apps that will perform most of the functions of an insurer. These apps will provide insurance at a fraction of the cost, because most of the expensive, slow and human-centred parts will have been engineered out of the process through clever algorithms.

Competing against one another for business, these apps will rapidly improve in service quality, while simultaneously lowering costs to their users. This is already happening, and it is happening fast. Within five years the major players will have launched. Within a decade, they will dominate the industry.

Within twenty years, they will be the industry.

The industry’s best chance lies in making broad investments in the technology startups seeking to disrupt its business models. If the industry has the risk appetite, it should partner with a fintech accelerator or incubator. It is possible to build the engines of your own disruption, by owning majority stakes in them – if you start today.

Mark Pesce is the Founder of FutureSt, and is an internationally renowned futurist, technologist and author. This is an edited version of his keynote address at FST Media’s Future of Insurance conference.

OPIN I ON

Payment gateways of the future

BY OSCAR DARMAWAN

It is not about the specific cryptocurrency one chooses, like Bitcoin; it is about embracing the technology that supports it.

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WHO ’S WHO O F FS I

We live in a modern banking world, where data is organised and arranged carefully to cater for the public’s appetite for convenience.

While this system has managed to cater to the majority of mature markets, such as US and Europe, it still does not accommodate everyone. More than 58 per cent of the population residing in South-east Asian countries does not have access to the banking system, the majority of which live in Indonesia and the Philippines.

One of the key reasons why there is still a large percentage of unbanked in these regions is the lack of banking centres due to high operational costs.

Creating a branch is an expensive enterprise in emerging countries, especially those categorised as archipelago countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines.

Building infrastructure in these countries costs more than the expected returns from the targeted markets, which is why most branches are located in more populous areas.

In the future, banks will be able to focus more on their IT infrastructure investments and rely on the concept of ‘branchless banking’ and self-serving banking kiosks where customers can conduct a variety of transactions that they normally would have to visit a branch teller to complete.

Banks can concentrate their resources initially in transforming existing branch networks to branchless in the more highly-populated areas initially, to offset the operational investment required to reach the more disparate unbanked and underbanked populations.

So what will the payment gateways of the future look like? This has been one of the burning questions I hear every year, and shows no sign of slowing down. Online shopping and transactions have continued to increase since the dawn of the internet, and the majority of financial institutions have generated large profits from payment gateway services. This is where the competition between financial services institutions will start to shift in the future.

Every bank needs to find a solution to lower fees to remain competitive on the global stage as customers and merchants will not remain

satisfied with the fees that banks charge indefinitely. Retail markets, in particular, will not want to use expensive payment gateway services. Walmart, one of the world’s largest retailers, set a global precedent by accusing Visa of price fixing its merchant credit card transaction fees. The industry does not want this to happen repeatedly, though that will likely be the case.

This is where cryptocurrency can solve a lot of these challenges. I believe that the technology behind it can reduce the financial cost of providing financial transactions and maximise its efficiency. Cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, are independent systems with a public ledger that is checked and updated automatically by the system, providing more efficiency without involving any third parties.

It is not about the specific cryptocurrency one chooses, like Bitcoin; it is about embracing the technology that supports it. It is even possible for a bank to develop its own cryptocurrency network that connects one branch to another.

Bitcoin and any other digital currency can be used as a transporter and a medium, which will of course, reduce the operational cost so we can experience much lower fees.

In the best scenario, we can probably achieve fees of lower than one per cent. That will certainly drive global adoption of payment gateway services and use less traditional payment methods, which will eventually lead to a cashless society, even within emerging countries that operate mainly as a ‘cash society’.

What about Bitcoin’s future? That is a US million dollar question. I believe Bitcoin will continue to exist in the financial world, even if it is not as a major player but only as a medium transporter. Perhaps Bitcoin can one day be regarded as a viable alternative currency. Google now sees Bitcoin as its own currency with its own values through Google Finance. Bitcoin’s volatility rate has also grown more stable, steadily changing into a currency, and not just a trading commodity.

Oscar Darmawan is the Chief Executive Officer of Bitcoin Association, Indonesia

OPIN I ON

Why insurance must embrace agility

BY SYMON BREWIS-WESTON

Our future is all about simplicity, flexibility and the ability to deliver market leading solutions to meet the future needs of customers.

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WHO ’S WHO O F FS I

Until recently, the world “agile” was owned by the software industry. Agile meant being responsive – delivering solutions to problems as they emerge, and continuously adapting to meet ever-changing opportunities. Lately, the term has been used by the fashion industry – specifically ‘fast fashion’ companies, such as UK high street retailer Zara.

In the age where customer demand is a key driver of influence, brands like Zara have overhauled their production models.

They are no longer planning their winter collections in the previous spring. They have their designers, factories and distributors on standby to get new products on the shelves within weeks, based on what is currently trending in the market. It is a great model in theory, but how can those of us with traditionally more sedate products, such as insurance, harness the advantages of agility to better serve our customers?

Across all consumer-facing industries, customer expectations and needs are changing rapidly, as are the marketplaces in which they do their business. In the financial services industry, we have the additional uncertainty of meeting ever-stricter legislative requirements.

The challenge is to find a way to build an agile business which is ready to meet change.

In insurance, much of the answer is about examining our delivery models – engaging with consumers in the places they inhabit and offering the services they need, in a form they can easily access. It is about providing for our customers’ long-term needs and maintaining a stable core business, while being responsive to changing needs as well as new engagement and delivery opportunities. A recent example is Sovereign’s international health cover. We know a lot of our customers move between Australia and New Zealand, so we adapted the product so they can take their policy with them. We did it quickly, by thinking through what customers really wanted, working with Australian institutions and utilising existing channels, which required very little technological input.

To change the future of New Zealand’s health and financial security, it is up to us to continue innovating and developing tools, services and products that meet the needs of a

constantly changing market. This includes developing new ways for customers to interact with us and our partners. We recently experienced great success in creating an online claims process for our health products and will be looking at how to continue innovating in the future to give our customers what they want.

We do not know how our customers will access our services in ten years’ time, or how their needs will change, but there is something we can have control over: our ability to adapt in order to meet those needs. We can do this by creating an agile engine that can respond in any circumstances and by harnessing the talents and insights of our staff and by pairing those with innovative technology.

Real-time analytics will give us the ability to be more responsive to customers, improve turnaround times and customise the customer experience. It also improves productivity in the workplace and makes us more effective.

We will also address how complicated life and health insurance has become for customers.

Our future is all about simplicity, flexibility and the ability to deliver market leading solutions to meet the future needs of customers.

Ultimately, the success of our approach is measured by our customers and our shareholders. If customers believe Sovereign is making a difference in their lives, and our shareholders feel we are making a difference to the business, I call that being successful.

I think Sovereign has the added advantage of being based in New Zealand. One of the biggest things I have noticed, since moving here from Australia two years ago, is the culture of innovation in this country.

Out of necessity, New Zealand has been practising agility long before the technology industry reinvented the word. There is an innate understanding that change is a certainty and, because it is smaller and younger, New Zealand has had to be agile and innovative to survive and succeed – across business, government, and even sport.

Perhaps it goes back to that famous line of Kiwi scientist Sir Ernest Rutherford: “We do not have the money, so we have to think.”

Symon Brewis-Weston is the Chief Executive Officer of Sovereign

Saying Adiós to PINs, passwords & security questions Pre Voice Biometrics

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‘The ability for customers to use their voice to gain access to their accounts is an easy and natural process, allowing the first point of contact with our bank to be enjoyable and hassle-free.’

José Ignacio Zorrilla Executive Director for Multichannel and Innovation Banco Santander Mexico

Nuance Communications Australia Contact: Heath Wilson Phone: +61 2 9434 2300 Email: enquiries.au@nuance.com australia.nuance.com

At Santander Bank, my voice is my signature

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Customers will be enrolled by end of 2015

Mexico’s Banco Santander has over 10 million customers, two call centres, 4,200 call centre agents and receives more than three million calls per month (55% IVR services / 45% agent-served).

The bank concluded only voice biometrics (VB) met their multiple criteria requirements. It provided convenience for the customer, a high level of security (at a reasonable price to the bank) and the ability for integration with its IVR system.

Customers are first authenticated with knowledge-based questions (account number, PIN) and are then prompted to repeat the pass-phrase ‘En Banco Santander mi voz es mi firma’ (At Banco Santander my voice is my signature) three times – a seamless process. The next time an enrolled customer calls, they’re asked to provide their account number, and after repeating the pass-phrase, they are authenticated with their voice.

As the first financial institution in Mexico to offer a voice biometrics solution, Banco Santander has established its position as the industry leader in technological innovation.

Want to know more? View this video tinyurl.com/vbsantander

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W HO ’S WHO O F FS I

DI G I TA L , DATA A N D DIS RU P T O RS // A N A LYS IS

The

3D

Effect

Digital, Data and Disruptors With digital transformation underpinning tech spending in Asia Pacific, Forrester Research explores the trends that are disrupting the incumbents in an exclusive for The Who’s Who.

Banking professionals continue to worry about traditional concerns such as growth, return, risk, and innovation. However, the pace of change has increased dramatically as empowered customers demand higher levels of service and flexibility. To respond, banks must better leverage deeper customer insights to deliver a superior customer experience while simultaneously mitigating risk.

Furthermore, banks must sharpen their understanding of client journeys to tailor strategies and ensure that increasingly mobile customers have superior experiences across all touchpoints.

In Asia Pacific, always-connected, technology-empowered customers are redefining sources of competitive advantage for organisations. In fact, 79 per cent of business and technology decision-makers surveyed by Forrester Research indicate that improving the experience of technology-empowered customers will be a high or critical priority for their business in 2015. In addition, 57 per cent said that meeting consumers’ rising expectations was one of the reasons that they would spend more money on W H O’ S W H O OF FS I

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A N A LYS IS // DI G I TA L , DATA A N D DIS RU P T O RS

Forrester Research defines the age of the customer as a 20-year business cycle in which the most successful enterprises will reinvent themselves to systematically understand and serve increasingly powerful customers.

technology – in fact, it is the top reported reason for increasing technology spending.

More banks in Asia Pacific are embarking on transformation strategies to address changing customer needs. Forrester Research believes that digital touchpoints will increasingly become the primary way customers interact and transact with their banks in the future.

Disruptive new entrants – such as Tencent, Mint.com and Lending Club – propelled by digital technologies and empowered consumers, will rock retail banking to its core over the next two to three years. Forrester Research sees four market imperatives driving banks of the future in Asia Pacific: 1. Transform the customer experience 2. Embrace the mobile mind shift 3. Accelerate your digital business 4. Turn big data into business insights

Transforming the customer experience

“When I first started, customer experience was all about user experience, which is a product design concept that was adopted by the tech industry,” says Harley Manning, Vice President and Research Director at Forrester Research and co-author of Outside In, a book on customer experience.

Banking of the Future

Transform the customer experience Customer service Customer advocacy User interfaces Product and service innovation

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WHO ’S WHO O F FS I

Embrace the mobile mind shift Anytime, anywhere banking Integrated branch experience Integrated brand experience Secure, convenient communication

Accelerate your digital business

Industrialisation Value chain fragmentation Financial services utilities Lean processing Competitive collaboration Managed partnerships

Turn big data into business insights

Customer analytics Business analytics Regulatory compliance Risk management

“This concept has now broadened so that companies are looking at creating a systematic approach that looks at the entire customer journey, from discovery to purchase and beyond,” says Manning.

Companies with high customer experience scores have delivered significantly higher shareholder value than low-scoring companies, according to research from Watermark Consulting, a US-based customer experience firm. It comes as no surprise then that organisations in Asia Pacific are focusing on customer experience, driven by organisations seeking to differentiate themselves from their competitors by offering superior customer experience, and Forrester Research expects very rapid spending growth in this area in 2015.

As more firms adopt this strategy, consumers will expect all of the companies they engage with, including their banks, to provide a high-quality customer experience, either online or offline.

Bank branches – a customer experience channel of choice

Bank branches have been the key channel by which banks serve customers and drive revenues – but digital disruption and the changing behavioural patterns of bank customers are now endangering this position.

The rise of online and mobile banking means there are fewer people going into the branch for transactional purposes than ever before. As a result, banks have cut the number of branches, sometimes dramatically.

However, the branch is far from dead.

When it comes to buying a product and seeking advice, many consumers still want to visit a branch and have a human interaction. People will always value human interaction when faced by complex decisions.

Branches can, and should, be a significant competitive advantage for traditional banks over direct banks that can only support customers through digital touchpoints and contact centres.

The right bankers with the right tools can create a deeper and more engaging experience for the customer than any software. Smart firms like Chase, Bank of America, PNC, Citi, Wells Fargo, and Westpac

DI G I TA L , DATA A N D DISRU P TO RS // A N A LYS IS

are already reconfiguring branches toward sales and advice, changing everything from layout to location and staffing. Digital technologies need to be deployed in-branch to drive sales and empower employees. For example, having videoconferencing facilities in-branch will allow more customers to access experts.

The benefits of using video technology in-branch to provide access to these experts can be substantial. Many banks, including ANZ, BBVA Compass, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), and Nationwide, are enabling both customers and staff to speak with a range of experts via videoconferencing in-branch.

Firms like Bank of Montreal provide a free high-definition videoconferencing service to customers in remote and rural communities so they can chat with specialists in retail banking, commercial and small business banking, and wealth management. If the employee with the right credentials is not at a branch to help a customer, the likelihood of the customer coming back next week or going to another bank a few miles away to talk with the expert is approximately 30 per cent.

Branches will continue to be a significant channel of choice for consumers in developed economies, especially for high value, complex, or emotional interactions, and customer experience will be key to win, serve and retain these consumers.

Embracing the mobile mindshift

“Mobile isn’t only the new digital hub; it is also becoming the bridge to the physical world,” says Forrester Research’s Principal Analyst, Tim Sheedy. “Mobile won’t affect just your digital operations – it will transform your entire business.”

By the end of 2015, 36 per cent of adults in Asia Pacific will own a smartphone – from a high of 85 per cent in Singapore to 44 per cent in China and a low of 23 per cent in India.

However, few companies will be serving these customers on their smartphones in their moments of need.

Mobile will remain small in terms of spending – particularly on advertising – but it will command a growing proportion of marketing teams’ focus as they realise that their customers live on their mobile devices,

Critical branch technologies Multimedia Gesture-based interfaces Customer recognition and tracking Automated customer identification Voice recognition Natural language interfaces Collaboration and personalisation Remote advisors

and turn to their mobile devices in their moments of need.

As Asia Pacific organisations look to increase engagement with their customers, they will increasingly turn to mobile apps, which provide them with an opportunity to tap into a massive base of customers across multiple device types, allowing them to serve their customers in their moments of need, especially when it relates to payments, deposits, loans, insurance and investments.

One example is CBA. CBA’s mobile app has processed more than AU$100 billion in transactions as the bank expands its contactless payment scheme to support more Android devices. CBA’s digital channels executive general manager Lisa Frazier said mobile banking app users had almost doubled in the past 12 months – 3.2 million users of the app compared with 1.76 million. ING Direct is another example that delivered a breakthrough mobile experience that allows banking customers to see their balance without logging in. As a result, 200,000 customers downloaded the app in the first three months, the same number as in the previous three years.

Mobile payments

As a whole, the Asia Pacific mobile payments landscape has entered an exciting phase of development but will remain fragmented in 2015, Forrester Research predicts. In countries like Japan and South Korea, people can use near field communication (NFC)enabled mobile devices to pay for purchases at retail outlets, while firms in other countries, such as Singapore and Australia, are experimenting with a variety of mobile

payment options, including NFC, QR codes, and digital coupons.

Forrester Research expects Apple to change all of this as Apple Pay will accelerate payments and enable new customer experiences. Apple is enabling merchants to create a faster, more seamless, and more secure web and mobile checkout experience than many competing services, such as Google Wallet. But Forrester Research believes that Apple Pay will become much more than a tap-and-pay solution; the technology that Apple Pay is launching in the US will integrate the Passbook app’s ability to manage digital assets like cards, coupons, tickets, and loyalty programs with new security, identity, and location tech enablers.

This will eventually enable merchants worldwide to deliver a broad set of seamless yet engaging commerce experiences to the nearly 800 million consumers already in Apple’s ecosystem.

Internet of Things (IoT)

Beyond payments, the smartphone will begin to resemble a “life hub” for many consumers in Asia – not just a device for consuming content, but a tool for managing their life.

As the smartphone begins to connect with fitness devices, smart watches, smart lights, smart locks, and smart TVs, it will become the connected hub of peoples’ lives. With smartphone penetration in many Asian countries leading the world, this trend will play out quickly in Asia Pacific.

The smartphone will become a “life hub”

The vast and growing amount of data – open data and data inside organisations that links to the personal, enterprise, and government IoTs – will lead to a considerable expansion of the types of services offered to customers.

One example is the ability to directly connect customers with potential health issues with qualified medical professionals while at the same time prefilling health insurance reimbursements. Another is helping customers save money on electricity by linking weather data, smart appliance data, sensor data, and a smart meter and managing all of that data on a mobile device, wherever and whenever the customer has the need.

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Accelerating digital business

Digital businesses continuously exploit digital technologies to both create new sources of value for customers and increase operational agility in service of customers.

In Asia Pacific, success in digital business transformation has been variable, with some countries and industries taking an early lead.

Few Asia Pacific companies know how to cope with this disruption and 75 per cent of executives indicated in a Forrester Research/ Russell Reynolds Digital Business survey last year that the banking and financial services sector will be disrupted.

To remain competitive, the financial services sector must harness digital technologies to deliver a superior customer experience and drive agility and operational efficiency in their business. Digital customer

Massive digital disruption will first have an impact on customer-facing industries “Do you think your business will be disrupted by digital technologies in the next 12 months?”

Massively disrupted

Moderately disrupted

Somewhat disrupted

Media, entertainment and leisure (excluding travel) Telecommunications Transportation and travel Healthcare Banking and financial services Education and social services Government and non-profit Utilities Technology products Retail and wholesale Consumer packaged goods Insurance Professional and business services Pharmaceuticals and medical equipment Oil, gas, mining, and chemicals Industrial products Construction and engineering 0%

25%

50%

Base: 1,254 executives in companies with 250 or more employees (respondents may be counted in multiple industry groups) Source: Forrester Research

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75%

100%

experience requires digitising customer experiences, products, and services and automating responses with analytics.

To succeed, financial institutions will first and foremost need to have the right customer strategy in place. With a clearly defined customer experience strategy and framework, a defined intention, customer journey mapping, as well as the digital technologies that make process automation possible, will allow organisations to succeed.

Culture, strategy and technology – the keys to digital transformation

Forrester Research’s interviews with regional CIOs clearly point to organisational issues as the greatest impediment to building digital businesses in Asia Pacific. Although they mention other challenges that must be addressed, their greatest hurdles involve a lack of management buy-in or leaders who profess to have a digital strategy without really understanding what one is.

The organisations coping best with these disruptions have also developed agile digital strategies with more optimised technology infrastructures and digital partner ecosystems that enhance customer value. Singapore’s DBS Bank, for example, has earmarked SG$200 million over the next three years for a digital rollout of its services. CEO Piyush Gupta fears it is not agile or fast enough.

Gupta says: “We have been making good progress compared to other banks, but how are we doing compared to Alibaba? The reality is Alibaba is putting daylight between them and the rest of the banks.”

To date, DBS has rolled out 19 mobile apps covering various services, such as a mobile-wallet app that allows customers to use their smartphones to pay for purchases and send and receive funds, and it will be rolling more mobile and digital services out in the coming months.

For CBA, a massive transformation of the bank’s IT back end to fully embrace the core tenets of cloud computing has cut its nonstrategic IT spend in half while returning value to the business to drive growth. One such area of digital business growth is the NetBank service, which will help it deliver an excellent customer experience, drive online sales, and improve the bank’s image.

DI G I TA L , DATA A N D DISRU P TO RS // A N A LYS IS

Big data transformation

Previous banking research predicted demand for real-time – or at least same-day – analysis of internal and external customer data and that banks would need to analyse structured and unstructured information about customer behavior and interests. There are plenty of use cases for financial institutions, including analysing account usage to identify dissatisfied customers and increase retention and performing social media analytics to determine individual credit risk and upsell and cross-sell via one-to-one marketing.

Today’s examples of big data in banking remain internally focused. They include customer information, predictive analytics, and risk management and help improve information quality, response time, sales rates, and customer satisfaction.

Technology organisations like Dell have demonstrated how social media can increase revenues by driving sales via

Twitter and aid customer satisfaction by monitoring social media.

Forrester Research expects an increasing number of banks to go beyond their more internal approaches in 2015 to stay ahead of the curve. They will plan and deliver broader, richer approaches, particularly in the retail and consumer banking space. Related projects will leverage big data and analytics to analyse information from the Internet and social channels in particular to both manage customer relationships – driving sales and managing brand perception – and extend risk management mechanisms.

The most effective banking platform architectures will embrace big data, using analytics to not only offer near-realtime responses but also to automatically trigger alerts.

Examples include real-time comparisons of spending behaviour with comparable customer groups as well as individual offers based on behaviour and the individual

(financial and location) context. If local laws allow, the analysis of channel, purchasing, and money transfer behaviours could even create new revenue streams for banks. If this approach becomes part of your bank’s strategy, you will need to plan for external interfaces for corporate customers as well.

“One of the three most critical drivers of loyalty – across all industries – is ‘making the customer feel valued’,” says Tom McCann, Principal Analyst for Customer Experience at Forrester Research.

“Effective use of big data should lead to customers feeling the company knows them as an individual and proactively makes useful and thoughtful product or service recommendations based on that knowledge. When someone or some company demonstrates they have taken the time to understand your needs, you feel valued – and that is the power that big data can bring to the table.”

Deconstructing disruption: how banks can embrace change

By Stuart Stoyan One could be forgiven for thinking that the financial services industry is facing a year of upheaval. Heads will roll, profits will crumble, and the banks towering over the industry will topple at the hands of technological disruption. The same rhetoric that we have seen applied to every other disrupted industry has finally found its way to the Asia Pacific’s financial services sector.

However, as the founder of one of these ‘FinTech disruptors’, I feel it is a great

misconception to believe that any of these emerging trends will flatten the major banks.

Disruption is not a bank-killer. Rather, it is driving the long awaited evolution of this centuries-old sector.

The personal touch has disappeared from banking, not only at a customer service level but at a product level too. The standard interest rates on today’s loans are far from bespoke. Credit-worthy consumers are slugged with higher fees as a mean of offsetting costs against those who are not.

Thanks to technology, this “one size fits all” approach to lending is no longer necessary, nor is it fair.

Many may view the sector’s recordbreaking profits and argue that it is not broken, but it would be short-sighted to assume that today’s profits always dictate tomorrow’s success – particularly in a world in which consumer habits can change overnight.

MoneyPlace will aim to address all of these points and more. We do not expect to disrupt the big banks, as much as we intend it to serve as a wake-up call for consumers

and the industry. Interestingly, Lending Club is also leading the charge in terms of bank partnerships. Its major tie-up with Google may have turned heads, but what is also worth noting is its partnership with over 200 community banks.

All major banks across the Asia Pacific need to heed the message: disruption in the financial services sector need not be a ‘David vs Goliath’ battle, as it is portrayed in other industries. The true tale of disruption will revolve around how both the major banks and the regulators come to terms with this new technology, and a marketplace filling up with challenger companies.

What will improve conditions for both consumers and the industry is the change that is already underway. The manner in which incumbent banks engage with newer, agile players will truly define the future of banking.

Stuart Stoyan is Founder and CEO of Australian peer-to-peer lender MoneyPlace, an online marketplace that connects credit worthy borrowers with investors.

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Top 10 Predictions for 2015 How financial services organisations will shift priorities to future-proof the road ahead

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Digital transformation will drive technology spending growth of 4.9 per cent In 2015, Asia Pacific organisations will continue to invest in digital transformation to better win, serve, and retain technologyempowered customers. In particular, Australian organisations will lead the digital transformation in Asia Pacific while ASEAN countries will continue to lag in digital adoption. Digital transformation projects in Australia’s banking, telecommunications, and retail sectors will provide benchmarks for companies – and regulators – elsewhere in Asia Pacific to follow.

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Asia Pacific will turn to mobile messaging apps for customer engagement As Asia Pacific organisations look to improve customer engagement and deliver more contextual services, they will increasingly turn to mobile messaging apps. This will allow the region’s enterprises to tap into a massive base of customers across multiple device types and access speeds. With more than one billion users combined on various messaging apps like WeChat, Viber, Line, and KakaoTalk, brands will directly connect and engage with new and potential customers.

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3

Customer insights (CI) and big data analytics will sprawl Businesses increasingly recognise that success will hinge on their ability to close the gap between available data and actionable insight. The future will bring increased fragmentation as reliance on analytics spreads within and across organisations; companies will want to use more cloud-based and mobile analytics, demand that analytics become more interactive and responsive, and make more use of specialist and niche BI and analytics service providers. More firms will build CI teams that are separate from BI teams – and these CI teams will be under the wing of the marketing department. Technology management will increasingly be relegated to a support function for customer analytics.

4

Banks will remain software-asa-service laggards The cloud in its various flavours has become one of the key sourcing options today. Banks, however, have shown a relatively conservative approach toward software-as-a-service (SaaS). They see privacy, security, regulation and risk as key obstacles to deploying SaaS. The lack of a broad, rich set of banking-specific SaaS offerings contributes to this reluctance.

This may change: While only a few of the major banking platform players have a wellarticulated SaaS strategy, smaller vendors are already offering “SaaS-only” banking software packages; these mitigate many real or perceived SaaS challenges, and a number of (mainly smaller) financial institutions have already deployed them.

5

Transactional banking will call for improvements that drive revenue While there is no single definition of transactional banking used by every bank, domestic and cross-border payment services are typically part of transactional banking.

Regardless of its definition and organisational location within a bank, transactional banking is a key revenue generator for banks today. These revenues are likely to grow: Forrester Research expects mobile payment transactions to grow significantly until 2018, which is one of the factors driving the global growth of payments transactions.

6

Digital will become a boardroom topic at many traditional insurance firms Digital touchpoints and technologies remain a dangerously low priority at insurance firms built on agent distribution. But the digital

DI G I TA L , DATA A N D DIS RU P T O RS // A N A LYS IS

business imperative is becoming too big to ignore. In future, boards will insist that executive leaders develop an enterprisewide digital business strategy and plan. Entrenched managers who can’t figure it out will be fired, replaced with a new generation of digitally savvy executives.

7

Smart devices will create cross and upsell opportunities Customers are surrounded and adorned by an array of devices that notify them about all kinds of events, from the mobile reminder to take a medication to an alert that there is a hailstorm coming so customers can get their cars under cover.

Digital insurers are capitalising on these micro-moments and partnering in unexpected ways to build digital ecosystems of value.

Partnerships with third-parties like banks, real estate brokers, and cable companies will increasingly uncover new sources of value through connected car, home, and life insurance products and services.

8

The gap between banks that are investing in agility and those that are not will widen For decades, many large banks have preferred to build tools, platforms, and other

digital features in-house. Smaller banks have relied on a handful of vendors for virtually all of their customer-facing services.

Many have repeatedly postponed the pain of core banking systems replacement.

That has left them stuck with technology that is less open and inflexible. Since the development of application programming interfaces (APIs) is a long-term project that requires changes to – or replacement of – core systems, this transformation will not be completed in 2015. The year will see increasing capability gaps open up between the banks that have invested in flexible technology platforms and those that have not.

9

Banks will stave off the threat from disruptors … for now Digital disruption is coming to retail banking, and it will reshape the industry in every country. Most will remain niche players or fail altogether. New entrants and disruptors will not grab substantial market share from traditional banks in 2015, partly because many are not trying to.

That will comfort executives who choose to believe that their market won’t be disrupted, and blind some to the greater risks of disintermediation and

commoditisation. Digital disruptors seek to engage customers in new ways – threatening profit margins, not market share.

As one digital executive put it, his biggest fear is banks becoming “dumb money pipes” that are not engaged with customers in their everyday lives.

10

Integrating branch and call centre employees into digital platforms will become urgent Despite the growing use of digital touchpoints, many customers still want a human interaction when buying a financial product or seeking advice: Consumers value personal interactions when faced with high-value and complex decisions.

Yet branch and contact centre employees often lack smooth access to the central customer intelligence systems they need to provide customers with relevant and helpful advice and offers. Even when banks have invested in branch technology, the aim has often been to replace employees rather than enable them.

We expect that to change in 2015 as more executives recognise that empowered employees are an important source of competitive advantage.

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Harnessing Innovation to Navigate the Customer Evolution

Top row (from left to right): Arron Holmes, Director Information Technology and Change Management, Aviva; Suresh Ranganathan, Head, Insurance Solutions, S.E. Asia and RoSEA, Financial Services and Insurance, ABS, S.E. Asia, HP Enterprise Services; Joseph Sim, Director, Financial Services Industry, Strategic Accounts & Sales, HP Enterprise Services, APJ; Andrew Lim, Director, Sales, HP Enterprise Services Southeast Asia; Teh Kor Lak, Chief Information Officer, Great Eastern Life Assurance; David Swift, Executive Vice President, Aon Center for Innovation and Analytics; Chris Camerieri, Vice President, Brand & Customer Data, Aon Center for Innovation and Analytics; Paul de Bruijn, Regional Head of Transformation Services APAC, AIG; Kelvin Lim, Head of Accident & Health and Personal & Business Insurance Division, Ace Group; Richard Wyber, Director & Head of Business Development for Regional Partnership Distribution, AIA; Stephen Tan, Senior Manager (Head IT Operations), NTUC Insurance; Nitin Sharma, Sales Director, Financial Services, HP Enterprise Services, Singapore.

Bottom Row (from left to right): Eric Boissier, Chief Information Officer, AXA Assistance; Matthias de Ferrieres, Regional Head of Marketing – General Insurance, AXA Asia; Alex Kimura, Chief Strategy Officer, Aviva; Scott Cassin, Chief Technologist, Strategist, HP Enterprise Services; Andrew McClure, Head of Strategic Marketing & Analytics Broker & Client Management, AIG; Zia Zaman, Chief Innovation Officer, Metlife Asia; Hitesh Shah, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Manulife Financial Singapore.

The executives featured in this roundtable editorial held the above positions at the time of publication.

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As consumer expectations rapidly evolve, insurance organisations in Singapore are increasingly recognising the need to modernise systems and leverage technological advances to enhance the customer experience.

FST Media and HP Enterprise Services hosted an exclusive luncheon with senior leaders from Singapore insurance organisations to uncover the challenges and opportunities they face in implementing data analytics, digital initiatives and technology transformation in the evolving age of the customer.

Keynote speaker, Scott Cassin, Chief Technologist and Strategist, HP Enterprise Services, Asia Pacific and Japan, emphasised that mobile applications continue to be a key avenue for insurance organisations to introduce new services to market and engage with customers.

“We are seeing organisations use mobile applications as a way of reinvigorating their brand and creating an emotional connection with customers,” Cassin said, adding that mobility is also becoming an important part of how organisations engage with their employees to improve productivity and attract the right innovation talent.

Big data puzzle

Insurance organisations typically process and analyse large volumes of customer data, which gives them a unique opportunity to harness the benefits of big data technology. However, several challenges remain behind the slow adoption of big data technology in the industry, according to the executives.

While quality of data remains a concern, Cassin highlighted that with emerging technology such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and wearable devices, insurance organisations will have access to even more information from the data that will be generated from such devices. In the short-term, many organisations will need to effectively mine and monetise data to take advantage of those opportunities, he said.

“The shift that is just around the corner is related to the ability to harness that processing power and bring it into real-time analytics,” Cassin said.

According to Chris Camerieri, Vice President for Brand and Customer Data at Aon, capturing and analysing internal data at organisations also represents a hurdle.

“Most companies are challenged with getting their heads wrapped around their own data and figuring out how we can utilise that to make better business decisions before we jump out into bigger platforms,” said Camerieri.

Camerieri noted it is important for organisations to know what kind of data they can access across business units as well as the effective targeting of products.

David Swift, Executive Vice President Aon Center for Innovation and Analytics (ACIA), Singapore, cited the example of Aon’s consumer-centric business-tobusiness (B2B) model. Aon also utilises a granular level analysis of customer interactions, analysing the effectiveness of customer experience and patterns of behaviour based on criteria such as job level, compensation level and age of its customers.

Many organisations also encounter organisational and cultural hurdles in implementing new technologies, said the executives.

According to Matthias de Ferrieres, Regional Head of Marketing – General Insurance, AXA Asia, many insurers are reluctant to work with external organisations as they seek to own their technology, preferring to engage in massive technology development programs of their own.

“I have been working with these programs that aim to improve customer-centricity, but it takes such a long time. By the time it is ready, it is already obsolete.

The best way forward is to look outside and work

“We are seeing organisations use mobile applications as a way of reinvigorating their brand, creating an emotional connection with customers.”

– SCOTT CASSIN, HP ENTERPRISE SERVICES

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closely with external parties, small agencies that will be light and more agile in terms of governance and deployment management,” said de Ferrieres.

According to Kor Lak Teh, Chief Information Officer, Great Eastern Life, while certain insurance organisations are adopting emerging innovation such as telematics and monitoring devices to better predict risk, the general insurance business remains vastly different from life or group insurance businesses, with more pressing needs to harness technology.

“The one [sector] that is probably most at danger of being disrupted by technology is general insurance where the products are simpler and where you could do different things easily as opposed to life insurance,” Teh said.

Innovation imperative

“Our strategy is to work with banks on enriching the data and looking at how we can improve the customer experience.”

– ALEX KIMURA, AVIVA

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Roundtable executives acknowledged the need to innovate and embrace technology in order to improve customer experience in the coming years.

According to Cassin, many insurance organisations have historically struggled with the lack of enterpriseready technologies that are scalable and noted the emergence of innovation labs and new titles such as ‘Chief Innovation Officers’ at financial services organisations to give innovation efforts a boost.

“If we do have a traditional business model or IT strategy model that is protectionist, is the role of innovation to challenge and test that?” Cassin asked.

Hitesh Shah, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Manulife, said the huge amounts of data generated from legacy systems represented another challenge.

“We have huge databases; what can you do with them? Identifying what tools you need and how you analyse your analytics is important,” Shah said.

According to Arron Holmes, Director Information Technology and Change Management, Aviva, different markets in Asia also have different capabilities in terms of the adoption of technology, creating their own set of hurdles.

“In Indonesia, the [technology] capability is nowhere close to what we could potentially implement in Singapore or Hong Kong and therefore [innovation] appetite is different,” said Holmes.

Richard Wyber, Director and Head of Business Development for Regional Partnership Distribution, AIA, cited the example of banks that have been at the forefront of setting up innovation labs. “[Banks] are very focused on customer experience and design, with a technology focus on customer engagement and experience,” said Wyber. “They use data to reinforce that process and add more value.

That cycle of value and customer experience is what makes the difference.”

Wyber noted that while AIA has also faced similar challenges with big data and legacy technology, it has seen success with designing its distribution tools around the customer, and enhancing customer experience, he added.

David Swift of Aon cited the example of the healthcare exchanges used by the health insurance industry in the US, where sophisticated models are helping to create new models for individual insurance.

“It is a different situation in terms of the opportunity – it is much more accurate in terms of the risk profiles and the individual characteristics of those individual consumers,” he said.

Paul de Bruijn, Regional Head of Transformation Services APAC at AIG, pointed to practical challenges with individuals concealing certain data.

“A smoker and a heavy drinker may never give you the data. You only receive data from people who want to give you the data,” said de Bruijn.

Matthias de Ferrieres of AXA Asia noted regulatory challenges that often times hold back innovation.

“We collect data but we do not know what to do with it,” de Ferrieres said. He added that insurers typically ask too many questions from their customers which do not necessarily add value but are unable to simplify this process because of regulatory requirements.

Kelvin Lim, Division Head, A&H and PBI, said a lot of data that organisations collect data is not specific enough to be actionable in real-time.

“We want to look at data that is real-time such as knowing when a customer just bought a car or a house,” he said.

Digital focus

Many executives pointed to cultural and organisational changes that are required to ultimately succeed with digitisation. Alex Kimura, Chief Strategy Officer, Aviva, cited the insurance organisation’s central strategy on digital which includes hiring digitalfocused executives from other industries to achieve its desired business outcomes.

“We have an expert from Progressive looking at data analytics to help our business.Our strategy is to work with banks on enriching the data and looking at how we can improve the customer experience,” Kimura said.

Aviva, which has a strong focus on distribution, also runs a digital lab in the UK as a separate unit to help develop its digital rollout strategy, Kimura noted. “The goal for this team is to develop something working within a short cycle with no delay,” he said.

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De Bruijn of AIG stressed that successful digital innovation will be a result of a collaboration among the senior management, marketing, distribution as well as IT divisions.

“It is marketing and distribution who are running [digital initiatives] but it is not yet connected to IT. The link to IT solutions and how exactly the [innovation] has to be done is still a challenge at the moment,” said de Bruijn.

Eric Boissier, Chief Information Officer for Asia, AXA Assistance pointed to a technology gap and the readiness of the software environment to shift from a centralised system to web services and digitisation.

“People want to be ready, but at the same time they are not always prepared to follow the requirements and guidance of the architects and IT team,” said Boissier.

Cassin of HP Enterprise Services highlighted HP’s capabilities, particularly with mobility, applying levels of abstraction on a legacy system and creating the right services frameworks that allow organisations agility and the flexibility of unstructured and rich engagement with technology.

Cassin pointed to HP’s product ‘Haven’, which uses techniques to discover and explore data in an abstract way, aggregating and analysing the data to extract meaning.

Evolving customer touchpoints

The insurance sector, like many other technology-led industries, is gearing up for disruption. Executives at the roundtable predicted different models that they foresee as having the biggest impact on insurance organisations in the next five to 10 years.

“I think [insurance products in the future] will be predictive,” said Cassin. “I do not think you will go and find insurance, your insurance will come and find you, and it will be online.”

Holmes of Aviva added, “Once everyone has a handle on the structured and unstructured data and when the regulatory environment allows you to do that, [insurance] will come to you.”

According to Andrew Lim, Director – Sales HP Enterprise Services Southeast Asia, in a few years, technology will help predict the best bid for an insurance offer in real-time.

“You will have a little agent that will accept the best bid for the next five minutes based on what your [data] is telling you,” said Lim. Zia Zaman, Chief Innovation Officer, MetLife Asia, predicted the rise of wearables and tech-based tattoos that will help monitor vital information on customers.

“Perhaps the primary interface with your insurance company will be a small tattoo that will monitor 12 vital signs,” he said.

Camerieri of Aon said over the next five to 10 years, the insurance industry will see technology that provides simplification of information that will boost innovation in the industry.

“I would hope that information provides simplification so companies can make those decisions,” he said.

De Ferrieres of AXA Asia expects to see more ‘pay-asyou-go’ services to enter the market.

“It will be pay-when-you-drive your car, pay-whenyou-travel [models]; you do not pay when you do not consume,” he said.

Wyber of AIA said the homogenous distribution and organisation in insurance around group and individual insurance businesses may begin to break down, particularly with general and group insurance.

“On the consumer side, it will be highly digitised, and consumers will be able to choose the experience that they want to engage with, and there will be more pull and less push,” said Wyber.

Lim of ACE Group predicted the emergence of more personalised products and fewer insurance agents.

“Products will be personalised in a way that you can distribute digitally and online, and I think that is how it is going to be,” Lim said.

Stephen Tan T.S., Senior Manager, Head of IT Operations, NTUC, agreed more wearables technology will be adopted. While the business models of life insurance may not change because of regulation in Singapore in the medium-term, health and general insurance could see disruption.

Boissier of AXA Assistance added in 10 years’ time, digital services like personal digital assistants and wearable technology will see adoption, but the speed of adoption may vary across different markets in Asia.

“I am not sure less developed countries will be very different from today in 10 years time. Maybe the market will need to stretch,” he said.

According to Swift of Aon, structural, commercial and legislative issues will continue to be significant especially as it relates to privacy of data and customer information. “The question that has not been answered is, ‘will the regulatory environment allow for [innovation] and who benefits from perfect information?’”

According to Cassin of HP Enterprise Services, cultural and generational change will challenge some of those norms, giving rise to a digital identity.

“It is how I allow people to subscribe to who I am digitally,” said Cassin. “But it has a long way to go.”

“Perhaps the primary interface with your insurance company will be a small tattoo that will monitor 12 vital signs.”

– ZIA ZAMAN, METLIFE

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Futurescape

2020 In a landscape of technology-enabled innovation, betting on the right agenda can be make-or-break. In this exclusive for The Who’s Who, IDC Financial Insights reveals the decision imperatives facing the financial services CIO.

By Michael Araneta

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As banks prepare to tackle a new world of innovation, a key challenge remains – how can organisations with legacy investments in technology platforms and a mandate to ‘disrupt themselves’ continue to respond to emerging technologies, particularly those yet to permeate the financial technological landscape?

IDC’s research on key trends across financial services demonstrates the main factors that will shape future banks’ ability to transform their business models and embrace IT innovation. These include developing collaborative partner ecosystems, maximising organisational agility and making the shift to lifestyle banking.

Integral to this process is the extent to which banks can learn from payments W H O’ S W H O OF FSI

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Michael Araneta, Research Director, IDC Financial Insights

disruptors like Alibaba and Apple and leverage insights gained from big data in a tactical and meaningful way. However, this will also pose significant implications for smaller banks who may not be able to cope with the pressures to invest in emerging technologies and innovation.

In an exclusive interview with FST Media, IDC reveals its forecasts on where the future of banking is headed across Asia Pacific, and the vital signs banks need to be aware of in order to remain competitive.

Small banks will be crowded out Super-regional financial institutions and the large Tier 1 domestic banks will have higher than usual IT budgets over the next few years as they seek to transform and innovate.

Large transformation projects are noted from such banks as DBS Bank, Macquarie Bank, National Australia Bank, Maybank, and Krung Thai Bank. These projects aim to yield a multitude of innovations and improvements for their institutions.

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IDC research shows that over the coming year, the largest 180 banks in Asia Pacific will allocate an average of 25 per cent of budgets towards new categories of spending. These new areas include the omni-channel, new types of customer touchpoints, data analytics, the Internet of Things (IoT), next-generation payments, software-defined data centres, risk analytics, gamification and mobile micro-apps. The motivation behind this increased investment arises from the development of newly-minted concepts and new technologies that have only just gained management attention.

However, banks must also pay attention to the emergence of technologies not currently being widely implemented in financial services.

This latter class of technologies includes such developments as innovation accelerators in robotics, 3D printing, additive manufacturing, cognitive systems, human interfaces, and IoT-enabled business processes.

Nonetheless, the industry must tread with great caution at this point. More than ever, smaller banks might be crowded out because of the deeper pockets of their larger counterparts. Tier 1 banks will be able to attract the best skills and talent, supporting their effort to bring in new ideas on the new ways of banking and execute such ideas well.

Technology vendors will also deploy their A-teams to strategic accounts, leaving mid-tier banks hanging. The result is that large banks – which are already seeing the advantage of regulatory support, public regard, and more opportunities amid regional integration – might also gain a crucial advantage when it comes to innovation, particularly when it comes to forming partnerships with other organisations.

Building partner ecosystems

One key trend will see organisations from different industries partner with banks, either through joint venture competition consortiums, shared infrastructure arrangements, or through traditional industries extending their footprint into banks. The impact will be observed in how value chains in financial services will see major disruptions. These can be in the areas of payments (with banks bundling non-financial products into

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banking transaction, e.g. Malaysia’s Hong Leong Bank), value-added data (with enterprise IT providers putting significant assets to work to curate market and reference information, e.g. IBM’s collaboration with Shanghai Wind), origination, customer on-boarding, and credit analytics.

An interesting point of consideration, however, will be to see how value is defined and then measured for the long term. Banks can use established indicators of value such as personalised advice, speed of delivery, ease of use, and the accuracy of next-best product offers to help determine the value of this partner ecosystem.

Banks are expected to quickly form these partnerships, scaling up those that make sense and efficiently discarding those that do not. The key consideration, however, is that only relationships with external organisations that can add value should be maintained.

The importance of organisational agility

New technology innovations and disruptions to customer engagement means that banks need to work toward a different set of strategic imperatives. This will include organisational agility, which enables the organisation to make decisions and execute on those decisions quickly. This agility is reflected in the ability of the bank to develop new products and get them to market fast or to develop a new way to engage with the customer and deploy it efficiently.

For the IT organisation, this need for agility means the ability to meet more stringent delivery timelines through better project management, better use of resources, resilient and secure infrastructure, and most importantly, standardising IT infrastructure to minimise maintenance costs. Some of the key themes in moving forward would be adding even more efficiency to IT, productivity of the developer and greater integration between IT development and IT operations teams.

Aside from the notions of speed and operational efficiency, banks will be challenged to think creatively – a capability that they will have to reclaim. The new iteration of innovation and thinking creatively is by changing the way that the institution

engages with customers – this could include reimagining what a channel is, what a banking product is, or who the customer is.

Big data becomes tactical

Asia Pacific banks have only recently digested the implications of big data to their respective contexts after a protracted endeavour to understand its significance and how it can be used effectively. Many organisations have moved away from the initial desire to implement big data on an enterprise-wide large scale.

Rather, these banks decided on a few discrete use cases. In 2014, IDC announced that more than half of the use cases touched on customer marketing, aside from the other use cases of fraud management in anti-money laundering and retail payments analytics.

For banks to embrace growth and transformation, they must look beyond the more compact big data programs and start focusing more on customer experience. As a result, many big data-related technologies and data management and analysis techniques will be re-evaluated: data virtualisation, data discovery, the new capabilities in high-performance computing, and even the Hadoop and MapReduce combination.

One significant shift will see big data discussions becoming more technical as organisations have to consider data architecture issues that will prepare them for greater agililty. The intent is to have an enterprise-wide data architecture that makes data and lines of business closely aligned.

Part of the effort will be in creating data governance and stewardship responsibilities and frameworks in agreement with business owners and feeding analytics with a data architecture that integrates existing and new big data within a consistent framework. It is also important for organisations to provide traceability from source to usage and rigorously assess the value of data sources.

Banks will discover very quickly though that data structures in their organisations are far from ideal – multiple silos exist, the same customers have multiple customer information files and product systems cannot be reconciled, among many other issues.

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A gradual and regular re-architecting of data will also be a key priority for banks. As re-architecting proceeds, bank marketers know that they cannot wait and will work on whatever data they have as they venture into advanced analytical tools to gain insights into customers’ activity. Past and current trends can be analysed in an attempt to predict future behaviour.

Advanced analytics will be used to provide institutions with the most relevant solution in a multitude of business areas, particularly cross-selling and behavioural modification – the clear focus of the emerging discipline of precision marketing.

The payments threat

In the next five years, financial services will witness a spectacular rise and fall of players in retail payments, in combination with a deceleration of payments revenue growth among Asia Pacific banks.

For some Tier 1 institutions, the impact may be dire and result in a decrease of up to 15 per cent in payment revenues. While some of the new entrants are merely changing some of the dynamics of the existing payment ecosystems, others will continue to disrupt today’s existing bank-led system.

The entry of the technology giants Apple, Acer, and Samsung into the payments space will change the nature of banking.

The way that these players are imposing their conditions on financial institutions will have a major impact on the already narrow margins.

In Apple’s case, for example, issuers will cede to the company 0.15 per cent of the transaction amount for credit cards on top various other fees paid to Visa and MasterCard to tokenise their cards.

Moreover, the obligation that 95 per cent of an issuer’s cards have to be made available for ApplePay potentially cannibalises the bank’s card business.

Whether the promise of driving payment volumes will make ApplePay a serious threat to the banks remains to be seen. However, the bigger threat and disruptive potential for the banking sector is derived from the myriad of new players that seek to bypass the existing payment systems and increasingly expand their value proposition beyond

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payments by entering other areas such as investments, deposits, and insurance.

Companies born in the 3rd Platform such as Alibaba, Tencent, LINE, and Baidu are expanding their remote payment offerings, integrating with other platforms, and increasingly expanding into proximity payments. We expect more partnerships between non-bank players to open their ecosystems, such as Paytm with Uber in India, Weibo Wallet connecting with Alipay, and WeChat partnering with taxi operator Didi Dache.

There is another advantage that disruptors might have over banks. From a technology perspective, the disruptors have taken open innovation as their mantra, allowing them to surpass proprietary-based innovation more common in traditional enterprises. Banks will have to look at how they can learn from these disruptors that continue to pursue new ways of IT. An example of this is how disruptors have typically configured their own data centres using open source software to help run their servers or how they have grown the dev-ops discipline for greater productivity in application delivery.

Lifestyle banking is the future

The industry continues to see the emergence of what we call “lifestyle banking,” with banks moving away from offering products toward offering value-added services that complement the lifestyle of their customers.

This products-plus-service proposition is driven by two key objectives: the banks’ intent to stand out amid a sea of sameness – given commoditised products, services, and channels – and the banks’ objective to offer hyper-personalised products and services that simplify the decision-making process of customers as a myriad of choices are foisted upon them.

In order to sell a product, having it in a portfolio is no longer enough; banks need to offer it to the consumer at a time when it is relevant, at a place where it is needed, and in a way that is easy and readily consumable.

In the same way that internet providers are pushing into financial services, banks need to consider whether to push back and help consumers filter through the avalanche of

offers, brand messages, opinions, products and spam.

Lifestyle banking is a trend developing in areas that are still closely related to financial services. Over time we expect services enabled by 3rd Platform technologies to move further away from the core of banking.

A great example is in aggregation services for mortgage offerings, allowing consumers to take a picture of a property to get more information about its availability, price, and features, as well as data on similar postings.

Applications of this type will also be able to indicate loan offers for targeted customers.

Moreover, banks have already started to work on facilitation services, driving traffic to their partner merchants. Taking this thought further, banks can offer travel planning following a ticket purchase with a credit card and also package promotions for hotels, merchants, and other offers that might be of interest in the planned destination. Additionally, advisory services are expected to move beyond high-end wealth management towards the mass market and are likely to expand from a pure financial planning perspective to include other areas such as card payments, education, health and insurance and tax optimisation.

Banks have internalised the meaning of these technologies and must develop a cohesive IT strategy for effective implementation. One key argument that can be made is that the key technology disruptors – cloud, big data, social business, and mobile – will continue to become significant in the agenda of discussions between IT and business executives alike. However, these institutions will only explore their greater disruptive power when they are integrated or brought together in.

The extent to which the industry will be hampered by several customer data privacy legislations in the region remains to be seen, but banks cannot ignore its implications. Banks must act swiftly and decisively to implement change and disruptive innovation as this will greatly shape the contours of their IT strategies over the next five years.

*

By Michael Araneta, Research Director, IDC Financial Insights

When senior banking, insurance and wealth management IT decision makers turn to FST Media, they are confident that they will be kept abreast of emerging trends and developments that could impact their technology mandates.

FST Media’s team of conference producers, highly qualified journalists and business development executives collaborate to deliver the most insightful and successful events, roundtables, specialist publications, newsletters, online broadcasts and video interviews dedicated to financial services technology executives in Australia, New Zealand and wider Asia.

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Prepare to be disrupted.

Life Insurance 2020+

By Darren Stevens, Director, Product Management and Strategy at Bravura Solutions

While life insurance companies are busy dealing with business as usual imperatives, game changing social and digital trends are unfolding that stand to turn the industry on its head.

A number of key trends impacting the life insurance industry are here already, while others are just around the corner. Then there are the future trends we can only dare to predict. While some anticipated innovations might seem far-fetched or the stuff of science fiction – be assured they are very real. To remain relevant in the new social and digital age, life insurers must prepare their businesses to cater for these trends – not next year or in five years’ time – but right now.

The problem with business as usual Over the past decade, the life insurance industry has been understandably focused upon business as usual pressures. Against a backdrop of global economic volatility, insurers have turned their attention to financial management and associated regulatory compliance issues.

Continuous regulatory change in the form of FOFA in Australia and the RDR review in the UK have forced a significant redesign of products and distribution, while Solvency II and LAGIC have increased pressure around capital management and profitability. As the proportion of people over 60 years old continues to grow and longevity increases, providers have accelerated their efforts to manage the impacts of an ageing population on life insurance.

Changes to retirement income policies is just one area that has kept insurers up at night. During the same period, we have seen the life insurance industry face losses as a result of poor claims experiences, particularly in the Australian market, as well

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as unprecedented lapse rates. While these business as usual concerns are clearly pressing and require attention, they have served to distract the industry from equally pressing and salient social and digital trends that signal imminent and seismic shifts in the life insurance business as we know it.

Trends happening right now Many social and digital trends impacting the life insurance industry are no longer abstract future concepts. Is your business ready for them?

The Millennials The key demographic trend for insurers today is not the increasing ageing population, but the rise of the Millennials.

Traditionally known as Gen Ys, this group has emerged as the target market for life insurance. Recent research by

Gen Re found that the Millennials will represent 75 per cent of the global workforce by 2025 and their spending power will surpass the Baby Boomers by 2018. Aged 14-34 years, this cohort represents a largely underpenetrated, potentially lucrative market.

Yet successfully tapping into this market requires a vastly different approach to that taken with the Gen Xs and Baby Boomers.

As digital natives, the Millennials are tech savvy, educated and have a unique set of needs and expectations. The Gen Re study found that 90 per cent routinely research products online and 50 per cent use their smartphones to research purchases.

Seventy per cent agree that having their friends’ approval on a decision is important, while 73 per cent believe other consumers care about their opinions. Interestingly, they still rate face-to-face (F2F) as the number one way to communicate. This will require blended distribution models that combine online education, information and quoting with an appropriate level of F2F contact when the customer desires it. Insurers must be socially aware and digitally ready to service this dynamic new market.

Social capital There is little doubt that social capital is the new currency. The high value placed on social networks is enabling social media – such as Facebook, Twitter and consumer review sites – to drive many aspects of life insurance from product design, uptake and distribution, through to customer service, loyalty and retention.

In the digital age, reputation and service excellence at every point in the user journey are critical. Just as Trip Advisor currently fulfils a key role in the travel industry through its user generated

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content and reviews, similar online services are emerging for the insurance industry. Products that are truly relevant to customers and prompt resolution of customer complaints are essential.

Failure on these fronts can result in a dissatisfied customer venting their grievances on social media, bringing about untold reputational damage. Insurers must cultivate a deep understanding of social capital as well as a dedicated social media presence and strategy in order to thrive in this new landscape.

Predictive analytics The breadth, quality and immediacy of data is allowing savvy industry players to venture into predictive analytics and modelling as never before. By combining and analysing data from a range of sources, insurers can gain an unprecedented, detailed understanding of personality profiles, buying trends and behaviours that can be used to inform almost every aspect of their operations.

Increasingly, data is being collected and analysed in real-time, enabling it to directly influence the user journey as it unfolds. Should a potential customer begin, yet fail to complete an application form, there exists an opportunity for the provider to follow up with a personalised communication designed to assist them through to completion. Should analytics reveal that a customer belongs to a cohort with a propensity to lapse or change provider, it is now possible to attempt to circumvent this behaviour via personalised customer service. To genuinely capitalise on these advanced technological capabilities, insurers must move beyond the rhetoric and make big data and analytics a priority within their business.

Crowdsourcing Increasingly, insurers are opening themselves up to the fact that they don’t hold all the answers. Astute providers seeking to tap into the prevailing zeitgeist are exploring the benefits of crowdsourcing.

This approach invites the general community to have input into how

insurers should operate, in return for prizes and/or remuneration for the best suggestions. The technique is useful for identifying innovative approaches to improving customer service, retention and distribution. Already, several key players in the Australian marketplace such as HCF and AMP have initiated crowdsourcing projects and we are likely to see more insurers employ this approach in the future.

“This shift in power from the provider to the consumer is having a significant impact on business structures, products and distribution”

Insurance bought, not sold In another key development, life insurance today is increasingly bought, not sold.

This shift in power from the provider to the consumer is having a significant impact on business structures, products and distribution. This is evidenced by the growth in the D2C channels.

Already, there are providers who are breaking their products into building blocks, enabling customers to construct tailored and personalised insurance policies that cover people for what they need, rather than the traditional standardised, onesize fits all approach. Other providers are turning the traditional distribution model on its head by requiring insurance brokers and advisors to competitively bid for a policyholder’s business. The relatively new concept of peer-to-peer insurance is gaining ground due to its ability to make W HO ’ S W HO O F FS I

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needs. Tech savvy providers will seize this opportunity to secure a competitive edge in the marketplace.

The cloud The days of maintaining in-house IT infrastructure are all but over. Within a few years, insurance data will be almost exclusively collected, stored, managed, maintained and shared via the cloud in real-time.

One of the great advantages of the cloud is that it frees businesses up from legacy infrastructure that is not suited to digital and mobile service delivery. Life insurance providers must act swiftly to become cloud aware and ensure their business processes are cloud friendly.

Trends on the horizon insurance cheaper. This approach allows policyholders to form an online peer group with a reduced risk profile. The industry is also witnessing the emergence of special risks insurers, who are taking on customers traditionally deemed uninsurable.

Insurers can no longer afford to rely on traditional operating models and business processes. They must look at ways of restructuring their business to meet their customers’ needs on their terms.

Trends close at hand Within the next two to five years, the life insurance industry can expect to see further exciting developments that will radically alter the nature of the life insurance industry as we know it.

Wearable technology In the very near future, wearable technologies such as smartphones, Fitbit and Apple Watch will provide an unprecedented ability to collect all manner of personal information, such as how we drive, what kinds of food we eat and how much we exercise.

The data being collected by providers such as Google across devices is truly mind boggling. In the years ahead, such data will be used by insurers to more accurately determine our individual risk profile.

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Sharing personal information in this way is becoming part of everyday life, particularly for the Millennials, who are digital natives.

The desire for lower insurance premiums and improved service levels are likely to outweigh privacy and security concerns.

Thinking further out, it is possible to make an educated guess about what some of the key trends might be. Collectively these developments will further challenge and transform the insurance industry’s traditional notion of risk.

The Internet of Things

Medical advances

In addition to wearable technology, our society will be increasingly connected through the Internet of Things (IoT). In the years ahead, we will employ ‘smart’ devices within our cars, our homes, our workplaces and recreational spaces that will all be connected to the internet.

Many of these devices will assist us to prevent or minimise the incidence of accidents and hazards, improve the safety of our physical environment and improve our overall health and well-being – all of which have implications for insurance.

By delivering the ability to constantly monitor a whole range of variables – including personal behaviours and conditions – the IoT represents a valuable tool for the insurance industry.

Insurers capable of harnessing predictive analytics will be able to more accurately determine the risk profile of customers, predictively rate their insurance cover and effectively customise and personalise products and services to better meet their

In the longer term, medical advances are likely to eliminate or greatly reduce many of the common health risks that currently form the basis for life insurance and income protection. We are likely to see cures for conditions such as certain cancers, coronary disease, Alzheimer’s and diabetes.

Current research and advances will allow medical professionals to grow skin and organs in 3D printers, employ nanobots to directly target medication to diseased cells and doctors will be able to perform flexible spine implants to enable paraplegics and quadriplegics to regain mobility.

These advances will have a profound impact on issues such as underwriting, insurability, risk profiles, product design, pricing and claims.

Safer lifestyles In the next 20 years, many of the risks we currently associate with modern lifestyles will be minimised. For example, driverless

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cars such as the Google Car and fully automated trains, planes and ferries will eliminate human error and greatly improve the safety of all modes of transportation.

Our home, work and leisure environments will be much safer thanks to advanced engineering and construction methods and constant monitoring that will keep us safe from fire, burglaries, natural disasters and environmental hazards. As a result, some of the key pillars of insurance today, will be rendered virtually obsolete.

Cyber security As traditional risks wain, the new digital age will bring rise to a whole new range of risks surrounding data privacy and security. As demonstrated by the recent Sony cyber-attack, there are new areas of vulnerability for both individuals and businesses. For life insurers, the issue of cyber security has major implications for the enormous amounts of personal data they will collect.

The way forward While it is appreciably hard for life insurers to respond to the magnitude and pace of these trends when they are so busy handling business as usual concerns, providers must find a way forward if they are to survive in the new social and digital age.

One of the key barriers to effectively addressing social and digital innovation is the mindset that insurers can continue on with their traditional business operating models, getting by with a website here and a mobile app there.

Yet, what is needed to simultaneously cope with business as usual pressures and social and digital innovation – is simplification. Insurers need to get rid of the legacy and complexity associated with old technology and outmoded business processes. They must look to ways to greatly simplify their business environments through modern, scalable technology that will allow them to cater for the rapid onset of these changes. They must switch now to technology and business processes that genuinely and effortlessly support

real-time multi-channel interactions, predictive analytics and the digital and mobile service delivery experiences their customers – in particular the Millennials – have come to expect.

Life insurers cannot afford to put off the simplification process. We will almost certainly see non-traditional players like Google (who are already entering the general insurance market in the US), Facebook and Amazon enter and disrupt the life insurance market on a global scale. These businesses already have the edge on social capital. They already have access to unprecedented amounts of big data, as well as well-honed data analytics capabilities. These businesses are free from legacy and, in many cases, have access to substantial capital to support their operations. In particular, they possess an intimate knowledge of the Millennials’ market. The spectre of these non-traditional players entering the global life insurance space provides an urgent incentive for life insurers to make the leap into the social and digital age. If traditional providers are to successfully defend their market, they must become socially aware and tech savvy without delay.

For more information, please visit https://bravurasolutions.com W HO ’ S W HO O F FS I

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Always Greener?

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CA R E E RS // A N A LYS IS

AS TECHNOLOGY STARTUPS ENTER THE MARKET, OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND FOR SEASONED PLAYERS TO JOIN THE NEXT WAVE OF DISRUPTORS. WILL THE INDUSTRY PLAY SECOND FIDDLE IN ATTRACTING KEY TALENT? FST MEDIA INVESTIGATES THE CHANGING CAREER PATH OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES CIO.

BY DANIEL PAPERNY

With the emergence of new business models, changing customer preferences, dwindling bank branch traffic and increasing cyber-threats, there has never been a more critical time for real CIO leadership. Within the digital tapestry of our increasingly interconnected world, the need for banks to embrace digital transformation and innovation has sparked a fundamental shift in the career trajectory of the traditional Chief Information Officer (CIO). Leadership opportunities will become a pivotal driver for technology chiefs to consider other industries, where digital innovation is the holy grail.

To explore this profound ripple within the fabric of the financial services sector, FST Media brings you an exclusive snapshot of opinions from analysts, technology giants and executives, from both banking and IT backgrounds, to lend insights into the changing nature of the CIO role.

Rising customer expectations, as well as reductions in the cost of technology services across Asia Pacific, coupled with the ongoing pressure on banks to grow market share and revenue, have seen the traditional role of the CIO come under threat. According to a 2015 study by Forrester Research Malaysian Banks Brace Themselves For Digital, 61 per cent of business decisionmakers in Asia Pacific are spending more on external IT solutions as a result of growing distrust towards the strategies employed by the internal technology management teams and historical poor execution of business requirements.

Consequently, as financial institutions become focused on new forms of customer engagement, the rise of new digital imperialists like Google, Alibaba and WH O ’S WH O O F FS I

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There is a frenzy around leveraging emerging technology like mobility and big data, and trying to come up with innovation that will drive value to the business.

Apple pose serious concerns for senior banking leaders, who are forced to disrupt old ways of thinking and start to integrate digital into their core approaches and methodologies. This is particularly true for CIOs, who must look to adapt their leadership styles and learn from these disruptors, in terms of their intelligent use of cloud and data analytics, to help deliver personalised solutions for customers.

To think the CIO role is becoming marginalised would be foolish. On the contrary, the evolution of the CIO marks a significant turning point for the next generation of banking leaders. As more fintechs become key players in the finance sector by virtue of new, emerging technologies, one key challenge for banks and insurance companies will be in demonstrating how they can manage to retain their CIOs and match this innovation.

Banks, therefore, must brace themselves for technological change by leading with a digitally acute and perceptive awareness that they will need to help them compete for the business of the technologically–savvy, modern-day customer.

Data analytics a differentiator

According to Frederic Giron, Vice President and Research Director at Forrester Research, CIOs in Asia Pacific are responding to ongoing, palpable pressure and increasing expectations to come up with key innovations that help the business grow and differentiate their position in the marketplace.

“There is a frenzy around leveraging emerging technology like mobility and big data, and trying to come up with innovation that will drive value to the business,” Giron said.

With personalisation becoming a significant focus for financial institutions, the use of data insights and mobile platforms is seen to be key to shaping the future role of the CIO. According to Ethan Wang, Research Director at Gartner, the key priority for Asia Pacific banks in 2015 will be contextualised digitalisation, with analytics seen as a key differentiator.

“CIOs need to pay attention to customer analytics and experience. Other advanced

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analytics such as IBM Watson’s machinelearning may also help to transform wealth management,” Wang said.

“It is a great time to be a CIO because you have access to so many technologies that are inexpensive, so you are able to innovate,” Giron added.

“We see a lot of interest across the region, from a mobility perspective as well as analytics, in terms of understanding the customers better and trying to come up with offerings that are more suited to their needs.”

Shaun Tubb, Strategic Program Manager at TSB Bank, New Zealand, said that changing customer behaviour will have a disruptive influence on the financial services landscape, as CIOs are faced with the challenge of meeting the expectations of customers who can easily switch to a competitor if they feel a bank’s offering no longer meets their needs.

“We will see more and more transient banking, with digital being a big leveller in terms of providing choice for customers.

Banks are always going to be about security and stability first and foremost, but the change in behaviour is giving the customer more choice in how they bank,” Tubb said.

“Our culture is changing and we now look differently at problems – we want to understand customer painpoints and what we are seeing is disruption, because traditional ways of banking are not keeping pace with customer demand.”

According to Peter Fletcher-Dobson, Digital Strategy Lead for Kiwibank, New Zealand, the banking sector is facing “the most incredible disruption” across every facet of the industry, with the role of the CIO evolving to accommodate the influx of “smart digital players” who are building successful fintech businesses and markets across Asia Pacific.

John Calverley, Global Head of Economic Research at Standard Chartered Bank, echoed these sentiments, saying that banks are watching the growing net of digital disruptors with great interest.

“Banks are obviously going to face increased competition, because various new providers are going to offer new technologies and ways of thinking,” Calverley said.

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“Currently, 75 per cent of Millenials say they would prefer financial services from the likes of Google, Amazon and PayPal than from a bank. Banks are essentially data businesses which are open to disintermediation; that is a significant wake-up call for the financial services sector,” Fletcher-Dobson added.

Conversely, the insights of banking CIOs are currently proving to be an enticing prospect for the emerging digital disruptors and technological vendors who value the real world expertise of these experienced leaders to help drive their IT capabilities and revenue growth.

“My impression is that, especially for the larger companies, banking CEOs are more than aware of this issue,” Calverley said.

“About three or four years ago, banking CEOs were not focused on technology.

However, I think the CIO now has the CEO looking over his shoulder far more than ever before.”

A new look for CIOs?

Banking CIO executives appeal to technology vendors because of their financial insights, with business acumen and technology expertise cited as key selling points for prospective employers, according to Zia Zaman, Chief Innovation Officer at Metlife Asia.

“When I was in the technology industry, having that kind of subject matter expert – someone who had been a CIO or held a senior role in looking at emerging technology or cloud – was much more helpful to us, in terms of winning deals,” Zaman said.

“When you added credibility, know-how, implementation and expertise, then that clearly drives a new trend towards technology companies seeking out ex-banking CIOs.” Michael Araneta, Director of Consulting and Research at IDC, agreed, saying that a key aspect of the current remit for CIOs is the ability to communicate to different stakeholders within the organisation.

“Being a thought leader and being able to influence multiple lines of business executives within the organisation is key, because the CIO will be facilitating

the integration of different technology requirements through the greater virtualisation of IT assets,” Araneta said.

“They will need to be able to bring together different units within the IT vision of the organisation and this relies on a clear articulation of the grand plan.

Among the many new responsibilities of the CIO, one will be to become a great communicator on the subject of the possibilities of technology and to be able to explain why certain things need to be done differently.”

Brendan Mills, CIO for NIB Health Funds Australia, affirmed that the new CIO is a business leader who drives business outcomes and delivers value to organisations, saying the CIO is now beyond simply being a technologist.

“As it evolves, IT leadership will become more focused on how CIOs drive business through the application of technology,” Mills said.

“Technology, together with the right leadership, has the ability to create new markets or bring disruption to existing markets, as opposed to simply solving existing business automation efforts.”

Abhijit Singh, Head of Retail Technology at ICICI Bank, said that a key focus of modern day CIOs will be on service management – through SaaS, IaaS, BPO – as they must have a demonstrated proficiency in vendor-management.

“Many of the CIOs are now working to address one colossal challenge that is impacting almost every company in operation today, and that is big data. In principle, a CIO in the modern organisation is expected to possess business acumen and the capability to relate to the organisation as a whole, as opposed to being a technological expert with limited functional business know-how,” Singh said.

Zaman said that the pull for technology CIOs to head in the opposite direction and join financial services organisations rests in their desire to drive cultural change and to bring a deep understanding of the technology industry, helping financial firms adopt new technology and drive digital transformation.

5 major IT leadership roles observed in modern large enterprises

Chief Information Officer Adjusting: Focus often on backoffice and technology service improvement

CIO

Chief Data Officer

CDO

Emerging: Focus on information, its quality, its policy and its use

Chief Technology Officer

CTO

Evolving: Operational/embedded technology focus

Chief Digital Officer

CDO

Emerging: External customer interaction focus

Chief Enterprise Architect

CEA

Evolving: Model, process and integration focus

Source: Gartner

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Lost in transformation

A key aspect of the evolution of the CIO has been the readiness of financial services organisations to embrace digital transformation within a landscape that is increasingly valuing real-time responses and interactions, to meet the growing demands of a rising millennial customer base.

Ethan Wang, Research Director at Gartner, affirms that CIOs in Asia Pacific must adopt a bi-model to accelerate their digital banking in the financial services sector and help oversee digital transformation.

“Besides the fundamental roles of maintaining and renovating the core of IT, CIOs need to create powerful digital leadership, by building bi-model capabilities and focus on creating inspirational, educational and collaborative communication that promotes digital transformation,” Wang said.

However, Shaun Tubb, Strategic Program Manager at TSB Bank in New Zealand, cautions against banks seeing transformation as purely a digital issue. Tubb argues that changing customer behaviour is a

key driver for innovation, with digital seen as “an enabler” for meeting rising customer demands.

“Digital should be ingrained in our business and shouldn’t be an additional consideration, but rather just something we do, like creating a great customer experience,” Tubb said.

“Customers want to be able to manage their affairs how, and when, they want.

However, the traditional delivery models like bank branches would not allow this.”

According to Andrew Milroy, Vice President of ICT Practice, Asia Pacific at Frost & Sullivan, the evolution of delivery models is closely tied to the evolution of the traditional CIO role, as financial institutions increasingly turn to technology for sustainable solutions.

“Twenty years ago, IT was being used to increase productivity and it was all about making existing processes much more efficient,” Milroy said.

“Technology started disrupting the industries enormously. All of a sudden, the CIO moved from a back-office role to becoming a key instrumental figure in the future of the business.”

Lisa Claes, Executive Director, Customer Delivery and Distribution at ING Direct agreed, saying that the CIO will continue to play a key role in the management of enterprise legacy systems, adapting this technology and integrating it within an enterprise in an agile manner. “Clearly, digital is such a force to be harnessed and harvested, both for the benefit of the customer and also for the financial services institution. In the past, IT departments sat very much behind the curtain in the entrails of the organisation, whereas now they are certainly being pulled out to the front tier in the membrane of the organisation and the customers that organisation serves,” Claes said.

Claes stated that a key challenge for CIOs enacting digital transformation is the need to ensure their tools, processes, culture and staff are equally agile in their execution, as well as being “keyed into the customer appetite.”

“I think the most significant change for the CIO will be their transition from the leader of a somewhat cultural transformation in the IT community, to being certainly responsive, agile, innovative and customer-centric,” Claes said.

C-Leader influence over the information and technology-related business change agenda, 1995 to 2025 Level of Influence

Head of E-Business Chief Digital Officer (Strategy)

CIO

CIO (Revenue and Strategy)

Chief Marketing Officer

Chief Data Officer Digital Marketing Officer CIO (Back Office) 1995

2000

2005

2010

2015

E-Business Mania

BRIC Boom

Great Recession

Digital Readiness

Source: Gartner

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2020

2025

CA R E E RS // A N A LYS IS

Anastasia Cammaroto, CIO for BT Financial Group, said that as customer-centricity increasingly becomes a priority for financial institutions, the notion of a traditional CIO who supports “business as usual” from the back-office will cease to exist.

“The evolution of the CIO role has been constant over the last 10 years and will continue for as long as technology evolves.

As workforce patterns change and more people move to digital methods of doing business, the role of the CIO will move even closer to the customer,” Cammaroto said.

The move to marketing

Cammaroto argued that the CIO’s remit today navigates areas of specialty, with new responsibilities focusing on finding a balance between what they drive and create internally, versus what they access externally.

“CIOs are continuously crossing traditional boundaries: from infrastructure and data centre management to cloud provider brokers, from software development leaders to software package integrators, from technology architects to business consultants,” she said.

“In addition, the very real demand for exceptional technologists means that they need to be able to build a strong people organisation, supported by a culture of learning, skill renewal and leadership.”

Given the advent of ‘Shadow IT’ in marketing, where cloud apps have made it easy to enable digital functionality, one key challenge for the CIO remains their ability to collaborate effectively with internal marketing teams.

John Tait, Executive Director of Strategic Development and Distribution at Indue said that the CIO should be seen as a leader, both internally and externally, to help their organisation to build profile, presence and brand. “In my view, CIOs now play an integral part in the marketing and profiling of an organisation, as the technology behind products and services becomes more visible and can enhance perceptions of an organisation – whether that is to do with safety and security, innovation, agility or user-friendliness,” Tait said.

Kelvin Lim, CEO of Hong Leong Assurance, agrees, affirming that to lead an effective

digital transformation the CIO must partner with marketing teams to share insights on the best means for marketing integration and delivering overall value to the business.

“I see the role of the CIO becoming increasingly important in the insurance industry and within our own company,” Lim said.

“I am heavily involving my CIO in marketing and am also having him participate in our meetings, so that he can give advice and comparisons as to how these technologies can benefit the company.”

As the digital age advances, the gap between the traditional CIO and CMO roles will shrink, according to Mark Gay, CIO for ME Bank.

“The technical capabilities that were previously required of a CIO are now being outsourced, and customers are expecting more seamless experiences and real-time responses,” Gay said.

“For that reason, the CIO must absolutely understand the customer and the products, whereas previously the CIO would be spoon-fed this intelligence from the likes of the CMO.”

Mind over management ability

According to a 2015 survey of CIOs by Gartner, 75 per cent of CIOs in Asia Pacific and Japan recognise the need to adapt their leadership style from “control” to “visionary” in the next three years to succeed in digital business. Titled 2015 CIO Agenda: An Asia/ Pacific and Japan Perspective, this survey proposes that the shift to digital involves changes in information, technology, operational processes, business models and talent in the long-term. However, the greatest challenge is in shifting the mindset of traditional technology chiefs.

“Incrementally improving IT performance is not enough to grasp the digital opportunity”, said Gartner Vice President Andy RowsellJones. “CIOs need to ‘flip’ from legacy to digital, in terms of information and technology leadership, value leadership and people leadership.”

Zaman agreed, suggesting that the real challenge for CIOs is how they can step up to be better business partners to the CEO. “CIOs need to be more conversant in the language

Top technology priorities for CIOs Business intelligence/analytics Infrastructure and data centres Mobile Digitalisation/digital marketing Cloud Security Legacy modernisation Enterprise applications CRM Industry specific applications Innovation and growth IT services/automation Source: Gartner

of enabling technology, culture change, disruption and innovation,” he said.

“What is emerging is a new breed of business partner who is familiar with the range of technology and trends available – everything from the Internet of Things to cloud, new models of consumer engagement, user experience and design thinking. The CIO can be more intelligent about how those trends will affect their business.”

According to John Brisco, COO for Latin America and CIO for Emerging Markets at QBE Insurance, CIOs must also possess a clearly-defined skillset, in addition to a thirst for knowledge, in order to be effective leaders in the digital age.

“I do believe core skills and behaviours around digital connectivity and partnerships, user and customer experience designs, talent management, and strategic visioning capability are crucial for any CIO,” he said.

“To meet the impending digital tsunami, a CIO needs to become completely familiar with continual changing technology and best practices in security, in order to be successful.”

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Transforming to Survive and Thrive in a Digital World Top row (from left to right): Biren Kundalia, Regional Chief Technology Officer, AIG; Craig Spencer, Account Executive APAC, Pegasystems; Rasitha Leelasena, Chief Operating Officer, Global Markets, Singapore, HSBC; Cynthia Liaw, Head of Virtual Banking and Payments, Maybank; Brian Reinhart, Chief Operating Officer, Retail and Personal Banking, Standard Chartered; Pranav Seth, Senior Vice President & Head, E-business and Business Transformation, OCBC Bank; Isay Lifshitz, Managing Director, Head Group Operations Singapore, WM Operations APAC, UBS; Doina Palici-Chehab, Chief Executive Officer, AXA; David Backley, Managing Director Technology, Consumer Banking Group, DBS Bank.

Bottom row (from left to right): Cherdchai Virabhak, Regional Head of Digital, Consumer Insurance, AIG; Margaret Chime, Vice President, Digital Marketing, Great Eastern Life; Nate Bedrossian, Head of Operations, GLS CCOO, Deutsche Bank; Vincent Caldeira, Managing Director, Head of Technology and Business Process Reengineering, Bank of Singapore; Matthias de Ferrieres, Regional Head of Marketing – General Insurance, AXA; Veronique Meffert, Head, Digital Group Marketing, Great Eastern Life; Marcel Fuerst, Chief Information Officer, Wealth Management APAC, UBS; Eugene Liou, Regional Account Director, Pegasystems; Luke McCormack, Vice President APAC, Pegasystems.

The executives featured in this roundtable editorial held the above positions at the time of publication.

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LUKE MCCORMACK, PEGASYSTEMS: At Pegasystems, we work with a number of firms that are [at this roundtable]. We help organisations with the most complex problems of customer service and process. We are fortunate to have Pranav Seth, Head of E-Business and Business Transformation, OCBC, who is one of our customers. Pranav is going to share some of his insights and experience through OCBC’s digital journey.

PRANAV SETH, OCBC BANK: Digital is not just about social, mobile, marketing or channels. Digital is about a fundamental transformation of our business – creating offers, services and interactions for the ‘Digital Consumer’. Whether it is digital natives, who grew up with significant personal technology at their fingertips, or digital immigrants who have adopted this digital lifestyle, the consumer expectations from banking, insurance and other old world industries are very different to what these industries are delivering.

The pervasiveness of mobile, social technologies and ubiquitous and democratic online access have radically

changed the way consumers interact with each other and the way they interact with companies and consume their services. Online focused companies and industries like retailing, music and travel ticketing that have already gone through significant digital transformations are shaping the customer expectations that services should be delivered digitally.

To deliver to the digital customers, it is important not just to understand the technologies but to also understand the major fundamental shifts in expectations shaped by these technologies. I will talk about a few of these basic expectation changes that all financial institutions should address.

Firstly, the notion of having everything instantly and seamlessly. You might hear digital people talking about ‘mobility’. But I do not call it ‘mobile’ or ‘mobility’ – it is the change in expectations that everything needs to be done at my convenience instantly. A lot of banks and insurance companies have put processes on mobile channels, but when you use these mobile services, you get a response: “We have received your W HO ’ S W HO O F FS I

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“We cannot continue to rely on agents or front end staff who come and go to put that message to them. We have to fundamentally look at our propositions and [customer] interactions to make them simple.”

– PRANAV SETH, OCBC BANK

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application. It will take two days to process.” That is not what customers expect. That leads to customers feeling that organisations are not respecting their time or what is valuable to them. This expectation shift has severe implications on the end-to-end processes across services, sales and other touchpoints not just on glamourous front-ends.

Secondly, simplicity and authenticity. These are diverse concepts, but I club them together in the context of banking. “What is not simple, I cannot understand, and what I cannot understand, I cannot trust, and what I do not trust and understand, is not authentic and I do not buy.” From a banking perspective, the way we have been conducting business amid increasing regulatory pressures, we have made things very complex. Whereas beyond banking, customers now do everything seamlessly on their Apple devices, the forerunner for simplicity.

Their expectations from services have changed.

How do we simplify our interactions, products and communications so people understand what we are trying to sell and how we are trying to help them? We cannot continue to rely on agents or front-end staff who come and go to deliver that message. We have to fundamentally look at our propositions and [customer] interactions to make them simple.

Thirdly, we continue to hear about big data and smart data, but the concept of relevance needs to be addressed. Right now, Twitter feeds are exploding.

There are many companies who continue to bombard [their customers] with SMS offers that make no sense.

We are trying to increase the ‘velocity’ of data and our [customer] interactions but that, in fact, is creating a

further issue with relevance because [customers] put us back on their ‘ignore’ list.

Finally, the reduction of information asymmetries or the democratic access to information – you cannot continue to rely on a young frontline agent and assume they will have a knowledgeable conversation with customers about wealth and loan requirements.

Customers would be likely to have more information than the frontline agents given that they have probably researched extensively before walking into the branch.

At the end of the day, we rely on frontline agents who are young and tend to churn a lot. Banking has information asymmetries on risk profiles. If you look at wealth, insurance, and other sectors, specifically financial services, information asymmetries are breaking down. Either there is a huge threat from people who will break those [asymmetries]... or there is an opportunity for us to evolve to new business models where we do not let someone else take [our market share]. You need to start with products. That is what we have been trying to do – simplify the product shelf.

While the whole chain has a lot of complexity, we are trying to eliminate complexity from the beginning, looking at the end-to-end processes – whether the product core value proposition (CVP) is easy to understand, whether the reward mechanisms are in line with instant gratification expectations and whether fulfilment can be done instantly online.

LUKE MCCORMACK, PEGASYSTEMS: Pranav, the journey you have been on with Pega focused on onboarding of customers in the branch. It is not just a technology journey, it has been a full cultural process – a big change program. How do you manage to break through some of the silos?

PRANAV SETH, OCBC BANK: Our on-boarding experience is not just about having an account opened as fast as possible. It is also about how you maximise that opportunity and engagement by having a conversation with the client in a way that you discover more about them. It is about how you do not sell to the client before you understand [their needs]. It is a shared process where rather than sitting across the table from the customer, you sit next to the customer and use a shared screen and go through the process in a shared manner. It is a process of discovery, recommendation of products and fulfilment.

LUKE MCCORMACK, PEGASYSTEMS: The clue is in the name – the program we worked on was called ROME or ‘Relationship Opening Made Easy’ as opposed to can-opening or just opening a product.

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PRANAV SETH, OCBC BANK: Absolutely. Our targets were very different. It was not minimising the timeto-open, it was about loyalty, cross-sell and ongoing product purchase. That required not just a huge technology component but the whole financial needs analysis [process] had to change. It required flexibility in terms of the way the technology was geared. It was a transformation on how agents sell – you need to have the agents and the management on board. You also need to change the whole measurement [system] of the key performance indicators.

The only way we have been able to achieve that is by creating ‘shared customer empathy’ across different departments – marketing, branches, technology, vendors – on what the customer wants and if the solution can deliver that. Otherwise, there are silos: “I want my branding to be prominent on this screen, I want a cross-sell page here. Whether it is contextual or not, I want to sell a bank assurance here.” If you allow silos decide those things, it is not going to work. It is only when we put the whole value chain in one room and make them see the customer journey and customer feedback on the fly, that we are then able to create that empathy and understanding. Finally, executive sponsorship is key. Unless the executive, too, believes there is merit in doing things in a customer-centric way, [the efforts] are not going to succeed.

LUKE MCCORMACK, PEGASYSTEMS: Doina, [AXA] has agents and brokers taking products to customers, adding another layer in customer relationship. When you think about customers and creating that common ‘customer empathy’ how do you deal with channels and a disintermediated sales force?

DOINA PALICI-CHEHAB, AXA: I agree with what has been said, starting with migrants and natives, and up to the simplification of products. We have to become more digital in a comprehensive way so that intermediation is just one piece in the value chain. For our digital journey, we have agents who pilot any digital solution that we have implemented. Previously, it used to be a mixed solution. Our regional marketing group and some other colleagues have completed an enquiry to assess what customers ultimately want and what is ‘need-based’ in terms of insurance.

The journey to bring the intermediaries on board is a very long one because they are small enterprises.

They do not have a CIO or a COO. Some of them do not even have iPads or computers. I hope there will be some [digital] natives among them, born with an iPad or an iPhone so that in 10 years’ time, it is the intermediaries who oblige us to become more digital.

That evolution will come. It is more difficult when you try to push digitisation in your value chain. When you have intermediated products, you need to convince not just the people in your company and all departments, but also the ones who create products.

I speak every other day about simplifying our product. That sometimes elicits a negative reaction from some of my younger colleagues because they think clients want complicated products. It is about how you manage simplification because it is not as simple as it looks. You need to have [intermediaries] on board. You need to convince them that it is a win-win situation.

The ones who have piloted with us can do so in our new system. You need to embark with them on the journey, convincing them there is something there for them, too.

“Insurance companies have different rhythms of engagement compared to daily interactions with a bank.”

LUKE MCCORMACK, PEGASYSTEMS

LUKE MCCORMACK, PEGASYSTEMS: Insurance companies have different rhythms of engagement compared to daily interactions with a bank. Veronique, how do you engage with your customers if the oncea-year renewal is the only time that you have the opportunity to engage with them?

VERONIQUE MEFFERT, GREAT EASTERN LIFE: We are facing similar challenges. As a brand relying on a vast salesforce, we have even less information about the customer than banks. We have very little data about customers’ social demographics, needs and wants.

This data is often kept at the agent level, and until very recently, was not shared with us.

As a brand, we have done two things: Firstly, invested in the system and tools that are required to do adequate data collection and entice agents to share W HO ’ S W HO O F FS I

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dollars per customer, sooner or later you will need to justify that with a positive business case.

Nevertheless, we have no alternative. Five to 10 years ago, we were logging onto a portal. Now, when you log onto Facebook or Twitter, you have a completely different experience. It is about relevance; Facebook gives you the impression it knows you. It tells you things that are customised and that is the experience that we should aim to achieve in our industry of retail banking and wealth management. Personalisation makes the customer experience unique. That is where we are currently focusing most of our efforts. We look towards how we can bring advice much better across to the customer.

LUKE MCCORMACK, PEGASYSTEMS: David, at DBS, many clients I worked with demonstrated a spectrum of reactions towards social media. How do you leverage social channels to have a more intimate interaction with customers?

“Changing these habits is very challenging. That is a long process and we have opted for piloting with smaller agency groups and build on proven success to drive adoption.”

– VERONIQUE MEFFERT, GREAT EASTERN LIFE

more information with us. Secondly, we are engaging as a brand much more directly with consumers. Many people do not even think they need life or health insurance. Car insurance is different – you buy a car, you need insurance. Many people start very late with health and life insurance considering how important it is. That is why Great Eastern Life, as part of our rebranding two years ago, started engaging people around health and wellness to help them live better and have a different type of conversation. That helped create a loyalty system and program that allowed us to gather personal data differently. We are trying to change the conversation to a positive one and become an enabler of a good life rather than just being there when everything breaks.

That is not easy. The agents, particularly the ones who are not born with the iPad, are used to interacting with clients a certain way, and selling in a certain way. Changing these habits is very challenging. That is a long process and we have opted for piloting with smaller agency groups and build on proven success to drive adoption.

LUKE MCCORMACK, PEGASYSTEMS: Marcel, how would you describe wealth management’s engagement with customers?

MARCEL FUERST, UBS AG: The wealth management space is a bit more difficult to approach than the consumer and retail banking mainly because of the lack of scale. We have far fewer clients than the retail business. The investments are going to end up being costly, especially if you break it down to number of clients. If you invest a thousand or a few thousand

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DAVID BACKLEY, DBS BANK: We have a Social Media Customer Centre (SMCC) at DBS, which actively monitors, in real-time, what is being said about us and banking in Singapore. We view the conversations from a number of perspectives and act accordingly. One key objective is to help resolve the customer’s issue. We are focused on ensuring that these interactions, even if they are only a few words, add value to our customers. Our Social Media Relations Managers are empowered to engage with customers directly to assist them and improve their banking experience. We have spent a lot of time refining the engagement process. We set up the SMCC in 2012 and it has come a long way, but what makes it great is that it is predominantly people-driven.

Another area for us is leveraging cognitive computing in the long-term to be more effective in answering customers’ questions and needs.

LUKE MCCORMACK, PEGASYSTEMS: It seems like there are a lot of internal barriers. There are a lot of people who are struggling with opening up this idea and what we can collaboratively do about this. How is your organisation dealing with breaking through some of those silos?

DAVID BACKLEY, DBS BANK: I have been at DBS for five years along with the management team. The executive message has remained consistent and we have achieved a lot. It has always been about customer centricity and creating simple and intuitive banking products and services. It is a continuous journey but it has been on target.

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LUKE MCCORMACK, PEGASYSTEMS: Matthias, how do you balance channel conflict in your work with customer engagement and dealing with other distribution channels, brokers and third parties?

MATTHIAS DE FERRIERES, AXA: The channel conflict and how to deal with is a recurrent discussion we have all the time internally. The day insurers provide appropriate solutions to the right intermediaries, this debate will slow down. What are appropriate solutions: distribution segmentation at product, price and commission level, personalised design that suit the distributor customer profile and its brand maturity.

Even better, I truly believe that business through multi-channels is the future compared to a strategy that would suggest going direct. Engaging affinity via affiliation or lead generation schemes are new ways that we should be looking at very closely and be prepared to deploy.

Going back to regulation versus innovation, I believe that we find easy excuses to say that the regulator cannot or does not allow us to do something. In fact we don’t really know how to innovate. The ‘how’ is still difficult because of the size of insurance companies and the heavy internal compliance and governance that drives our strategy. All of these do not help us move the big ship and innovate.

One solution is to innovate from “without”, meaning setting up an organisation outside the main one. A good example is ‘Groupama’, a French insurer. They created independent legal companies that work very closely with the main group yet operate outside all the internal IT, compliance, audit, risk and marketing. It took the best of Groupama yet remained light and agile to deploy quickly the digital strategy. They were in startup mode; a trial-and-error approach. And it worked. To make it short we need to invest a little and see how it works, we need to dare rather than deploy massive programs.

DOINA PALICI-CHEHAB, AXA: If we start to invest a lot of money, we might waste that money at first. Secondly, the time to deliver that solution might already be outdated. The opportunities should be extremely light in investment, help us with trial-and-error and move us forward with the way we innovate.

LUKE MCCORMACK, PEGASYSTEMS: How important is the concept of ‘fail-fast’ where you want to try and test the theory, and if it fails, you want to know quickly?

BIREN KUNDALIA, AIG: You want to be able to try out new initiatives and that is where innovation comes into play. We make sure that we have the ability to invest

in certain ideas and allocate time and resources to potentially failing. At AIG, we have a group of people focused on looking at these [risk] areas. We understand there is a risk of failure. In the event certain things do not go well, you may have to cancel projects, including those in the digital space. For example, customers want to simplify their lives. Until we find innovative ways to improve on the [customer expectations] gap and achieve that state with the customer base, we may fail and have to try again. More workshops, workgroups or customer-focused groups can help us better understand where we need to take our digital landscape.

“You want to be able to try out new initiatives and that is where innovation comes into play. We make sure that we have the ability to invest in certain ideas and allocate time and resources to potentially failing.”

– BIREN KUNDALIA, AIG

LUKE MCCORMACK, PEGASYSTEMS: [There is often] tension between global or regional solutions with something that has been deployed across a broader expanse. We have heard a couple of different approaches and the general consensus is that we arrive somewhere in the middle. Brian, what are your thoughts coming from an organisation that has a very broad footprint?

BRIAN REINHART, STANDARD CHARTERED: That is something we have struggled with. Historically, we have been a very country-focused organisation and we are in the midst of a transformation to a far more central focus. We all like to be different, but in retail banking, we are alike. The impediment to investment is often that we try to solve for the few rather than many. In retail, in particular, you need to solve for the common denominator. When you talk about standardising and taking a common approach, the core infrastructure is fundamentally the same across WHO ’ S W HO O F FS I

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BIREN KUNDALIA, AIG: For me, it is the simplification of the customer experience. You do not want payment processing and transactions to be complex. The use of newer technologies such as biometrics, for example, could definitely help with authentication. Apple’s entry into the whole payment market will be an interesting area to follow.

CYNTHIA LIAW, MAYBANK: There are some things that we must do such as streamlining processes and providing instant transfers and approvals. Of course, there are also a lot of nice-to-have things that we are watching because digitisation is an expensive affair.

You have to be right the first time. We are watching all the leaders and learning what they are doing and looking at their successful and commercially-viable projects and initiatives.

“... there are also a lot of nice-to-have things that we are watching because digitisation is an expensive affair. You have to be right the first time.”

different segments of people. Whether they are upperhigh income or middle class, their wants and needs are more alike than not and it is increasingly becoming homogenous. The challenge is to not overlook the idiosyncrasies of an individual market.

– CYNTHIA LIAW, MAYBANK

DAVID BACKLEY, DBS BANK: It is very similar to the discussion about how in-country payment systems are different. Some regulations and languages are different but a savings account is a savings account, interest rates are interest rates unless it is Islamic banking. It is key to look at what the regulations are in your local markets. In Singapore, the ‘two-factor’ authentication is required for internet banking, which helps to provide a more secure online banking environment. We have to get the balance between security and customer convenience right.

LUKE MCCORMACK, PEGASYSTEMS: In the next 12 months, what will be your top two or three digital imperatives?

DOINA PALICI-CHEHAB, AXA: That is a question

that keeps me up at night: “How do I manage this business without becoming a dinosaur? How do I manage it well with all the constraints and differences in the local market? How quickly can I know my customer? How quickly can I define the ‘moments-of-truth’ or have control of [customer] interactions?” Today we interact with clients but without control. Once we know what our clients want, how do we move quicker towards a simple solution which will help us to be ahead of the big mass of dinosaurs?

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CHERDCHAI VIRABHAK, AIG: What keeps me up at night is [disintermediation] and the likes of Google and other aggregators coming up on the curve index – that is a challenge for financial institutions. The other challenge is making the business case work for something that is turnkey/innovative in the digital domain. Because all of us are in the financial industry, we tend to be led by a traditional cost-benefit analysis model. I think the question then for our financial institutions is a philosophical one: “How do we ensure we stay ahead of the game?”

PRANAV SETH, OCBC BANK: If we continue to make investments in the traditional manner and in the traditional cycles of investments, I will seriously think of rebranding my department from ‘business transformation’ to ‘business-as-usual’. We are all struggling with traditional cycles of investment and the heavy cost of going fully digital. We cannot achieve the full results of our digital ambitions if we continue to operate that way. The traditional structures and the way the analysts value us will hamper us from realising our aspirations. There is a need to look at alternate approaches to tackle this – whether it is setting up a different entity within the longer term payback horizon or leveraging ecosystem partners.

MATTHIAS DE FERRIERES, AXA: There are many opportunities for us to change our mindset and focus on ROI. We believe digital is expensive. There have been solutions that are not that expensive. We should test it. The opportunity that digital gives us is in creating emotions and designing using common sense. When it comes to the customer journey, the best apps are made based on ‘feelings’ for a true purchasing customer

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experience. What a customer wants is a price. They do not want to provide all their details and personal information. We should focus on apps and design that provide what the customer wants. If it works, then you move to the next step – this is where you will achieve your ROI.

VINCENT CALDEIRA, BANK OF SINGAPORE: In today’s era of banking, we face challenges that prevent us from looking into innovative solutions. Often we are not given the opportunity to do that. When was the last time that one of your companies or the IT departments had an opportunity to spend some seed money testing a technology or funding a research and development (R&D) initiative? Today it is not possible to have dedicated individuals, time and money to fund R&D Labs so most of the time if we want to have good solutions, we have to look into it in our own time ahead of initiatives and explore what other industries are doing. Or talk to companies like a startup which have good ideas and who understand what technology they propose to be applied in our environment.

MARCEL FUERST, UBS AG: At UBS Wealth Management, for investments in digital technology that have been made in the last two years, half of the change budgets have been successful because it was mandated and sponsored by top management.

Innovation grown from the bottom would not have had the same level of success. However, we have hit a wall and that is where we are coming back to the roots. We came to a point where all digital innovation, despite being agile, is being omitted by the core banking infrastructure that we have. If we want to go to the next level, we need to reshape, rethink and renew the core banking platform.

DAVID BACKLEY, DBS BANK: The one thing that concerns me is the increasing rate of change with customer expectations and the lack of management bandwidth. Finding talent with the right aptitude, knowledge, skills and experience is becoming harder.

A lot of focus is being placed on building a sustainable pipeline of talent, providing them with guidance and support to ensure that people do not burn out as the pressure intensifies.

BRIAN REINHART, STANDARD CHARTERED: To me, the concern is that we are adopting technologies and introducing products where we do not have [user] experience. We do not know all the risks associated with those new products and technologies. We have had decades to figure out all the risks associated with a

checking account. We have had a very short life to figure out the risks associated with the digital wallet. And yet, if you do not chase after these new ideas hard and fast, you are left behind. How do you avoid becoming the dinosaur and being left behind versus staying with the technology and understanding the risks that it proposes? I stay awake worrying about what I do not know yet.

“If we want to have good solutions, we have to look into it in our own time ahead of initiatives and explore what other industries are doing.”

– VINCENT CALDEIRA, BANK OF SINGAPORE

MARGARET CHIME, GREAT EASTERN LIFE: My concern is that the entire digital journey is not an individual or a departmental effort, it is an organisational effort. It is the point where everyone has to agree on moving the organisation ahead on the digital front. It is alright to have differing opinions, but the vision has to be the same.

ISAY LIFSHITZ, UBS AG: What keeps me awake at night is data security and confidentiality. We see more and more issues in the news about data theft or loss issues.

While we work on the IT solutions, we also need to review process and people weaknesses.

VERONIQUE MEFFERT, GREAT EASTERN LIFE: It is also about the slow pace of change. To me that is rooted in lack of understanding of the digital opportunities, or even more so in the lack of understanding of the risks of not going along with innovation. It goes through the entire organisation, from the very top to people who are on the frontline, inclusive of external partners and the intermediaries. To me, there is a need for more investment – not just in technology but also in the right people to push that technology forward together with strategy to grasp the opportunity that technology brings along.

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Who’s Who ASIA PACIFIC’S MOST PROMINENT TECHNOLOGY CHIEFS SHED LIGHT ON THE KEY TRENDS DOMINATING FINANCIAL SERVICES TODAY, AND WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR IN THE YEAR AHEAD. EDITED BY DANIEL PAPERNY AND PATRICK BUNCSI

QA &

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DAV I D W H I T E ING // W H O’ S W H O Q& A

David Whiteing AUSTRALIA

GROUP EXECUTIVE, ENTERPRISE SERVICES AND CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA FST MEDIA: What are your key IT priorities and goals for the next 12 to 18 months?

WHITEING: The key to what we are trying to achieve at Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is in looking at how we can make greater use of platforms to simplify and standardise what we do, using more open source and digitising our processes.

Platform-based thinking gives us the foundation to adapt quickly and provide richer customer experiences, through a simpler approach that is multi-use and multi-featured.

An important element of this strategy is the simplification and standardisation of, not just our systems, but also our processes.

Everything we do on top of those platforms must be simplified and standardised and we are relentless about reducing duplicate functions and ensuring that we digitise processes where possible. We are working hard to identify and remove duplication from other parts of the business to help us ensure consistency across all channels.

Consider how you interact with your bank today. More often we are seeing our customers choose to log in to our banking services using mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. We want to make more products and services available via the channels that our customers prefer for their interaction with us. Whether it is looking at a product online, beginning an W HO ’ S W HO O F FS I

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order in NetBank, or coming into a branch, our systems should be smart enough to recognise our customer and complete the order without duplication or manual processing.

This is a driver for our business and it is why, in my role as CIO, I am ensuring that, at CBA, we move to having simple and standard systems with as much digitisation in our processes as possible.

Another area we are looking closely at is opening up parts of our systems to external developers. We want to create a culture of openness for our systems. This allows other organisations to develop services and features which may be relevant to our customers and their customers. We are looking to develop as many of our products as possible, in ways that can be enhanced and customised.

A great example of this in practice, is the recent release of our new eftpos tablet for businesses, Albert, for which other organisations are able to develop apps via our Pi Business network.

Similarly ASB, our New Zealand operations, has made its Application Programming Interface (API) available to developers who can use the bank’s real-time data, such as foreign exchange rates, interest rates, as well as ASB branch and ATM location information, to develop apps.

The key to achieving all this is having the right people working on the right things. We are very focused on attracting, developing and retaining talented individuals, particularly those who have a problemsolving instinct – those who can look at an issue which is clouded by ambiguity and yet still move forward. These types of people allow an organisation to stay one step ahead.

FST MEDIA: How significant is CBA’s standardisation strategy to improving internal operations as well as delivering personalised solutions for your customers?

WHITEING: Our standardisation strategy is so important to the fundamental everyday interactions of our staff – we want these people to be focused on solving the problems that we are going to encounter in the future, rather than being ground down by the day-today activities which should be automated.

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If organisations are not failing, then they are probably not being innovative enough.

Across all of our technology and operations, we are committed to ensuring all our people are skilled in five core areas.

These will enable us to deliver the best technology for our customers. They are: working in an agile way; understanding the important role of analytics; making use of experimentation and ‘design thinking’; and finally, taking a lean productivity approach to everything we do. These core capabilities, coupled with an amazing culture, driven by the best people, sets our technology and operations people apart in the industry.

People want to join CBA technology teams, not just because of the projects we work on, but also because it is a great working environment to be a part of.

FST MEDIA: What have been the results of CBA’s core banking modernisation and how will you measure its success?

WHITEING: CBA’s digital transformation is a crucial aspect of our approach towards new technologies and fostering a culture of innovation. Now that we have completed our core banking modernisation, we have really set our organisation up to be agile: equipped to move quickly. Innovation does not come about by sitting on your hands – we want to be able to conceive and develop ideas rapidly, and get products to market as quickly as possible. We now have the core technology behind us to make these changes and developments, and not be hamstrung by legacy technology.

Important to fostering this approach is creating a culture where failure is not just acceptable, but rather embraced. This is a big change for large corporations, but to

me if organisations are not failing, then they are probably not being innovative enough. This culture allows us to move much faster and results in innovative products, like our cardless cash and our recent smartwatch app.

FST MEDIA: How do you plan to leverage insights from CBA’s Innovation Lab in the next 12 to 18 months?

WHITEING: I firmly believe that innovation cannot be achieved without embracing failure, encouraging new ideas and pushing the boundaries of what a bank can do.

This goes to the heart of why we built our new Innovation Lab at the centre of our operations in Sydney’s CBD. This is a space where our people, customers, technology partners and businesses can come together to collaborate. They work on ideas that can better help people, businesses and communities. The real value we expect from the Innovation Lab is twofold: in being able to explore new ideas and make quicker decisions about which ones will work best for our customers, and being able to scale those ideas across CBA so that all customers and employees can take advantage of the innovation. That is why the Lab is located as close to our people as possible and close to our customers.

These days anybody can be a digital disruptor; all you need is a great idea for an application. You do not need to be able to code, you can have coders build you the app, and then you can host it online quite cheaply. This low-cost, mass-market approach challenges large incumbent organisations to be more nimble.

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy they wish to be remembered for, what is yours?

WHITEING: At CBA, we are constantly looking at ways to reinvent ourselves. If an institution wants to out-disrupt the disruptor, it needs to ensure that it has the right elements: great people, an amazing culture that fosters bright ideas and collaboration, and simplified and standardised technology platforms. This is the legacy I would like to be remembered for and this is what we are doing at CBA.

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W H O’ S W H O Q& A // R E N E E R O B E R T S

Renee Roberts AUSTRALIA

GROUP EXECUTIVE, ENTERPRISE SERVICES & TRANSFORMATION, NAB

FST MEDIA: What is next for NAB Connect and how has the upgrade delivered value to NAB customers?

ROBERTS: The upgrade to ‘NAB Connect’ is delivering an even better experience to a record number of customers who logged in more than 15 million times last year. Our customers have made it clear to us that they love being able to view their transaction details and payment history, book FX deals on the spot or in advance, and our new BPAY features. ‘NAB Connect’ now alerts customers when a payment has been modified before authorisation, which is another example of how we always look at new ways to enhance security and tackle fraud.

FST MEDIA: How will NAB View equip staff to enhance the customer experience?

FST MEDIA: What will be the next big thing

ROBERTS: ‘NAB View’ is giving our bankers richer insights into our customers’ needs, so that we can deliver a more personalised service.

This new technology has given us further insight into our 12 million customers and 150 million relationships. Our bankers can see all of the customer’s information in one place, so that they can have the right conversation, with the right customer, at the right time.

in retail banking?

ROBERTS: Omni-channel experience is a defining trend. We will continue to see more banking services integrated, so that customers can track their relationship with their bank. After all, banking is about choice, and our products and services need to be where our customers are.

FST MEDIA: How significant are

FST MEDIA: How do you see cloud adoption shaping up in financial services in five years?

ROBERTS: Combining private and public clouds allows companies to better meet customer demands in online services. As more of our NAB services migrate to the cloud, we will be able to suggest offers to our customers even more quickly, with flawless delivery.

mobile platforms to NAB’s NextGen transformation program?

FST MEDIA: How do you encourage a culture of innovation in your team?

ROBERTS: More than 60 per cent of NAB customers access their online banking via a mobile or a tablet device. That is why we are focused on delivering easy-to-use and more accessible mobile apps for our customers. We have also integrated our payments app, ‘NAB Flik’, into Mobile Internet Banking, making it easier for our customers to send and receive money securely.

ROBERTS: Our entire organisation is driven by innovation. We are constantly innovating: whether we are developing adjacent and transformational customer service offerings, using customer-centric design and rapid prototyping approaches, or solving core banking improvement opportunities. We have developed an ‘Innovation Academy’, leveraging some of the best global thinkers and methodologies in the innovation space

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and offer open access to all employees. We saw a great example of innovation at NAB last December when we held a ‘Hackathon’ event, which invited innovators to help generate novel customer experience ideas by using a new piece of technology called ‘NAB API’. There is exceptional innovative potential in our own workforce, and we wanted to see what creative ideas the teams could come up with to exploit the API layer for new products and services.

FST MEDIA: What methods appeal to you to increase the number of women in IT? ROBERTS: NAB has made great inroads in diversity. There are more women at a senior executive level at NAB and our very successful ‘Women in Technology’ program is celebrating its first birthday this month. The Women in Technology group, of which I am proud to be a member, now has more than 500 members, and has even bigger and better plans this year for continuing to support and advise our business in tackling the declining number of women choosing a career in IT. FST MEDIA: With respect to career development, what is the best advice you have received?

ROBERTS: There are a few pieces of advice I have received which have stayed with me: “never stop learning and developing”, “ask questions when you do not know the answer”, “you are never finished” and the recognition that you are good enough.

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy they wish to be remembered for, what is yours?

ROBERTS: Legacy is about the things you leave behind when you are not there anymore. While it is always great to look back on the things you have achieved, my legacy will ultimately be built by the people I have come into contact with. This is about inspiring, teaching, coaching, mentoring and creating the right environment for people to work together; for people to believe in each other and themselves, to focus on what is right and important, and to enable them to make bold decisions.

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Why corporate data breaches are ‘inevitable’ and how to protect yourself grows, and the inevitability of breach becomes apparent, is it incumbent on IT departments and users to assume a greater degree of responsibility in the protection of corporate data? A joint attitudinal survey conducted by Thales and the Ponemon Institute in 2013 found that a majority of business users continue to transfer sensitive or confidential data into the cloud. What’s more, these same users also claim the cloud provider should retain primary responsibility for protecting this data.

An elegant solution to secure your corporate data

With the progressive digitisation of business activity, experts no longer consider the possibility of if a breach will occur, but when.

The progressive digitisation of business activity has generated treasure troves of high value corporate data – an immensely appealing prospect for digital criminals. However, while corporate data breaches may be unavoidable, data losses do not have to be.

Malicious intruders account for more than half of all breaches (55 per cent), according to a 2014 survey by digital security firm Gemalto, with human error representing a further 25 per cent of breach incidents. The financial losses from a single breach event can be staggering. A recent Ponemon Institute survey found the average cost of data breach for Australian businesses is AU$2.8 million, or roughly AU$145 per record stolen – an unacceptable toll for any business.

While most organisations have sought costly strategies to resist the persistent hacking threat (from web filtering to strict application controls) these methods have so far proved ineffectual against a highly adaptable and well-provisioned criminal threat. Industry experts agree: those with intent will ultimately break through and get exactly what they want.

Why cloud storage is a real threat More than 500 million people worldwide use public cloud services such as Dropbox, Microsoft’s OneDrive and Google Drive to share, exchange and back-up files. While the openness and flexibility of public cloud storage services has delivered a boon for workforce productivity, it is this very accessibility that is undermining existing IT policies to secure sensitive data. Unfortunately, many of these cloud services operate without the approval of their IT departments.

Following a series of high profile cloud security breaches, a growing body of security experts have questioned the capacity of public Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) cloud providers to effectively safeguard corporate data. As our awareness of the hacker threat

Despite the ‘inevitability’ of breach, securing sensitive data from unsolicited access, loss, or criminal tampering should be achievable, without hindering business-critical processes.

Many organisations take a restrictive approach to cloud-based file sharing services, establishing crude web-filters that block online cloud access, or preventing the execution of cloud SaaS downloads. However, this heavy-handed approach to data protection will only stifle productivity, frustrate users and ultimately provide no protection against hackers.

Appreciating the irresistible force of today’s pervasive cybercriminal threat, businesses need a new approach to data security: an approach that should not depend on obstructive blocks of public cloud services and a continuing reliance on traditional perimeter protection models easily sidestepped by hackers. With more data existing off-premise, the concept of protecting a defined organisational perimeter has little relevance today.

Businesses must redefine the ‘perimeter of trust’ in order to have effective data protection in the cloud but must also understand that once data is moved out of this expanded perimeter, it will become vulnerable to attack and loss. This reveals one of the fundamental flaws in data security provisions across the entire storage environment (whether on-site or in the cloud): the presence of unsecured and unencrypted data.

One of the most effective means to secure data of this type comes through persistent encryption solutions, or ‘data protection by default’. Persistent encryption protects data while at rest, in transit, in the cloud or moving around the internal network.

Cybercriminals may still get access to encrypted data, but not the necessary keys required to decrypt it. Data becomes useless and of no value to the hacker’s customers.

To learn more about security made simple, visit www.sophos.com

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W H O’ S W H O Q& A // PAU L C OB B A N

At DBS, we have invested in IBM’s Watson – a cognitive computing solution that does the ‘heavy-lifting’ for the RMs. Watson understands natural language questions and can respond by analysing the thousands of unstructured research papers available, as well as the relevant customer data, and can provide impartial recommendations, with rationales, for the RM to assess with the customer. Although it is still early in this journey, we see huge potential in this approach.

FST MEDIA: What are your key priorities for DBS in the next 12 to 18 months?

COBBAN: For some time now at DBS we have recognised that change is upon us. The digital revolution is shaking the foundations of banking. We need to fundamentally shift how we think about banking. We need to create new business models and ecosystems, deliver effortless customer experiences that address life (not just banking) and utilise new approaches and methods. We are working on two tracks concurrently. The first is investing in a new kind of digital banking in our key markets, and the second is developing our people so they can embrace the new digital world.

Paul Cobban SINGAPORE

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, TECHNOLOGY AND OPERATIONS, DBS BANK

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FST MEDIA: How is the digital revolution changing banking and how is DBS competing?

COBBAN: In Asia, as more and more of the population is enjoying becoming wealthier, the challenges for banks to provide scalable services escalate. Our customers still prefer to have a dedicated Relationship Manager (RM) for financial advice.

However, in order to give good advice, RMs need to read and understand thousands of articles and research papers, as well as have intimate knowledge of their evergrowing portfolio of customers. It is also a challenge to hire, train and retain good RMs. In addition, customers today have direct access to information and are becoming more conscious about the impartiality of the advice RMs provide.

FST MEDIA: What technology or innovation is the ‘holy grail’ that is yet to be delivered in financial services?

COBBAN: Many financial products and services are still developed with the bank, and not the customer, in mind. No-one wakes up in the morning and says: “What a great day to make a payment or take out a loan.” Yet this is how most banks think. We need to create solutions and experiences which solve the underlying functional and emotional needs of our customers.

FST MEDIA: How should banks respond to the threat of digital disruptors like Alibaba and Google and their use of big data?

COBBAN: Banks have much to learn from the digital disruptors – how they can scale, how they use experiments to test out new ideas, how they leverage data, how they

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Data Breaches? “It’s Elementary, Watson!”

What could Sherlock Holmes tell us about data The reason is that ROI on security expenditure breaches? He would strongly suggest that user is difficult to measure. On the other hand, the data authentication must be more foolproof. Forensic presented makes it clear that users who feel online specialists are often called upon after a major data services are secure are more likely to use those breach to publish analysis of the breaches they services. This provides a clear market advantage. investigate. One major firm reported that 46 per cent Additional protection from a data breach lowers of compromised systems have no malware on them the overall risk of conducting business online. but, in fact, 100 per cent of the data breaches they Providing services to partners via portals, the use of investigate result from stolen login credentials. electronic invoicing and payments, or using online This suggests that nearly half of the major data collaboration, are all strategies to lower the cost breaches they investigate are not the result of flawed of operations. A strong authentication policy can network or database security, but instead the result of broaden the safe use of these business-efficiency flawed user authentication. This begs the obvious tools and lower overall operating costs and risks.

Robert P. Soden, question, “How much attention is being paid to Regional strengthening user authentication?” and also, “How much Managing Director About Authentify attention is being devoted to making it more foolproof?”

(Asia Pacific), Authentify continues the peaceful revolution in If stolen user credentials are the root cause of data Authentify Ltd the user authentication space. Authentify’s mobile breaches in 100 per cent of the cases, then clearly, multi-factor authentication platform, Authentify xFA™, how end users are authenticated is not foolproof. How is this enables any organisation to rapidly and economically deploy possible? If we asked the esteemed detective Mr Sherlock powerful user authentication technologies including: digital Holmes, he might reply as he did to Watson in The Crooked Man, certificates; voice biometrics; fingerprints; tokenless one touch “I have the advantage of knowing your habits, my dear Watson.” login; QR code scans; KBA challenges via encrypted message; gesture and pattern finger swipes; geolocation; voice telephony; or SMS text messages.

Security and convenience are reaching a Authentify’s global services can reach any user, with any type “tipping point” of phone or smart device. In mobile and Bring Your Own Device User authentication techniques and stringent security measures (BYOD) environments, all supported authentication factors, or have always had an inverse relationship with user convenience: “Authentifiers,” can be invoked by an enterprise’s own mobile app, the stronger the security, the more inconvenient it is for the user. via an SDK that supports JAVA© (for Android), Objective-C® However, today the evidence is clear. The need to be certain (for iOS), SWIFT (for iOS), or JAVAScript™ (for PhoneGap™). about who is using an online account has never been greater.

Recognising the importance of applying these technologies more Increased security has gained acceptance, and perhaps even readily, and in innovative ways, is an integral part of protecting data preference, with network and online users. Better news still, the stores and ending the parade of breach disclosures. power of the smartphone has enabled the development of apps which deliver powerful authentication techniques, with very For more information visit www.authentify.com engaging and intuitive user-interfaces.

Strong user authentication and visible security offer a competitive advantage Cybercriminals plundering databases and stealing personal identifiable information (PII), around the globe, understand human nature. They know that an average end user will open a phishing email with an enticing subject line. They know that they can socially engineer someone at the help desk to elevate their privileges for an account, without administrative privilege, to solve an “emergency” issue. These human frailties point to the need for user authentication and post-login activity verification, using technologies that are resilient enough to keep the criminals from succeeding, even when they possess compromised credentials.

Superficially it appears to be obvious, but then why is it that strong multi-factor authentication is not required everywhere?

Authentify, Inc. 8745 W. Higgins Rd. Suite 240 Chicago, Illinois 60631 USA

Authentify, Inc. Authentify Ltd. 12/F, Capitol Centre, Tower II 28 Jardine’s Crescent Causeway Bay Hong Kong Voice: +852-9304-6699 Robert.soden@authentify.com

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recruit and manage people and how they innovate around business models. We need to quickly learn these skills. However, in a heavily-regulated industry, such as banking, there are things banks can do that others cannot. We need to play to these strengths to create differentiation.

FST MEDIA: How will DBS’ SMS queue service deliver value to the business?

COBBAN: We have made significant progress in re-engineering our processes to drastically reduce the waiting time for customers across all our services. Although we have eliminated more than 240 million hours of customer wait-time through these efforts, we still have room for improvement around our ATMs and branches, where we recognise that during peak hours the waiting times can be longer than desired.

We have therefore implemented an SMS queuing system that allows our customers to make use of their time more effectively.

The feedback has been very positive. In addition, we have partnered with A*STAR (Singapore’s Agency for Science Technology and Research) to better under the science behind our queues.

We have detailed models that can accurately predict queue lengths and we can test out new ideas to reduce them further. This work has uncovered some very interesting and unexpected insights.

The SMS queuing system has been a rich source of data in making these findings possible.

FST MEDIA: How are mobile platforms and digital technologies transforming banking to drive greater efficiency?

COBBAN: Historically, as we introduced new channels such as internet, mobile, chat and social, we have seen that new demand is created, rather than simply transferred from one channel to another. This increase has offset improvements to productivity made through automation and Straight Through Processing (STP), so we are now taking a new approach. We again have learned, from the digital disruptors, how to provide services to millions of customers

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COBBAN: That really depends on the

We have detailed models that can accurately predict queue lengths and we can test out new ideas to reduce them further. This work has uncovered some very interesting and unexpected insights.

with a very limited workforce. The secret is in the way the products and services are designed. They design for ‘no operations’, whereas banks have historically relied on their ever-increasing back-office staff to deal with exceptions, manual work-arounds and service issues.

FST MEDIA: How can banks harness the power of social media to enhance the customer experience?

COBBAN: Although everyone has been talking about social, it is still not clear how companies should best leverage social. At DBS, we monitor the social worlds to look out for disgruntled customers and take the opportunity to ‘jump in’ to resolve issues quickly. As more consumers rely on peers or their social networks to help them make decisions, it is also important for us to become part of their social networks.

We launched a series of ‘Line’ stickers, featuring our mascots, in Taiwan, and within three hours, there were more than two million downloads. We have also launched a successful social community called ‘DBS BusinessClass’ for our SME communities, where we connect small business owners to experts, investors and fellow entrepreneurs.

FST MEDIA: What is proving to be your most effective customer acquisition channel and why?

business, the market and the customer segment. As we execute our ambitious digital agenda, we realise that we need to create seamless digital customer journeys – something we are working very hard on.

FST MEDIA: What is the most overstated technology today?

COBBAN: It is difficult to overstate the importance of the big topics that are being discussed today. Social, big data, mobile, the Internet of Things, wearables, cloud and digital currencies are all going to have a massive impact on how we live.

Right now it is easier to see connections to banking for some of the technologies than others, but ultimately all will be relevant.

FST MEDIA: What are your thoughts on the evolving nature of the CIO role in banking and to what extent has technology shaped their career trajectory?

COBBAN: The digital era has propelled the CIO right into the driving seat. CEOs are looking to their IT teams for thought leadership. CIOs now have a seat at the table, and not just to explain costs, delayed projects and production problems.

As business leaders struggle to grapple with digital concepts, it is the CIOs who are best equipped to understand the dynamics. The CEOs of the future are likely to be the CIOs (or at least the good ones) of the past.

FST MEDIA: How do you define success?

COBBAN: Success is when our customers enjoy engaging with us.

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy they wish to be remembered for, what is yours?

COBBAN: I would very much like to be remembered as being part of the team that not only successfully navigated the transition to digital banking, but also defined the category.

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Big Data – Operational Reality is Now Has big data finally become a reality?

uses Splunk software to mine large quantities of data generated from across its entire technology stack.

New technologies take time to find the right user case ING Bank uses Splunk to gain customer insight and to demonstrate value before gaining general on their ING BankOnline service through real-time adoption. Gartner thinks big data is in the ‘trough of monitoring of their online and mobile journey. disillusionment’ a term to show that most organisations are struggling to find real value. Splunk is focused on delivering operational intelligence to our customers What challenges do enterprises from their machine data to make machine data encounter while processing unstructured accessible, usable, and valuable to everyone. machine data?

Splunk users have been able to gain value from A typical challenge with big data projects is machine-generated big data in a limited timeframe. answering the question: “What do you want to find?”

They are using Splunk software to find answers that and pinpointing the business value in finding the have immediate impact to their business operations answer. Splunk helps customers to overcome this Emilio Umeoka, across multiple teams, departments and user cases, challenge, enabling them to ask multiple questions in APAC VP, Splunk hence the term ‘operational intelligence’. a short time period and getting results immediately.

Splunk solutions make it easy to explore different ‘what if’ Splunk’s machine data platform indexes data once but allows scenarios quickly because anyone can use it (not just multi-faceted search, allowing users to leverage their data sets in data scientists), and generate results quickly. Most often, many ways including IT troubleshooting and monitoring, security unexpected value is discovered because the data is made threat analysis and customer behaviour analytics. easily accessible once it is indexed in Splunk software.

How will machine data become the next game changer?

Machine data is a data type and is the fastest growing segment of big data. Whether it is the data from the Internet of Things (IoT), logs from IT infrastructure, network data, mobile data, web data, application data or industrial manufacturing data, machine data is difficult for people to read and understand but it contains insights that can transform an organisation.

If you can mine the machine data and enrich or correlate it to other structured data sets such as customer records or orders, it can become a game changer. By making it easy to index, search, and visualise machine data to deliver operational insights, Splunk has made machine data valuable to many organisations.

With more than 9,000 customers across a diverse set of industries (including financial services) and a broad spectrum of user cases, customers are using Splunk to make better business decisions.

What is the greatest business benefit of machine data?

Machine data is generated every second of every day; it is data in motion. A company that can access and use machine data in their business operations can react to ever-changing business requirements, enabling faster business agility.

Unlike many big data initiatives, which take months, have high rates of failure and require data scientists with scarce skills, Splunk empowers organisations to quickly and easily unlock actionable insights from raw big data. Salesforce.com

How does Splunk help financial services organisations derive benefits from machine data?

Some of the common users cases for Splunk are applicable across any industry, including financial services. User cases such as IT operations, applications delivery, security, fraud and compliance, Internet of Things and business analytics are all relevant to financial services customers.

Some of the unique financial services user cases in Asia Pacific include: n Real-time monitoring of ATM networks, infrastructure health, transactional analytics, fraudulent activities and customer behaviour; n Real-time internet banking monitoring and analytics; n Real-time Investigation in credit card system transactions; and n Security and compliance monitoring and reporting.

As Splunk software is a platform for machine data, there are many other user cases that are unique to each customer’s environment. That is the beauty of the platform, you can customise and adapt to your specific need.

Read user cases from customers such as FINRA, Interac, ING, First Data, SAIC, Domino’s Pizza and watch customer videos on splunk.com

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W H O’ S W H O Q& A // TO DD SC H O F I E L D

epicentre of innovations that are transforming the global economy. Silicon Valley is not just about technology, but rather it is about having an innovative mindset.

Every industry is now faced with disruption from emerging technologies, and this is showing no signs of slowing down.

In this hyper-connected digital age, large companies that are not actively engaging new technologies and mindsets are at the highest risk.

In my role, I strategically connect technopreneurs and startups with business units within the bank, creating greater value for both. This has allowed the bank to keep pace with current trends, while leveraging the best Silicon Valley has to offer, to support and extend our business objectives. From occasional visits to investments, to setting up a presence, corporations need to consider the best fit for their organisation and what will drive the most value in the long-term.

Navigating the complexities of both the corporate and startup spheres requires someone who has the mentality to become a bridge between two very different worlds.

FST MEDIA: What is the relationship between startups and corporate innovation?

Todd Schofield GLOBAL

MANAGING DIRECTOR, STANDARD CHARTERED BANK’S SC STUDIOS

FST MEDIA: What is SC Studios and what role does it play at Standard Chartered Bank?

SCHOFIELD: SC Studios is the technology and innovation office for Standard Chartered Bank. From our location in San Francisco, a booming hub of the Silicon Valley ecosystem, we keep the bank at the forefront of key technologies and trends as they emerge.

Through partnerships with tech startups, leading venture capital firms, universities and other corporate innovators, SC Studios has gained prominence both within and beyond the bank.

FST MEDIA: How do you define innovation and how can large companies leverage the ecosystem of Silicon Valley to transform their organisation?

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SCHOFIELD: Corporate innovation takes place when companies are efficiently recreating established business practices with better results. Startups, meanwhile, are in the business of creating something new, often disrupting business as it is currently practiced, in a given industry.

Putting these two elements together requires strategic partnering, so that these vastly different entities can mesh and create value for both. Innovation cannot be the sole province of one small group in the corporation; it must be spread across all business units.

FST MEDIA: What is the next wave of technology or innovation that is likely to make a significant impact on financial services?

SCHOFIELD: A combination of trends including mobile, cloud and data analytics, will continue to accelerate the change in financial services.

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Optimising Infrastructure to Future-Proof Business Growth What are the key challenges financial services organisations will face over the next 12 months?

One of the biggest challenges for the industry is the mediocre performance of the economy. Affected by years of mediocre growth and low interest rates, organisations are facing challenges around promoting growth and maximising profitability. Despite recent positive growth trends, many of our customers continue to be affected by these trends.

Banks are looking to create more value for their customers and ensure more market relevance, while simultaneously reducing their technology footprint.

The key challenge is therefore optimising operating expenses while delivering a better customer experience.

When this happens, the solution often is to build more infrastructure, ultimately generating higher capital expenditure. However, reducing operating costs initially allows organisations to indirectly solve these capital cost problems for the future.

How can financial services organisations look to technology organisations for data centre improvements?

Panduit works directly with customers, looking at their specific needs, and then designing holistic solutions around their key concerns: from cabinet innovations designed to dissipate heat, to smart Harry Woo, software that can monitor network performance Managing Director and energy use. By targeting areas of greatest Asia Pacific concern, our consultants can ensure financial services organisations are spending money in the right places What operational hurdles stand in the way of and maximising their ROI. data centre optimisation, and how can best-in-class

infrastructure enhance operational capabilities?

For banking and insurance organisations, where the technology footprint is typically larger, network infrastructure has become a limiting factor. Legacy infrastructure creates bandwidth utilisation and network management issues, which can stifle scalability and storage capacity, and add to rising operating costs. Trying to solve these issues by simply adding more layers over legacy infrastructure will only serve to increase complexity.

For brokerage firms, trading houses and hedge fund organisations, their chief aim is to enhance performance. While operating costs are still important, best-in-class infrastructure enables them to reduce latency and build a very robust network. This is critical, as many engage in complex algorithm trading over a 24-hour cycle; any potential downtime in their operations could prove costly.

An optimised data centre squeezes far more capacity out of existing infrastructure, offers superior energy efficiency, greater scalability and provides visibility across all data centre operations.

While it is a great deal of work, optimisation is worth the expense and effort, with payback achieved in less than two years.

Furthermore, optimisation helps lower risk, reduce vulnerabilities and ‘future-proofs’ infrastructure.

How can financial services organisations respond to rising operational expenses and process challenges?

What key innovations can Panduit deliver around data centre efficiencies and decreased costs?

One of our recent acquisitions, ‘SynapSense®’, provides real-time wireless data centre monitoring and cooling control solutions that as part of our complete DCIM solution enable us to detect ‘weak spots’ in your infrastructure, including previously unrecognised hot spots. For existing builds, this is one of the most effective ways to identify and reduce costs. If your organisation qualifies, we work with one of our partners to provide the solution with zero-down investment. Historically, we have helped our customers save up to 50 per cent of cooling costs with this approach.

For new builds, we work directly with customers, tailoring a holistic solution that targets specific needs – whether this is performance optimisation, cost reduction, or service utilisation. At Panduit, we have more than 100,000 parts which gives us the advantage of providing the right solution to every problem your data centre may experience. With better planning to optimise your resources, it will help you save energy costs in the long-run.

To find out more about Panduit’s services and product offerings, visit us at www.panduit.com or email apjc-edi@panduit.com

There are two good solutions: improved planning and intelligent tools.

Our banking clients’ data centre operations have grown enormously.

As infrastructure has grown, operating costs for these data centres have predictably skyrocketed. If infrastructure is not optimised, data centres will run out of space, power, cooling capability and capacity.

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W H O’ S W H O Q& A // TODD SC H O F I E L D

Underlying technologies such as cryptocurrency blockchain can be applied to numerous industries and they will have an increasingly significant impact, as the technology is adopted and adapted. This is a major disruptive force that could completely alter the financial landscape in the coming decades.

In addition, peer-to-peer lending and emerging new payments systems are expected to have a transformative effect on financial services and emerging economies in the short term.

The passion to find new business models – to push the boundary of the possible – drives Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and large scale enterprises.

FST MEDIA: How is SC Studios leveraging big data and analytics to gain a competitive advantage?

SCHOFIELD: Big data provides a fantastic opportunity to create new capabilities that did not exist before. For example, through SC Studios, Standard Chartered Bank partnered with an advanced data analytics startup. By working together, we created an entirely new type of economic index, based on crowdsourced data collection in emerging market countries.

The bank and our clients are now using it to track consumer price changes in Nigeria.

This can return real-time data at a detailed level that was not previously available. This type of innovation gives Standard Chartered Bank a significant edge over our competitors with pricing insights into an important African market.

While SC Studios keeps an eye on promising startups in Silicon Valley, we also keep the bank’s top executives informed, through monthly technology trending papers, and we host local executive meetings with key players in Silicon Valley.

FST MEDIA: What are the emerging technologies and trends that will influence the payments landscape in the next five years?

FST MEDIA: What skills do you think aspiring technology chiefs should invest in for future success?

SCHOFIELD: Technology chiefs must continually stay on top of cutting-edge trends to ensure that they are not blindsided by unforeseen disruption. It is no longer a question of simply gaining skills, but is now also the adoption of a mindset of agility and adaptability. Technology chiefs can be important change-agents within corporations by encouraging a spirit of innovation and evolving the organisational mindset to keep up with the pace of change.

We have much to learn from the fastgrowing businesses in the Silicon Valley.

They are lean, fast-moving, agile, results-driven and above all, innovative.

The passion to find new business models – to push the boundary of the possible – drives Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and large scale enterprises. Making this happen, day after day, requires a mindset of flexibility and a willingness to constantly learn and adapt.

SCHOFIELD: Payments will be increasingly

FST MEDIA: How does Standard Chartered Bank foster a spirit of corporate innovation?

driven by areas where friction and cost can be reduced: from providing an increasingly better user experience to streamlining processing. Digital transactions and dynamic payments will affect financial services around the world.

SCHOFIELD: Standard Chartered Bank is committed to innovation: from how we serve our customers to how we run our enterprise. The ethos at Standard Chartered Bank is one of encouraging experimentation.

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‘Learning by doing’ is integral to the process that leads to success. It is also about moving quickly and intelligently to solve problems.

This includes everything from partnering with startups to develop new capabilities, to keeping the organisation up-to-date on Silicon Valley trends and actively pursuing opportunities. It has also been about shifting mindsets. Standard Chartered Bank was the first bank to adopt the iPhone as a corporate mobile device, changing peoples’ mindsets about corporate devices and embracing mobile as a new and more efficient way of working with our own SC App Store.

Organisations will move a step closer to incorporating a mindset of innovation by intelligently trying out new ideas, and learning from – rather than criticising – failure. Corporate innovation is a key part of our focus on sustainability, and is wrapped into our brand promise of ‘Here For Good’.

FST MEDIA: What are your business and IT priorities for the next 12 to 18 months?

SCHOFIELD: In an age of digitisation, it is important that Standard Chartered Bank continues its innovation momentum and is proactive in bringing in new capabilities, allowing us to better serve our clients.

The key to making this happen lies in staying connected with our business leaders and leveraging our native connections into the Silicon Valley ecosystem to create win-win opportunities.

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy they wish to be remembered for. What is yours?

SCHOFIELD: My work at SC Studios represents a fantastic legacy for me. Before we had an office, I worked from my dining room table to grow SC Studios. Today, our small office brings tremendous value to our Bank. With the ongoing support of the bank and a long-term vision for bringing Silicon Valley technologies and approaches to our markets in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, I certainly envision SC Studios continuing to be a valuable part of progress for our clients and our enterprise.

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W H O’ S W H O Q& A // PAT R I C K M A ES

Patrick Maes AUSTRALIA

CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER AND GENERAL MANAGER, GROUP TECHNOLOGY, SERVICES, AND OPERATIONS – STRATEGY & PLANNING, ANZ

to their full impact. In the year ahead, the trend towards the customer being “in charge” will continue, and the collaborative economy will continue to transform and disrupt industries with new innovations. This disruption will be led by companies like Uber, AirBnB and the next generation of these types of businesses. Essentially, any technology or innovation that supports the proposition of the “customer in charge”, not just in trendy areas, such as mobile apps and big data, but also in the areas of convenience and consumer trust, will have the most significant impact on financial services. For customers, advances in the intelligence, mobility and advisory aspects of banking in a secure environment will be essential to the future of financial services.

FST MEDIA: How will you harness the potential of mobile platforms to support ANZ’s regional growth strategy?

MAES: We will continue to pursue a

FST MEDIA: How do you encourage a culture of innovation in your team?

MAES: Innovation should be intrinsically linked to culture. I try to encourage my teams to have a transformational mindset. This means trying not to be caught up with functional or organisational limitations in their thinking, though navigating through these limitations is vital to turning transformational thinking into reality. It is the elevated mindset that I believe encourages and yields innovation in an organisation. If you can change mindsets, you can change overall behaviour, and only when you change behaviour do you change culture.

FST MEDIA: What technology or innovation will have the most significant impact on financial services in the year ahead?

MAES: I think we should be looking at a longer timeframe than one year, as realistically, most of these technological changes and advances take time to build

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consistent customer experience across all of our channels, including mobile. At ANZ, our regional growth strategy is not just about mobile, it is about an omni-channel approach that incorporates tablet, mobile and internet and any touchpoint for customers. We do not differentiate between assisted and unassisted channels. We are focused on ensuring consistency for our customers, contextsharing across various touchpoints, and consolidating our customer-centric analytics.

FST MEDIA: How will technology enable ANZ to realise your vision and become ‘the advisory bank’?

MAES: ANZ is taking a customer-centred approach to big data and analytics, and there are five key elements that we need to incorporate to be become ‘the advisory bank’.

These are: a single customer view; analytics; heuristics; visualisation; and gamification.

When delivered through our self-service and assisted channels, these elements will combine to help us realise this vision.

FST MEDIA: What are ANZ’s plans to invest in cloud solutions, and how will you address data security concerns?

MAES: ANZ is taking a measured approach to cloud, embracing it where it is relevant to our core operations. We have developed our own cloud policy which provides clear guidance on how we should use cloud within the boundaries of our regulatory environment.

As we have a ‘super-regional’ business, our solutions need to make security and commercial sense in a much broader context than that of the single lens of a domestic financial services business. In terms of data security concerns, these may be overcome using technologies, such as cypher cloud models, that encrypt sensitive information.

FST MEDIA: What are your technology investment priorities for the next 12 to 18 months?

MAES: As a super-regional bank, we have been investing in the construction of enterprise capabilities that are required to support our 33 countries. We will continue investing in platforms that are enterprise in nature, such as payments, mobility, digital, data, security and also corporate functions such as risk, finance and human resources.

FST MEDIA: What do you consider to be your greatest career achievement to date?

MAES: While I try to look forward rather than back, I am most proud of the teams that I have led and the work we have achieved together – whether that is groundbreaking work on intelligent systems or developing a strategy to set the groundwork for transforming an organisation.

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy they wish to be remembered for, what is yours?

MAES: The legacy I would like to be remembered for is fundamentally about transformation. This would revolve around two questions: firstly, have I transformed or contributed to a transformation? Secondly, have I helped people to progress in their careers in a meaningful way rather than just from the perspective of new and better job titles? I firmly believe in the values of transformation and self-development and these are the measures that I use for success.

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W H O’ S W H O Q& A // DAV E C U R R A N

Dave Curran AUSTRALIA

GROUP CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER, WESTPAC

of our customer information. This will put the customer firmly at the centre of everything we do, enabling us to have a better understanding of our customers, and to provide them with the best possible service to suit their individual needs.

FST MEDIA: What are your IT investment priorities for the next 12 to 18 months?

CURRAN: First of all, may I start by saying how excited I am to have a CEO who is so tech-savvy and who, from his first day on the job, has recognised the importance of technology in the successful delivery of our company’s vision to be one of the world’s greatest service companies.

In terms of investment priorities, the integrity, security and reliability of our technology is paramount. Beyond that, our strategic agenda is to bring to life new digital capabilities that will give our customers the best possible service experience – where, when, how and in the brand they want it.

To do this, I will be investing in my team’s capabilities, the architectures that support the bank and the ongoing security and resilience of our systems.

FST MEDIA: What are the long-term benefits for Westpac’s role in incubating startups through ReInventure, and how will you measure success?

CURRAN: We see many key long-term benefits through our work with Reinventure.

Firstly, it enables us to be nimble in the startup space, which is typically hard to do when you are a large bank. Secondly, it allows us to have a portfolio of activities that we can draw from and leverage across the Group as opportunities arise. Thirdly, it is a great mechanism to keep us current with what is happening more broadly in the fintech industry. We will measure success through monitoring the return that our investments bring and by identifying new services that we can introduce to our business.

FST MEDIA: What is your vision for Westpac’s core platform refresh?

CURRAN: We are focused on building a Customer Service Hub to centralise all

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FST MEDIA: Where do you see cloud adoption in financial services in five years?

CURRAN: Over the next five years I think we will see a real separation between the banks that “could and did” and those that “could not and did not” adapt and leverage the benefits of the digital revolution: social, mobile, analytics and cloud. Banks of the twenty first century will be the ones that genuinely adopt and leverage cloud to benefit their customers, shareholders and employees. My vision is for the Westpac Group to be at the forefront on cloud, not just in terms of adoption of services from the cloud but provision of services into the cloud. I see adoption of cloud services as helping to drive efficiency. For example, creating internal Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) capabilities to drive cost savings and provide better services to customers through improving variety, agility and availability.

FST MEDIA: How has Westpac Live delivered value to the business?

CURRAN: We designed Westpac Live to not only respond to, but also anticipate our customers’ needs. It has redefined digital banking for our customers, providing a seamless and consistent experience as they move between their devices – mobile, tablet and desktop. We have measured our success through the way our customers have embraced Westpac Live. Three million personal customers and approximately 300,000 business customers (with more business customers coming on board every day) are using Westpac Live – giving them easy access to, and control over, their finances on-the-go.

FST MEDIA: What advice would you give to aspiring technology chiefs?

CURRAN: The key thing to recognise is that the historical split between the technology and business functions in your company no longer exists. As such, I have four pieces of advice for aspiring leaders. Firstly, take the time to deeply understand the business you work in. Secondly, help educate the business you work in about the technologies that it can leverage, to provide the best service to customers. Thirdly, the Australian technology industry is way too short on leadership right now, so if you are an aspiring technology chief, you should focus on building your leadership skills, growing your networks, and thinking deeply about the ways you can add value to your business and the technology industry – if you do this the opportunities will be limitless. Lastly, and most importantly, have fun!

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy they wish to be remembered for, what is yours?

CURRAN: I believe that banking is a genuinely honorable business. We are part of the fabric that helps our communities prosper and grow. Over time, the industry in general had lost touch with this, but I think it is back on track now, particularly at Westpac where we are focused on being one of the world’s best customer service companies. I would be very proud of a legacy that showed that I helped simplify banking, so that the industry could truly become a customer service industry.

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W H O’ S W H O Q& A // SUSA N H W E E

Susan Hwee SINGAPORE

MANAGING DIRECTOR, HEAD OF GROUP TECHNOLOGY AND OPERATIONS, UOB

FST MEDIA: What will banking look like in 2020?

HWEE: The banking industry will be very different with the entry of more non-bank players. Payments is an area which is likely to undergo significant change, with many digital disruptors already experimenting with electronic and mobile payments. The proliferation of crowdfunding also means that borrowers will have more alternatives to simply taking up bank loans.

FST MEDIA: How do you see cloud adoption shaping up in financial services over the next five years?

HWEE: In the financial services industry, it is essential to ensure customer data privacy.

This means banks are likely to adopt private clouds for storing sensitive customer-related data, while using public clouds for their other computing needs. I believe there is potential for cloud computing to grow in popularity, as it lowers IT costs and is a more efficient way to maximise the use of computing power.

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FST MEDIA: What are your IT priorities for the next 12 to 18 months?

HWEE: Our focus has been on integrating our regional network through a common technology platform that can support our regional ambitions. We have completed this, and now we are able to offer our customers a seamless intra-regional banking experience, as well as access to a wider range of products and services. For example, we have extended the convenience of UOB Personal Internet Banking and UOB Mobile Banking, which were first developed in Singapore, to retail customers in Thailand and China.

In the next 18 months, we will be focusing on improving efficiency by digitising our internal processes. We will also be analysing big data in order to understand our customers better and integrating digital technology into our products and services, to make banking faster and easier for them.

Cyber-security continues to be a key priority for us. While digital technology brings about greater convenience and connectivity, it has also created a whole new set of cyber challenges for the industry. We will continue to invest in strengthening our banking systems and processes to ensure the security of our customers’ data and online banking transactions.

FST MEDIA: How will UOB’s ‘Personal Internet Banking’ website and the ‘UOB Mobile’ app deliver a personalised customer experience?

HWEE: For mobile banking, we continue to study how people use their mobile phones. In 2011, we were the first in Singapore to offer the Mobile Cash feature, where our customers could transfer funds instantly via their mobile phones and recipients could withdraw the money from any UOB ATM by using a onetime password. We plan to broaden the scope of services available on our mobile app and will launch new services in the future.

FST MEDIA: What are your plans to further increase the adoption of contactless payments at UOB? HWEE: Based on our customer research, we found that Singaporeans are using contactless card payments to make smaller, everyday purchases, such as groceries, dining and pharmacy items. To cater to this growing demand, we are increasing our contactless card payment acceptance points in Singapore.

With the proliferation of smartphones in Singapore, we are also looking into developing contactless payments via mobile phones, for the customers’ convenience.

FST MEDIA: What is the greatest advice you have received?

FST MEDIA: How will digitalisation of banks impact the overall customer journey?

HWEE: Digital technology is enabling banks to simplify their banking processes, manage their costs and risks better and introduce new services. The digital transformation of banks will also ensure that customers enjoy seamless service anytime and anywhere.

We believe in using technology to deliver a consistent and distinct UOB experience for our customers, when and wherever they bank with us. For example, our customers can now use any UOB ATM in our regional network to do their banking, without being charged an overseas transaction fee. We are also looking at how we can use technology to make the banking experience more personal to each customer.

HWEE: The best career advice I have received is: “Always look for challenges, go the extra mile and push the boundaries.”

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy they wish to be remembered for, what is yours?

HWEE: I would like to harness technology to create an inclusive society. By this I mean technology can be used to generate meaningful employment for an untapped talent pool, such that we can draw on a larger labour pool. We started exploring this concept in mid-2013, to provide sustainable employment to individuals with autism. It has been a learning journey to see how we can re-engineer and match their work processes with technology. Today, they are a small but integral and growing part of our workforce.

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W H O’ S W H O Q& A // J IN K A NG Z W I C K Y

Jin Kang Zwicky SINGAPORE

VICE PRESIDENT, EXPERIENCE DESIGN, GROUP CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, OCBC

decision as to how to design the digital channel and how to integrate it with other channels.

‘Being digital’ means making information accessible and relevant to the customers when they want it and how they want it, which often entails removing the notion of ‘channel’. For example, the notion of statements could become obsolete, when we focus on ‘ways to provide information’.

When we do not think in ‘channel’, but in ‘information’ and ‘context’, we can enhance the customer experience through digital platforms and data. Instead of turning a paper bank statement into an e-statement, it can become a powerful real-time overview of holdings and a reminder about actions when we use our data and different digital channels as a system, based on the clear understanding of the type of information, and how the customer uses the information.

FST MEDIA: What are key trends in CX design that we can expect to see in the near future?

FST MEDIA: What are your priorities for the next 12 to 18 months to further simplify the banking experience?

KANG ZWICKY: Our customer experience design priorities are driven by our business strategy at OCBC Bank. Simplicity in the wealth management experience continues to be my priority for the next 12 to 18 months.

With the emphasis on digital channels, defining the ‘personality’ of our advisory tools is an interesting challenge; an exceptional user experience design and harnessing our insight are the important pillars in building the personality of our digital wealth management.

FST MEDIA: What is your view on how banks can enhance the overall customer experience through digital platform and data in the next five years?

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KANG ZWICKY: I see three trends that I believe banks must embrace. Firstly, mobilefirst design. Think mobile-first in terms of functionality and interface, then work out other channels. Secondly, simple is the new smart. Simpler apps stick and simpler apps thrive. Relentlessly simplify the content, service and interface. Thirdly, the beauty imperative to differentiate offering. The Apple Watch is a great example of how the technology sector is embracing beauty and fashion in designing a product and its customer experience. I believe simplicity will be the hygiene factor consumers naturally expect and a beautiful customer experience will be the differentiator.

FST MEDIA: How will design help the bank deliver a new way of banking, especially for Gen Y?

we rigorously apply the right process for all customer experience design initiatives. We get inspiration from direct consumer research, and we craft the insight into actionable ideas through prototyping and continuously testing.

Design as the manifestation of brand value refers to the outcome of design. The way we design our store, website and apps embodies the intent of our brand value, which is then translated in a tangible form that appeals to our senses and emotions. Gen Y is loyal to brands that they can relate to and they find meaning in. In this way, design can help banks to connect with Gen Y.

FST MEDIA: How can banks identify and design the most effective customer acquisition channel?

KANG ZWICKY: Every channel is a valuable opportunity to build relationships and acquire customers. One single channel alone will not do the job. The whole ecosystem consisting of each touchpoint as a whole (such as app, branches and letters) is the brand ambassador. When this system is designed with a consistently clear intent to do the right thing, then this will encourage our customers to do more business with us. Those customers will become advocates who may well recommend us to their network, thus enabling us to acquire the right customers.

FST MEDIA: What is the most inspiring career advice you have received?

KANG ZWICKY: Go with passion, not what is hot in the business. That passion takes care of the rest. It will bring you where you want to be. This advice was given by my mentor who brought me to financial services as a designer.

It reminds me to stay passionate that design can change financial services.

KANG ZWICKY: I am a firm believer of power

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy they wish to be remembered for, what is yours?

of design in banking industry. To unleash the power of design, banks need to use design in two ways: design as an innovation tool, and design as a manifestation of brand value.

Using design as a tool refers to applying ‘user-centred design processes’. At OCBC we take the design process very seriously and

KANG ZWICKY: I wish to be remembered as someone who made design a strategically important agenda in financial services, and a leader who demonstrated how banking can be more successful for the business by being simpler and more attractive for customers.

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W H O’ S W H O Q& A // A B H I J I T SING H

service quality and cross-selling of products, among others, will be offered. Emphasis on deploying technology solutions promoting consumer convenience will continue.

FST MEDIA: What technology or innovation will be the single biggest game changer for retail banking in the year ahead?

Abhijit Singh INDIA

HEAD OF RETAIL BANK TECHNOLOGY, ICICI BANK

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FST MEDIA: What are your IT priorities for the next 12 to 18 months?

SINGH: At ICICI, the ‘khayaal aapka’ mantra has been associated with the customerfirst initiative, which emphasises customer focus and providing world-class service to our customers. Better engagement with customers of the bank, across various touchpoints, through all available channels, continues to remain a key priority.

Our focus will be on using social and unstructured data to build customer profiles at every engagement, to know more about customers’ financial needs and present them with relevant and customised product offerings. There will be an increased focus on innovative use of technology, to transform the bank branches into more collaborative and relevant information and distribution centres. Innovation in mobile payments,

SINGH: In an ever-evolving technology space, identifying a single biggest game changer is a tough task, as today’s game changers will not be applicable to tomorrow’s business drivers. IT strategy must be robust yet focused to incorporate newer technologies like big data, social, mobile, analytics, cloud and biometrics which may prove to be the biggest game changers in the years to come.

The use of data analytics to build platforms for higher growth, quicker risk mitigation, improved resource productivity and superior customer service will be a key differentiator.

Implementation of end-to-end payment solutions across all services of the bank in the mobile payment space will also prove effective in retail banking.

Payments solutions using new technologies like Near Field Communication, mobile wallets and social media banking will result in an increase in convenience. ICICI Bank has already implemented banking on Facebook and Twitter, and through these new solutions we can also bring greater speed and efficiency in payments services.

FST MEDIA: How will ICICI Bank leverage big data insights to strengthen its retail bank offerings in the future?

SINGH: The bank believes big data can be defined in terms of four Vs: Volume, Variety, Velocity and Veracity.

At ICICI Bank, big data is positioned to build platforms for higher growth, quicker risk mitigation, improved resource productivity and superior customer service.

The objective of the implementation of big data tools and technologies is to transform the basis of business decisions, changing the approach from customer ‘outcomes’ to customer ‘interactions’. The ability to influence interactions, generate the desired

A B H I J I T SING H // W H O’ S W H O Q& A

outcomes, on near real-time basis by using data of massive volumes, variety and velocity will be key.

FST MEDIA: How can banks balance the need for security and privacy with the growing proliferation of mobile devices?

“Collaboration – not competition – brings out the best in us”.

SINGH: Security remains a major concern in adopting mobile banking. Large organisations recognise mobile device threats and vulnerabilities, and understand that they need appropriate security protection. Given the existing competitive market dynamics, any important financial mobile application rollout takes on increased strategic importance. Securing all feature-packed mobile apps is therefore critical. New threats are always emerging, so security architects need to be forewarned and forearmed regarding the trends and vulnerabilities to ensure their organisation’s mobile apps are safe before they are implemented.

FST MEDIA: How significant is the threat posed by the emergence of digital disruptors like Apple and Google to retail banking?

SINGH: Electronic payments have become a pivotal part of providing convenience to customers and the use of cash payments is on a decline in today’s world. Innovation in payments has emerged from non-banks, like PayPal and cash-rich internet players, such as Google (Google Wallet) and Apple (passbook, iBeacons). Even though banks pay an average of four per cent to seven per cent interest to customers on their deposits, in the age of online and mobile shopping, shoppers are finding it convenient to keep money in prepaid wallets backed by various deals and discounts. Control over the customer purchase experience and ownership of a rich seam of transactional data is another compelling reason why payments are attractive to these players.

ICICI Bank is looking at the current scenario as an opportunity, rather than as a threat.

FST MEDIA: How will your experience in managing large scale IT transformational projects help ICICI Bank in its digital evolution?

SINGH: In the last few decades, many businesses have grown in leaps and bounds, due to their continued investment in technology. Almost every organisation now has a digital strategy, and they provision funds to invest in technology to achieve their business objectives. IT transformational projects are generally derived from IT strategy, hence IT strategy should be focused on adding more value to business.

At ICICI Bank, we constantly strive to seek new ways to making banking simple and seamless to enhance the overall customer experience. A strong digital presence, therefore, has always been part of the overall strategy of ICICI Bank.

ICICI Bank has evolved as a leader in this space within India. The bank has many ‘firsts’ to its credit, such as Internet Banking, Mobile Banking, Facebook Banking, Twitter banking to name a few.

ICICI Bank was also among the first banks in the country to launch ATMs and 24/7 centralised call-centre processes. ICICI Bank continues to lead through innovation with the latest digital initiatives like 24/7 Touch Banking Branches, Tab Banking, Cash Deposit Machines, the new ICICI Bank website – the first responsive website in the banking industry in the country – and a host of new mobile apps.

Today, ICICI Bank has completely embraced digital technologies in all its processes, from front-end sales to back-end processing, and has emerged as a strong and mature digital organisation.

FST MEDIA: How do you encourage a culture of innovation in your team?

SINGH: Nurturing a culture that allows for innovation is the key. Creativity is a

prime leadership attribute. Hyper-growth companies credit a culture of innovation as their primary driver of success.

ICICI Bank empirically analyses innovation strategy choices. Execution of the right capabilities and aligning with innovation strategy at the right time, results in overall development process. The legacy of innovation has manifested itself in the bank’s innovation process.

The innovation at the bank is a wellstructured process, and is overseen by the Innovation Steering Committee (ISC).

Employees are encouraged to think big but start small, look for ideas everywhere and feel empowered to carry these ideas to implementation.

Venturing into uncharted territory has been a legacy of the organisation. There is a belief of fostering autonomy and giving consideration to teams.

FST MEDIA: With respect to career development, what is the best advice you have received?

SINGH: “Collaboration – not competition – brings out the best in us.” This advice I have kept with me since the start of my career and I still advise all my team members to follow this as a rule. I always derive energy from working in teams and have focused my career on leading groups towards collective achievement.

I realised early on that I am at my best when involved with teams and I have enjoyed numerous examples of reaching goals together with my colleagues.

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy they wish to be remembered for, what is yours?

SINGH: I would like to be remembered as a values-driven leader who built high-performing teams that are customer focused and always open to change.

I would also want to be remembered as a strong partner to business – one who enhanced operational efficiency and effectiveness, and was a driver of business innovation. I also wish to be remembered for helping to nurture the success of the next generation.

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W H O’ S W H O Q& A // M I C H A E L L E U N G

FST MEDIA: What are your IT investment priorities for the next 12 to 18 months?

LEUNG: The next 12 to 18 months will see CITIC Bank International investing significantly in revamping, and in some cases rebuilding, the technology infrastructure and systems architecture, following a definitive roadmap called the ‘Rose Garden Plan’. While the plan spans over three years, most of the work will commence in 2015. This plan will cover the Core Banking System, Internet Platforms and Professional Applications (collectively called ‘CIP’), along with a middleware layer and a comprehensive data architecture. It is a mega plan involving substantial financial and human resources, as well as considerable risks.

FST MEDIA: What is next for matching internet banking with mobile banking at CITIC Bank International?

LEUNG: Our overriding strategy is to develop

Michael Leung HONG KONG

COO & CIO, CITIC BANK INTERNATIONAL

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FST MEDIA: Do you consider payments disruptors such as AliPay and ApplePay to be a threat or potential partners?

LEUNG: We see payments disruptors like AliPay and ApplePay as both competitors and partners. Competitors, because they venture into the e-commerce credit and payment businesses that banks always perform, which cuts into the profits that banks once made from interest and fees.

At the same time, they are also expanding the scope and generating additional volume of financial activities, and thus bringing in new revenue streams for banks, because they still rely on banks to handle money transfers, clearing and settlement. They also rely on banks for other transactional functions that only banks are capable of executing within the existing financial systems and money markets.

internet banking into a premier customer relationship platform, whilst delivering a highly functional, just-in-time sales and services channel for mobile banking. In addition to functional features available through internet banking, there are a number of functions made available only through mobile devices, such as WeChat banking for notifications and transactions, as well as mobile payments and, eventually, peerto-peer (P2P) and online-to-office (O2O) transactions. CITIC Bank International is at the very forefront of these developments.

FST MEDIA: Can you outline the WeChat inMotion Service and how it will deliver value to the business?

LEUNG: WeChat is an open platform that provides a set of APIs for notification and transaction functions to be integrated with CITIC Bank International’s core systems. For customers with a WeChat account, CITIC Bank International can deliver general information like market news and product information, as well as context and locationsensitive promotions like discount coupons at nearby stores. Once the customer integrates their WeChat ID and bank accounts, they

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W H O’ S W H O Q& A // M I C H A E L L E U NG

FST MEDIA: How will you use data analytics to deliver a seamless customer journey?

can immediately receive a selection of transaction alerts such as ATM withdrawal, cheque clearing and funds transfer, as well as a range of personalised lifestyle related messages, such as anniversary or birthday gift collection notices, deposit or investment product maturity special offers, and holiday recommendations and tips. The next phase of the inMotion program will focus on financial and transactional services, including mobile payment at POS outlets and funds transfer in the fast-emerging P2P and O2O domains.

We will soon see wearable devices become an increasingly integral part of our own lives.

FST MEDIA: How are you progressing

LEUNG: Contactless technology is already

with rebuilding CITIC Bank International’s core infrastructure?

the ‘norm’ in Hong Kong, thanks to the tremendous success of the Octopus Cards, and the maturity of NFC technology. The joint ATM/POS network operator, Jetco, has garnered pan-industry support to develop a POS mobile payment platform riding on the VISA payWave, MasterCard PayPass and, hopefully soon, the CUP QuickPass infrastructure that exists locally. CITIC Bank International is one of the first Jetco member banks committed to this endeavour.

At the same time, we are also exploring other opportunities, such as Google Wallet and Apple Pay. Contactless technology represents a great opportunity as we are able to offer many value-added services, such as notifications and transactions, in addition to payment functions.

LEUNG: The revamp and rebuild of CITIC Bank International’s core infrastructure is being undertaken in a holistic and futuristic manner. This begins with a comprehensive rethink of how CITIC Bank International will evolve over the next three to five years. For example, we may consider what new business models and areas CITIC Bank International is likely to adopt, and which demographics and geographies we are likely to move into.

With the assistance of a leading international consulting firm, we have developed a ‘5-tier’ technology model comprising of foundation infrastructure, common facilities, shared services, business applications, customer experience and user experience.

We have also moved on to redesign and revamp our technical infrastructure: this includes firewall and server consolidation, database centralisation, desktop virtualisation, as well as network rationalisation and overall technology standardisation.

In conjunction with this is work on system architecture, anchored by the enterprise service bus middleware, operational data store and enterprise data warehouse, documents and workflow engine, as well as customer relationship management. Most of these are work-in-progress items now, riding on bulk-purchase arrangements with several IT service providers.

FST MEDIA: How will CITIC Bank International use contactless technology to deliver an enhanced payments experience?

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FST MEDIA: How will wearable devices change the future of payments and banking?

LEUNG: Over the past decade, we have witnessed the change of personal devices from transportable to portable, from ‘portable’ to now ‘wearable’, and we will soon see wearable devices become an increasingly integral part of our own lives. The use of such devices, being so convenient and natural, has the potential to transform the ways in which banks and their customers interact with each other. For example, market price alerts can already be sent directly to a smartwatch today, and wealth management consultants may soon be able to display live images and videos of family homes, dream cars and holiday resorts directly to a pair of virtual reality glasses. We can expect to see a great number of innovations in this space.

LEUNG: Data scientists who are capable of generating well-informed business decisions through data analytics are probably the most precious and sought-after talent these days. Financial institutions possess an immense volume of information about their customers, particularly those in the ‘high-net worth’ segments.

This includes demographic and financial profiles, investment experience and risk appetite, lifestyle preferences and propensity to spend, among others. In addition, banks are beginning to harness the vast amount of information available in the public domain, which can often supplement what CITIC Bank International already knows about a specific customer or a particular customer segment. With such intimate knowledge at different life stages of a customer, banks are able to offer tailored products and personalised services through the most effective channels.

FST MEDIA: What is your most effective customer acquisition channel and why?

LEUNG: Customer acquisition takes place through different channels depending on the customer segments and age groups.

That is why large-scale banks must maintain a comprehensive channel presence, including relationship managers for corporate clients, account managers for SMEs, private bankers for ‘high-net-worth clients’, direct sales for personal loans and credit cards, as well as branches for the general public.

However, the current regulations in Hong Kong still require banks to meet customers face-to-face for the initial consultation so we believe it is not feasible to use e-channel, call centres or phone banking to acquire new customers.

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy they wish to be remembered for, what is yours?

LEUNG: I want to be remembered as the CIO who turned the ‘Rose Garden Plan’ from a dream into reality.

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W H O’ S W H O Q& A // A N AS TASI A CA M M A RO TO

Panorama and its profound capabilities in making wealth assets even more accessible, will continue to be a key priority. Our investment in Panorama allowed us to create Australia’s leading wealth platform, and puts us in a great position in the new digital arena. We are continuing the transformation of our Advice business and leveraging process management, mobility and analytics tools, to deliver guidance and advice to more customers. We are also leveraging the strong foundation across our super and insurance services and opening those up to further straight-through processing, as well as digital access – ensuring our customers receive their services faster and in the channel of their choice.

FST MEDIA: What technology or innovation currently flying under the radar is destined to make an impact on financial services?

CAMMAROTO: It is certainly not flying under

Anastasia Cammaroto AUSTRALIA

CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER, BT FINANCIAL GROUP

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WHO ’S WHO OF FS I

FST MEDIA: What are your IT priorities for the next 12 to 18 months?

CAMMAROTO: A key priority for me looking into the fast-moving world of technology trends and capabilities, and with the startup mindset, is to bring into BT Financial Group (BTFG) strategies to determine what to preempt, what to fast-track and what to ignore.

Cloud, analytics, the API economy and others are all extremely exciting, but they have to result in a tangible, differentiated customer experience that “wows” our clients.

At BTFG, we are continuously experimenting and assessing these new capabilities – we look for how they can simplify the customer experience, deliver new services quickly, ensure we are even more secure, and also make a difference to how our customers interact with us.

Equally as important is executing well on our committed strategies. Our innovation in

the radar, but the combination of mobility and social have a long way to go in financial services. Most organisations have an app and a social presence, but there is huge potential in bringing them together, explicitly and with focus. I watch my kids interact with their social platforms on their mobile devices as if they were born to do it, so I can foresee a world where every service (financial, educational or other) will be primarily delivered through those interactions.

FST MEDIA: What will wealth management look like in 2020?

CAMMAROTO: The wealth management industry’s focus on client relationships and deep understanding of client’s goals, circumstances and activities, will continue for as long as the industry exists – way beyond 2020. What will certainly change in the next five years is the ways those relationships are built and maintained – digital methods of information and data exchange, video collaborations, social advice and mobility will explode in usage in the next five years. With it will come new services and new business models, as we will see social and technology evolution come together to address new client needs.

A N AS TASI A CA M M A R O TO // W H O’ S W H O Q& A

FST MEDIA: How has BTFG’s Business Transformation Program, Panorama, delivered value to the business and how will you measure success?

CAMMAROTO: The Panorama program and its resulting offers into the market have been built using the strong history and experience that BTFG has had with helping advisers manage their businesses and helping our customers manage their wealth. The digital front door that Panorama provides, and the control, flexibility and simplicity it has been built to deliver, are all the core elements to give advisers and investors what they need to manage their day-to-day financial lives.

Panorama’s success will be measured by how our customers feel about its capabilities – and this will also be the principle driver in its evolution.

We are releasing product features on Panorama more quickly than ever before on our platforms – adopting many of the delivery models that successful online software businesses have implemented, such as agile software development, continuous delivery and integration and robust automation.

FST MEDIA: What does the rollout of tablets to financial planners mean for increased efficiency and customer centricity?

CAMMAROTO: Just as our customers have embraced mobile technology to manage their lives, tablets have underpinned our focus on mobility for staff. Our financial advisers are no longer tied to their desks behind reams of paper. They have information available at their fingertips and can use that to have deep, insightful conversations with their customers, wherever that may be.

FST MEDIA: How do you encourage a culture

Innovation has to be in your language and actions but it also has to be in your processes and structures.

in your processes and structures. Innovation has been a core part of our culture for a long time and we continue to ‘feed and water’ it with focus.

FST MEDIA: What methods appeal to you to increase the number of women in IT? CAMMAROTO: The ‘right’ method is always dependent on the context of the company and industry: one size certainly does not fit all.

At BTFG, we begin at the start-line – asking why female students don’t find excitement in science, engineering and technology from their high school days, and working to debunk myths and perceptions. We bring co-op students, work experience and undergraduate students into the company and give them real life exposure to IT in financial services. We have found that the majority of those students come back to join our graduate program or our workforce.

Visibility of some fantastic female role models is also important and motivating.

Cheryl Sandberg from Facebook, Marissa Mayer from Yahoo, and locally, Pip Marlow from Microsoft are strong advocates both of IT and also the impact that women can have in this sector.

between what you drive and create internally, versus what you access externally. CIOs are continually crossing traditional boundaries: from infrastructure and data centre management to cloud provider brokers, from software development leaders to software package integrators, from technology architects to business consultants. In addition, the very real demand for exceptional technologists means that you need to be able to build a strong ‘people’ organisation, supported by a culture of learning, skill renewal and leadership.

As workforce patterns change and more people move to digital methods of doing business, the role of the CIO will move even closer to the customer, and any traditional perceptions such as this being a back-office role will rapidly disappear – something that we have already seen happening in our industry.

FST MEDIA: Where do you see cloud adoption in wealth management and insurance over the next five years?

CAMMAROTO: I see cloud adoption moving faster in the next five years than it has in the last two. With more cloud providers moving into the Australian market and the issue of data sovereignty being better understood and managed, we will see the potential of cloud technologies expand across more than peripheral uses. Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), leased and unleased on a subscription basis, will suit the needs of investors and advisers who need that flexibility, but will also suit the needs of large organisations that need to move services to market, as fast as the speed of technology.

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy they wish to be remembered for, what is yours?

of innovation in your team?

CAMMAROTO: Innovation can only be unlocked by three main factors: truly embracing diversity of thought and experience; allowing experimentation that results in fast success and fast failure; and continuously improving, learning and getting better at every stage. Innovation has to be in your language and actions but it also has to be

FST MEDIA: How will the role of the CIO change over the next five years and to what extent will technology shape the career path of the CIO as we know it today?

CAMMAROTO: The evolution of the CIO role will continue for as long at technology evolves. CIOs today navigate areas of specialty and commodity, finding that ‘right’ balance

CAMMAROTO: I would like to be remembered for creating a culture and leading the team that brought together the huge potential of technology into real, tangible outcomes for our customers. I am impassioned by the impact that highlymotivated and inspired people can bring to an industry, particularly one undergoing such significant evolution.

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CO - S PONSO R E D A R T I C LE

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On the bright new touch points and digital offerings along along place in the financial industry. On the bright the way. side, a recent Accenture study concludes that, the way. side, a recent Accenture study concludes that, “Forward-thinking banks are differentiating “Forward-thinking banks are differentiating themselves through continuous innovation Mobile Mobile has changed themselves through continuous innovation has changed the the such as beginning the digital journey, such as beginning the digital journey, landscape landscape developing convenient banking developing convenient mobilemobile banking Nick Dempsey is General Manager of Nick Dempsey is General Manager of solutions and connecting with entirely Australia New Zealand forSoftware.

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WHO ’S WHO O F FS I

CO - S PONSO R E D A R T I C LE • • • •

Mobile onboarding and account opening E-signature applications that align with customer communication management systems Single capture of customer information that populates and updates all relevant systems, and The creation of dynamic (versus static) communications for customer statements and other communications, enabling the customer to create custom views and engage with videos as well as interactive charts and graphs.

All of this highlights the shift taking place in the banking customer experience from a transaction-centric focus to a value-added focus.

Moving beyond multichannel Today’s banking customers no longer have a mere preference for multichannel interaction with their bank, it is an expectation. Moreover, beyond the expectation for multichannel, customers really want an omnichannel experience—for example, allowing them to begin a transaction on their smartphone and pick up the interaction on their PC. Banks need to leverage the latest technologies for responsive design that deliver a seamless, consistent online experience regardless of the channel the customer happens to choose.

Delivering anything less will undermine customer loyalty.

Mining data for a personalized experience Accenture aptly observes that “…banks have a wealth of customer data to guide them in shaping the next generation of customer experiences.” However, another Accenture study notes that while a majority of bank customers would like their bank to proactively recommend products and services that match their financial needs, they see a disconnect between the traditional and digital experiences they receive.

Putting a Customer Communications Management (CCM) strategy in place that enables business users to easily leverage customer data will support your bank’s efforts to forge lasting, multi-layered relationships with customers through highly personalized and targeted communications delivered over digital or print channels. Implementing a CCM strategy of this kind will reduce confusion and service calls, promote education and build loyalty. Costs are reduced by eliminating the need to develop separate communications packages.

A recent survey commissioned by GMC Software Technology shows that 72 percent of banking customers want to request the format in which they receive information from their bank, along with 48 percent of them feeling their bank doesn’t value them, it is critical for banks to have modern, responsive

customer communications capabilities that make them a partner in their customers’ digital lives.

Differentiation in today’s competitive environment is a question of what you do to meet customer expectations, as well as how quickly you can do it. Communicating as a true digital banker with customers who move at the speed of light means finding solutions that make it easy to transform valuable customer data into relevant, personalized digital communications.

Improving customer experience without changing the back end system In a recent survey, on average, over 60% said that it was legacy systems and IT infrastructure that was the biggest hurdle to successful digital engagement.

GMC Software Technology has been supplying the financial services industry communication solutions for 20 years. We specialize in assisting customers with that digital journey. Over the past years we have helped some of the largest financial services companies in the world move to the digital world WITHOUT changing their core technology. We help to connect the different silos within the organization to give business users control over the communication.

Contact GMC Software Technology today for a quick review of how we can give you immediate returns.

www.gmc.net GMC Software Technology delivers the best-of-breed solution with unrivalled experience in the field of Customer Communications Management (CCM). Our solution inspires businesses and enterprises to take customer communications to a whole new level and benefit from every conversation.

Today, GMC serves more than 1,600 customers around the world in over 60

countries. Analyst firms such as Forrester (Forrester DOCCM Wave Report 2014) and Gartner (Gartner CCM Magic Quadrant 2014) have ranked GMC as a Customer Communications Management leader in 2013 and 2014, confirming our strategy, product value and the growth of our install base. GMC has been the recipient of countless awards and most recently received

the Xplor Technology Award for Innovation in Banking for our Dynamic Communications solution for Financial Services.

W HO ’ S W HO O F FS I

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W H O’ S W H O Q& A // S T E V E M ON AG H A N

Steve Monaghan ASIA PACIFIC

REGIONAL DIRECTOR, HEAD OF EDGE, AIA

FST MEDIA: What are your insurance priorities for the next 12 to 18 months?

FST MEDIA: How will wearable technology and telematics shape the future of the insurance industry?

MONAGHAN: The objective of our newlyestablished AIA Edge team is to go beyond the regular business plans, to explore new sources of competitive advantage for AIA. It is an internal team, mandated to promote business innovation throughout the AIA Group. We have a number of business targets, including people, collaboration and transformation which are key priorities for us over the next 12 to 18 months.

MONAGHAN: We believe wearable technology, telematics and digital health are game changers. They are, not just for the insurance industry, but also for our customers as well as society at large. From an industry perspective, this enables insurers to adapt and re-shape value propositions for customers.

FST MEDIA: How will the establishment of AIA Edge support business operations in future?

MONAGHAN: AIA Edge has a laser-like focus on the customer, as has always been the case with AIA generally. We will continue to align our efforts to further enhance the customer experience and value, with measurable impact within our core business operations.

FST MEDIA: Why should financial services organisations adopt a startup mentality?

FST MEDIA: What are you expecting from

MONAGHAN: It is not the smartest or the

AIA’s partnership with Nest?

largest institutions that survive, but rather the ones most responsive to change; the rate of change is accelerating. Financial services organisations have a lot to learn from the startup community in the way that they adapt to rapidly evolving customer needs. They have a bias to action. Testing, learning and adapting are essential characteristics for the modern corporation.

MONAGHAN: As the pre-eminent insurance company in Asia, AIA is committed to improving the lives of the people we serve, by focusing on innovation across all our markets.

We have established relationships with a network of external partners, ranging from startups and universities, to research institutes and government agencies. We have also engaged in projects involving commercial opportunities in data analytics and digital health. One of these projects is the AIA Accelerator program, partnering with Nest.

We believe this is a great initiative and it creates a bridge between the entrepreneurial community and a highly successful institution. We began the initiative in the context of experimentation, engagement and learning; already it is growing into something even more valuable. It is a great fusion of creativity and successful commercial execution.

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FST MEDIA: How does your background in banking bring value to your role in the insurance industry? What are the main differences and challenges?

MONAGHAN: Banking and insurance are both industries with great history and legacy.

A fresh perspective is perhaps the greatest value in transitioning from banking; not being constrained by the momentum of history, but being familiar with operating in a tight regulatory environment. The main difference is the increased frequency of customer interaction, which presents a greater challenge, but equally a greater opportunity.

FST MEDIA: How do you encourage a culture of innovation in your team?

MONAGHAN: Passion, Integrity, Tenacity, Collaboration and Humility (PITCH). We are a team that learns, a team that trusts and respects each other’s capabilities, a team which will fight for the right customer outcome and a team with the humility to recognise failure and learn from it. My team is much smarter than I am, so I think it is really them encouraging me! For us, diversity is the key: cultural, intellectual and geographical.

FST MEDIA: How do you sustain your level of motivation in a high pressure environment?

MONAGHAN: Pressure is overrated. We do what we love. We are engaged in our agenda.

Better still, more and more of our colleagues and external networks are becoming engaged in our agenda. We are changing the world of insurance and aiming for significant positive social and financial impact.

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy they wish to be remembered for, what is yours?

MONAGHAN: I have always been deeply moved by those who strive for change and work tirelessly to build a better world for others.

In a world where it is all too easy to follow a destructive cycle, I can only admire those who choose the wiser path. In my own humble way, I seek to change the status quo, which sees the poorest pay the most for financial services.

By increasing financial literacy and changing the cost and revenue dynamics of financial services, I seek to redress some of these inequalities and create new opportunities for the least fortunate in our society.

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DAV I D M A LC OL M // W H O’ S W H O Q& A

David Malcolm NEW ZEALAND

CHIEF RISK OFFICER, WESTPAC NEW ZEALAND

FST MEDIA: What are your key priorities for the next 12 to 18 months?

MALCOLM: Our focus for the next 12 to 18 months is to deliver on our aspiration to be a market-leader in risk management.

The risk team is focused on driving a series of process projects – some to simplify, some to eliminate, and others to automate. Often the risk management function is seen as a back-office team role. At Westpac, we are taking a different approach and this drives our change agenda. The risk team plays a pivotal role in examining the way we do business and how we can improve this, while operating within our risk appetite settings and compliance obligations, which remain non-negotiable. Over the next 12 months, these objectives will be achieved by delivering better a customer experience, while maintaining a strong and sustainable balance sheet.

FST MEDIA: What strategies or initiatives will Westpac New Zealand introduce in the future to help minimise risk and move towards sustainable banking?

FST MEDIA: What challenges do emerging social and digital technologies represent to risk management at Westpac New Zealand?

MALCOLM: I believe that the emerging social and digital technologies represent an opportunity, rather than a risk. Our core strength in developing risk, data analytics and other new technologies provides new data sources to enable us to better know our customers and deliver solutions that better meet their needs. This means we need to be bold and shift away from the traditional manual banking model to one that is digitally-enabled and a dynamic people-led environment.

Social media provides its own set of challenges, as we move into a world where opinions can be shared almost instantly at a global level, and our customers are able to provide real-time feedback on our products or services. This remains a challenging prospect for any large organisation managing reputational risk.

MALCOLM: Westpac is committed to operating sustainably and managing any environmental, social or governance (ESG) risks in our lending activities. Our ESG Credit Risk Policy ensures ESG risk analysis is incorporated into the credit assessment and approval process for our business, corporate and institutional customers, at each stage of the credit cycle – origination, evaluation, approval, documentation and monitoring.

Westpac was one of the 10 founding Equator Principles Financial Institutions in 2003. This involves a set of voluntary protocols for financial institutions to ensure projects are developed in a socially responsible manner and reflect sound environmental-management practices.

Looking to the future, we are actively identifying risks and developing sustainable business strategies that address them.

Our approach to climate change, which poses a range of risks to business, is one example. Our role is to work with our customers to help them adapt and take

advantage of opportunities that move us towards a low-carbon future. We believe that the growth of the clean technology and environmental services (CleanTech) sector is critical to this transition. Westpac New Zealand has around NZ$1 billion invested in the CleanTech sector, and we are focused on opportunities to grow that further.

FST MEDIA: How do you balance supporting a social media presence with the risk of reputational damage?

MALCOLM: Having a social media presence is no longer a choice. While there is heightened reputational risk, the best way to mitigate this is to be involved, actively monitoring and responding when issues arise.

FST MEDIA: How do you encourage a culture of innovation in your team?

MALCOLM: Innovation is one of the most valued characteristics in my team. It needs to be more than just ideation. I want people who can take an idea and turn it into something that is valued by customers and shareholders. The Risk Innovator of the Year is one of our most valued internal awards.

A prime example, following the Canterbury earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, was an initiative we delivered to help local teams quickly assess credit decisions on properties impacted by the earthquakes. That enabled us to make credit decisions in one day (versus our competitors who were taking up to six), without compromising our integrity. This, in turn, had a significant impact on the speed in which customers could move on with rebuilding their lives.

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy that they wish to be remembered for.

What is yours?

MALCOLM: I would like to think I have made a difference in every role I have had.

For Westpac New Zealand, I would love people to say I changed the culture of the risk team from being a respected protector of the business, into a true business partner that ultimately drives a sustainable and confident business.

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W H O’ S W H O Q& A // A R T H U R WON G

Arthur Wong HONG KONG

HEAD OF IT, CHINA CONSTRUCTION BANK

new generation, jumbo scale, multi-billion, multi-year project and the ultimate objective is to integrate all banking systems in CCB into a single, unified, platform globally.

FST MEDIA: What technology or innovation will be the single biggest game changer for retail banking in the future?

WONG: It will be between big data and mobile payments. Given the phenomenal success of Alipay and WeChat payments in China, it would definitely change the way we think about how retail banks should work.

The role of retail banks would change from a traditional transactional model to a more consulting and advisory-oriented one.

FST MEDIA: How have big data insights contributed to your development of the 2015 Fun Plus rewards scheme?

WONG: Big data, or business analytics, is the

FST MEDIA: What are your IT priorities for the next 12 to 18 months?

WONG: There are three IT priorities in the next 12 to 18 months for China Construction Bank (CCB) Asia. Firstly, developing a new breed of applications to facilitate the growth of cross-border business between Hong Kong and China. The exact nature and scope of the applications is still under review, but it is likely that the new apps will be riding on mobile platforms. Secondly, on the infrastructure front, we are starting to get rid of the legacy and obsolete technologies through different upgrades and consolidation initiatives.

The bank is still relying heavily on old technologies like Windows XP, Windows 2003 and SQL 2000 and unfortunately we have not paid sufficient attention in the past, so we have to manage these upgrades urgently now for obvious compliance and security reasons. We will also use this as an opportunity to increase our capacity for technology like big data, in order to cope with future business growth. Thirdly, we are also working with our head office on a new core banking system initiative. It is a 84

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engine behind our 2015 Fun Plus rewards scheme. By understanding our customer behaviour, through our internal database, we have developed an extremely successfully scheme to improve the customer loyalty, by giving the right rewards to the right customers and products.

FST MEDIA: What is the role of technology in your everyday life?

WONG: I am the co-founder of a popular website ‘HKGolden’ in Hong Kong. I have used my knowledge and interest plus a little capital to create HKGolden in Hong Kong since the year 2000. It began as a PC hardware website but it has evolved into a popular discussion forum for young citizens in Hong Kong to discuss any topic. It is so popular that the topics in the forum have been adopted in various movies in Hong Kong and HKGolden has become a subculture for the city. There are millions of members in the forum and almost a billion page views a month.

The story of the HKGolden startup has been documented and published in a book and this is something I will always be proud of.

FST MEDIA: What is the best advice you have received?

WONG: The best advice I received at the personal level was to stay hungry and stay foolish. At the organisational level, choose an organisation that can meet your needs and grow with you.

FST MEDIA: How important is the role of the CIO and what are your views on its evolution in the future?

WONG: There is no doubt that the CIO role is very important in any organisation, but the reality is that it is still not a front-office role unless you are working in a technology company, so it will never have as much importance as the role of a top of the line sales manager, CEO or CFO. It is not related to how technology evolves, it is more related to the business nature of the organisation itself.

FST MEDIA: What will be the most significant challenge facing IT in the year ahead?

WONG: For banking IT, the major challenge is to meet and manage consumer expectations.

Everyone is getting used to Facebook, WhatsApp, Taobao and WeChat and they have become the de-facto standard of how IT should work. Consumers are expecting banks to catch up too. Unfortunately, most banks’ technology levels are still archaic and it is extremely risky and impractical to completely revamp their infrastructure.

Banks must embrace this transformation to update their stable but outdated, technology platforms but they cannot rush this process nor rebuild too quickly.

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy they wish to be remembered for, what is yours?

WONG: I want to be remembered for helping CCB being a pioneer when it comes to engaging our customers and securing their data. Securing and protecting customer information is always the most important priority for banks. In Hong Kong, the HKMA and other regulatory authorities have already published more than enough guidelines for banks to follow, and I would say that the mobile banking users here, in general, are very safe.

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W H O’ S W H O Q& A // SC O T T WAT T E RS

Scott Watters ASIA PACIFIC

REGIONAL HEAD OF IT GLOBAL LIFE APAC AT ZURICH

Finally, we cannot deliver anything without the right people. People with the right attitude, skills, capability, and motivation are important to me. In my opinion, having fun while still delivering is also critical to success.

FST MEDIA: What do you foresee as being the next big technological innovation in the insurance industry?

WATTERS: We want to simplify insurance

FST MEDIA: What are your IT priorities for

through the use of data. Why must customers be asked multiple questions during the underwriting process? We should be able to pre-fill many of these questions by requesting permission from the customer to access data about themselves, whether this is for mobile, wearables, home automation, location information, medical, social, or any other area.

Bio-tech is also another key innovation for the industry. Insurance organisations invest heavily in medical research to look for new and innovative ways to battle disease and help rehabilitate people more quickly. The technological advancements in this space are continually evolving, and this will impact the insurance industry in multiple ways.

the next 12 to 18 months?

WATTERS: I have four major priorities, Keeping the customer in mind in everything we do; this is easier said than done. It is easy to resort to doing things because we believe this is what a customer expects, or because our organisation has always done something in a particular way, but we need to constantly ask the question: “How will this benefit our customers?”

We are in the final year of our three year business strategy to which we have an IT strategy and roadmap aligned. Our focus must be maintained to ensure we can deliver successfully. I am confident we will succeed, as we have made great technology choices, have a motivated and highly skilled team, and all believe we can achieve the goals which have been set.

We need to build the next ‘three year strategy’ which I am very excited about, as I believe the insurance industry, customer service and customer expectations will change drastically between now and 2020.

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FST MEDIA: How can financial organisations harness the potential of mobile technology to reach Gen Y customers?

WATTERS: You will not reach many generations these days without access to mobile technology – and not only Gen Y customers. Insurers should not only consider mobiles a channel to access their organisation, but a device which can help you learn a lot about your customer. For example, we can now add content-based on context, through beacon to geo-fencing technology.

Customers expect personalised service, and this can be achieved by recognising them as individuals in your transactions.

Mobile technology and social media are combining to empower customers, amplifying their sentiments – both positive and negative.

As a brand, that is exciting, because it means our positive stories can get a much wider audience, but it also puts us on notice: it means we can never afford to ‘drop the ball’ or lose focus with our customers.

FST MEDIA: How will the Net Promoter System (NPS) allow Zurich to deliver an enhanced customer experience?

WATTERS: We are always seeking feedback from customers to alert us to what we can improve. It is a process that must be continuous, and the NPS has allowed us to do this as well as gain valuable insights. It is all-too-easy to become inward-looking, so it is great to be able to share these insights with staff to give us greater perspective around our customers. NPS allows our staff to put themselves in the customer’s shoes and view our proposition from the outside.

We also make a point of involving our executive team in some of our calls to customers, offering all levels of management a chance to speak with our clients. Generally these calls are received very well and can actually turn client perceptions around.

FST MEDIA: How will automating Zurich’s underwriting process help to simplify operations in the future?

WATTERS: We want to make the underwriting process simpler for customers, to ensure the flow of questioning is natural and easy to complete. By automating this process, customers can get an answer on the spot.

FST MEDIA: How have you dealt with challenges in your career?

WATTERS: I have had challenges, and some of them were very difficult. I have dealt with them openly and honestly. I am not one for politics and will argue for what I believe is right. The key take-away for me is to learn from each one and to not lose confidence or motivation, even if the result does not go as planned.

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy they wish to be remembered for, what is yours?

WATTERS: To deliver innovative solutions to the insurance industry that benefit customers beyond their expectations. In addition, to ensure my team continues to grow and develop to reach our full potential.

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CO - SPONSO R E D A R T I C LE

Disruptive Change Requires Insurers to Sharpen Strategic, Analytic Skills Insurers are being confronted by several waves of disruptive changes that threaten to upend long-standing ways of doing business, according to Capgemini’s World Insurance Report 2015.

Extensive consumer research based on surveys of more than 15,500 consumers across 30 countries documents a disquieting drop in positive customer experiences with insurance providers.

Despite ongoing investments in improving services, positive customer experience levels decreased by more than two per cent across Asia Pacific.

The inability of insurers to meet the constantly evolving expectations of the tech-savvy populations they serve appears to play a role, particularly in the developed Asia Pacific markets of Australia, Korea, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore.

Most customers are now accustomed to receiving exemplary services via the digital channels for sectors such as retail, travel and to a certain extent, banking.

Hence, their expectations from these digital channels are quite high, even for insurance products.

As such, experience levels from digital channels are lower when compared to the agent channel.

Insurers also need to start investing in transforming other areas of the value chain apart from front office alone to create a holistic positive customer experience.

Furthermore, there are many changes that threaten to negatively impact the insurance

industry’s stability, according to in-depth interviews with key senior executives.

Big data analytics is expected to have the biggest impact, with 78 per cent of executives citing it as a key disruptive force.

Regulatory change was ranked second and economic uncertainty ranked third at 42 per cent.

Big data analytics, in collaboration with effective leverage of the mobile channel and the Internet of Things (IoT) phenomenon, has the power to help insurers address the growing demands of their evolving businesses.

By providing insurers with a complete view of customer data and relationships, big data analytics will also help them to connect elegantly and engage more often with customers.

To move from the current states of mostly basic and median competency to leading-edge and advanced practices, insurers must adopt a more customercentric approach.

The use of analytics to assimilate customer data, have a holistic view of relationships and deliver personalised products through appropriate channels will be essential to succeeding as a customer-oriented insurer of the future.

Big data analytics will also become a key enabler as insurers move from their traditional business model to a future data driven business model based on individual risk assessment and preventive claims scenario.

Dipak Sahoo DIRECTOR – INSURANCE PRACTICE LEAD CAPGEMINI AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

“ Used effectively,

big data analytics represents a positive force of change.

”

To learn more, download the Capgemini’s 2015 World Insurance Report at fst.net.au/whitepapers/world-insurance-report-2015

twitter.com/@sahoodk

www.au.capgemini.com W HO ’ S W HO O F FS I

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to maintain relationships. Segment marketing will increase in importance for these categories as brands bridge their strategies to transition from the insured middle-age segment to the younger under-insured segments.

FST MEDIA: What are your priorities for the next 12 to 18 months?

ADAM: Whilst we are a leading brand in

Mohamed Adam Wee Abdullah MALAYSIA

GROUP CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, MAYBANK GROUP

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FST MEDIA: What technology or innovation will be a game-changer for the insurance industry in the year ahead?

ADAM: The insurance industry, in general has been a latecomer in the field of technology and innovation. The social channels will emerge as an important platform by enhancing the awareness of customers’ life-stage insurance needs, and as a forum to gain views and opinions to help us make informed decisions.

There will also be more direct, self-service channels, either via internet or mobile, which will improve the turnover and persistency of simple products. The inclusion of insurance will be more relevant, timely and meaningful, through better CRM and data analytics, so that customers will not overlook their insurance needs. A good insurance agency will master the skills to manage their business and engage their clients via social platforms

Malaysia, we are still considered more of a challenger brand in other markets. There will be a lot of focus on our other home markets, like Singapore and Indonesia. We will be looking at marketing programs to help us accelerate growth in the opportunity markets.

We have immersed ourselves in the areas of social-channel customer service, cloud solutions, CRM, big data and mobile. We have successfully deployed quite a number of these initiatives across our key markets. In the immediate term, we will be focused on mobile innovations and also on driving a deeper adoption of the solutions which we have already deployed.

In the mobile space, we have recently launched a new M2u mobile app that has a much improved user interface. It also provides for a simple ‘quick balance inquiry’ interface for customers who are still skeptical about transacting online, but would like a convenient and secure way to check their account balances, anytime and anywhere.

FST MEDIA: How will Maybank leverage digital platforms to reach out to a growing Gen Y customer base?

ADAM: Financial products and services cater to changing life-stage needs and continue to have relevance in serving these needs.

However, technology is a major factor in changing customer consumption expectations and behaviour. We have been investing in building our tools and capabilities to deliver more quickly to customers leveraging digital platforms.

For example, we have introduced Maybank2u pay which is designed to facilitate micro-entrepreneurs, particularly Gen Y who run online businesses through their blogs. Maybank2u Pay offers a convenient payment platform that helps them manage

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W H O’ S W H O Q& A // M O H A M E D A DA M W E E A B DU L L A H

their sales transactions systematically and professionally. It also functions as a simplified ‘cash management’ system that enables reconciliation of sales, provides email notifications for every transaction, sales records for up to 60 days and, most importantly, details of the type of transaction with each of their customers.

Another innovation that we have introduced leverages the growing trend of photography posting (such as Instagram) and self-entrepreneurship which is becoming increasingly popular among Gen Y. We developed a ‘Snap&Sell’ app that allows users to instantly post a sale by taking a picture of their product and sharing the link in their social network such as Facebook, Whatsapp, or via SMS. The payment for the transaction is then easily enabled through Maybank2u via the ‘Snap&Sell’ app on the sales site.

What we are doing is focusing on the key behavioural traits of Gen Y today, including their propensity to use digital devices and being increasingly mobile. Our priority is to use digital platforms to meet specific banking, payment and lifestyle needs that Gen Y may have.

FST MEDIA: How will you harness the potential of data analytics to deliver targeted and relevant content to customers and a seamless customer journey?

ADAM: We have a balanced view towards big data and CRM in terms of harnessing the potential of data analytics. We do not want to over-invest in unravelling the insights that big data promises if the upside for us is marginal. The application of some traditional approaches to understanding customer insights can still be very effective, as behaviours are not as unique to each individual as we assume. Customers typically orientate towards what is trending and fads can be capitalised on for the short term.

However, we have to be fast in our execution.

Most targeted marketing efforts in this space are likely to be permission-based marketing, due to privacy regulations.

What we have injected into most digital platforms we build is the ability to analyse the performance of the contents we serve, be it our website or mobile apps. What will

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The most important ingredient for innovation is a provocative challenge to fuel passionate commitment to the cause.

is coming, in terms of a seamless customer experience, will be a simple processing of account opening and applications via digital channels, which will also provide faster approvals.

FST MEDIA: What is your most effective customer acquisition channel and why?

ADAM: Our dependency on physical channels for customer acquisition is still high, considering that the implementation of simple processing continues to be plagued by complexities in technology-related implementations. We have the largest distribution, in terms of branches, in Malaysia to serve all segments of our customers and we have more than 2,400 offices worldwide.

We will continue to harness the potential of this channel, whilst developing other channels that are in line with changing consumption behaviors of customers, in the markets that we operate.

FST MEDIA: How do you encourage a culture of innovation in your team?

ADAM: A culture of innovation is important to both our short-term goals and also to the delivery of our long-term vision.

For innovation to become a culture in an organisation, the employees need to understand it in its simplest form. At Maybank, all employees are encouraged to share their ideas and we organise regular competitions to uncover the best ideas to improve our processes, products and services.

Winners will typically get support and funding to execute the winning ideas. This philosophy is embedded in our brand DNA.

When we want to be deliberate about innovation, establishing a clear problem statement, allowing iterative experimentations and providing provocative challenges to the team is essential. It always starts with a problem statement; half the problem is already solved if you can identify it clearly. We also appreciate that we have to invest in finding out what it is that we do not know. This can take the form of investing in learning from other sectors and also from markets and organisations that are ahead of us in solving the problems that we want to resolve, or in capitalising on the opportunities that are present. Investments also need to take the form of marketing experimentations where, through an iterative approach in implementation, we can fail quickly and focus on doing more of what works. The most important ingredient for innovation is the presence of a provocative challenge to fuel passionate commitment to the cause. The outcome must be meaningful and game-changing, and it must give us a key competitive advantage.

FST MEDIA: How significant is the role of technology in your everyday life?

ADAM: When we have too much exposure to technology, we appreciate our offline time more. Technology plays an integral role in every aspect of my work life and I have five mobile devices that I use for work and on average, I work with three display screens on my desk at any one time. I have a device for every operating system, so that I can appreciate the user experience when considering user interfaces for our implementations on these platforms. I subscribe to every social platform for my work, but am completely inactive on Facebook. In my personal life, I only use one phone and the only other forms of technology that I enjoy are my television and car.

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy they wish to be remembered for, what is yours?

ADAM: I want to be remembered as the CMO who brought the science of marketing into the Maybank Group and helped steer the group to be among the top marketing organisations in the world.

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CO - S PONSO R E D A R T I C LE

Ensuring Mobile Security Through Identification, Authenticity and Trustworthiness Using a personal mobile device for financial can run unverified app code or access traditionally transactions exposes enterprises to risks that most locked-down device capabilities. Therefore, a are unable to detect and therefore prevent. This is device’s trustworthiness must always be questioned. mainly due to the inability to transform traditional The ability to guarantee the trustworthiness of a access services to adapt to the mobile-threat device is vital in addressing mobile transaction landscape, while maintaining the delivery speed that security concerns. is expected by their clients, as well as competing successfully with their peers.

Identification of the user The transformation of application-delivery Mobile device capabilities expose features that approaches continues to introduce new vulnerabilities, enable stronger authentication patterns that satisfy but mobile transaction security demands a new customer usage preferences. Binding a user perspective. To date, discussions have focused through a known, single password to a previously mainly on protecting internal networks from malware registered device is becoming a widely accepted Christopher hosted on enterprise mobile devices; this article will baseline for low-value mobile transaction security Hockings, consider the threat from the perspective of delivering policies. At the lowest level of assurance, the user IBM Master Inventor transactional consumer apps. of a registered app (without presenting the single Federal Reserve banks across the globe are simultaneously password) can grant basic read-only access to financial data. pushing for real-time payment processing. This puts additional This design approach has provided a significant improvement responsibilities on fraud teams to detect and prevent credit card in user satisfaction for enterprises that have delivered graduated, and ATM fraud in near real-time. authenticated capabilities to enable swipe-for-balance and PIN-based authentication mechanisms for higher-level access.

Authenticity of the app

A large percentage of functionality is embedded within the mobile app, so it has the ability to interact directly with features of the device itself. These approaches utilise the level of protection that traditional internet browsers provide, and this aspect is easily overlooked by service-delivery teams. Leakage of the app functionality to a malicious individual can reveal intelligence about how the app itself is designed and how it operates at runtime. This exposes the internal workings of the app code and enables an attacker to access, modify, rebuild and deploy without the transaction service becoming aware of those changes.

Trustworthiness of the device This mobile app code must support a broad range of devices, each running potentially different operating environments, resulting in the app being exposed to a broad range of potential vulnerabilities across the support devices. Although Apple provides regular, consistent updates for the Apple device ecosystem, the same cannot be said for Google’s Android.

This fragmentation creates an opportunity for attackers to target operating systems running on devices where known vulnerabilities remain unpatched. Even with Apple devices, it is well known that some owners ‘jailbreak’ their devices, so they

Mobile transaction security offerings The following are three well-defined cybersecurity domains that must be integrated concurrently to provide a framework for implementing end-to-end mobile transaction security: • Access Management: A set of services which, among other capabilities, provide authentication and user context-based decisions for Web and RESTful Web services. When used with the aforementioned capabilities, products in this domain must provide the risk-based framework for authorising users on devices, using a particular app code to perform transactions. It must provide this capability, along with a set of industry-standard authentication mechanisms, to authenticate users.

• Fraud Protection Services: This ensures that the status of the connecting device is known. It includes the identification of an individual device and attributes of the device, such as “jailbroken”, “rooted”, malware infection status, installation of rogue applications and the use of “root-hiding” tools.

It provides quantitative, risk-based trustworthiness metrics which reflect the device’s operating state.

• Application Security: Application protection “wraps” the app code to ensure executable code authenticity, i.e. the app being used on the device has not been tampered with.

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payments now being made available on smart devices.

Defending payments in the mobile landscape will require eftpos and bank credit card functionality to be available on mobile smart devices and easily integrated into mobile banking applications. The industrywide ‘NZ wallet’ approach is a positive step in this direction.

FST MEDIA: What is the ‘holy grail’ that technology and innovation are yet to deliver in financial services?

JONES: ASB is well known for its great customer engagement and long term technology leadership, so a ’holy grail’ for us would be the achievement of genuine flexibility and tailoring of the customer experience at scale. While we can do this individually in certain systems, we aim to be able to treat every customer as a true ‘segment of one’, in the channel of their choice, at any time they choose.

FST MEDIA: What are the next steps for ASB to strengthen its real-time banking offering for customers?

JONES: Our proven real-time capability

Russell Jones NEW ZEALAND

EXECUTIVE GENERAL MANAGER, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION, ASB BANK

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FST MEDIA: How can banks fight the threat of disintermediation in the payments landscape?

JONES: As we are seeing in the US, potential disruption with mobile payments (e.g. Apple Pay, Square and Google) will eventually replace traditional plastic card-based payments in both physical and remote situations. In New Zealand, we have one of the world’s leading domestic payments environments, with Kiwis enjoying seamless payments at POS eftpos with resulting cash usage rates being the lowest in the OECD. However, eftpos and credit card payments are primarily based on older magstripe and chip technologies, and these are being rapidly outmoded by the faster, more convenient ‘contactless’ tap-and-go

positions us extremely well as customer expectations are now that this a basic hygiene factor. Our customers are already benefiting from the integration of our banking systems, with real-time accounting systems like Xero and MYOB, and we have aggressive plans to add further functionality and data access. The API capability we launched last year enables us to securely expose more functionality at an increased pace, enabling real-time banking to power the digital economy.

FST MEDIA: What are your IT priorities for the next 12 to 18 months?

JONES: We have our base workload of the refreshing of our infrastructure, and upgrades to applications, coupled with a number of specific initiatives to support our strategic objectives. Within the technology function, we are continuing to leverage Agile and dev-ops to improve overall throughput and delivery speed.

RUSSE L L JON ES // W H O’ S W H O Q& A

FST MEDIA: What is the value in ASB Bank providing a public-facing Application Programming Interface (API) for the bank, customers and app developers?

JONES: Banks provide critical services in the digital economy and as the need for speed and integration increases, we have to remove traditional constraints and position ourselves differently to remain relevant. We are on a critical path looking for new capabilities, and we recognise that we cannot realistically address all development and access demands. Through our API capability, we can provide developers and partners with secure access to the data and functionality that they need, to build customer experiences, create new value ecosystems and address real challenges and opportunities.

FST MEDIA: How will the implementation of PayTag technology deliver value to customers, and how do you plan to drive the adoption of contactless payments in New Zealand?

JONES: PayTag offers a simple option for customers who prefer the convenience of ‘tap and go’ payments using Visa Paywave technology, with all of the security features of a normal credit card. The value for the customer is not just in the Tag and its associated novelty, but in the ASB mobile banking application linked to the Tag. With security as the priority, upon receipt by mail, customers can activate PayTag via online banking and also choose their PIN. ASB’s PayTag customers are then offered the option to turn the tag on or off, or link the Tag to accounts of their choosing.

Of course, the PayTag does not need to be attached to a phone, but there is clearly a great potential there, given that customers generally have their phone with them, and the capability for this to become a ‘payment device’ is compelling.

On Android phones, the PayTag may become less relevant over time as phone manufacturers provide built-in contactless (NFC) capability. We also recognise that, for customers with pre- iPhone 6 devices and ApplePay, there is no NFC capability, so PayTag is a convenient bridging technology.

Banks are being confronted by a tidal wave of change, driven largely by technology and digitisation.

platforms develop; for example, we recently launched our ASB Snapchat account and we have had tremendous feedback and engagement. Social media is a rapidly changing space, so we are continually keeping an eye on developments, to see how we can leverage these for the benefit of our customers.

FST MEDIA: How do you encourage a culture of innovation in your team?

FST MEDIA: How have customers responded to ASB Bank’s partnership with Xero to deliver B2B cloud payments?

JONES: The response from customers and financial advisors has been extremely positive, with strong initial and ongoing uptake. The integration has enabled efficiency gains for business owners and for the accountants managing these businesses.

When you couple this bank transaction data and payments integration with the ability to upload historical data into Xero, we are definitely delivering on our goal to be the ‘easiest bank to do business with’.

FST MEDIA: What role does social media play in enhancing your interaction with customers?

JONES: We have found that social media plays an important role in connecting with our customers and it is complementary to our traditional communication channels.

By conversing with our customers in the channels they choose to use the most, it makes it simpler, easier and more convenient for them to connect with us.

Not only are we able to collate valuable feedback from customers directly, we have also seen social media in action, as a way of spreading advocacy via word of mouth.

Additionally, our social media platforms are an ideal opportunity to showcase some of our community sponsorships and events that benefit not only our customers but also the wider community.

We will continue to grow and evolve our social media presence as these

JONES: One great example of our culture of innovation is the establishment of our Innovation Lab team, which excites and motivates through the creation of prototypes and exploration of other interesting concepts.

However, innovation is everyone’s business at ASB: we consider it part of our DNA and it is ingrained in our culture, so we just need to keep providing appropriate investment, leadership and focus around it.

FST MEDIA: What are your thoughts on the evolving nature of the CIO role in banking and to what extent has technology shaped its career trajectory?

JONES: Banks are being confronted by a tidal wave of change, driven largely by technology and digitisation. There has never been a more critical time for bank CIO performance and leadership – strategically, operationally and commercially.

FST MEDIA: With respect to career development, what is the best advice you have received?

JONES: I think the best career development advice I have ever received was “When considering a new role, always think about the next role and if the next role does not provide a clear path to the next, then it is probably not the right one.”

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy they wish to be remembered for, what is yours?

JONES: I would like to be judged by my results and hope that they speak for themselves.

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a great place to work and our flexible work arrangements are well supported by ongoing technology investments and a culture based on inclusion.

FST MEDIA: What technology or innovation will be a game-changer in the banking industry in the year ahead?

BULLOCK: For us, it will be goMoney Wallet.

Mobile continues to be the main game-changer for ANZ, as we continue to see around 14,000 customers migrating to our goMoney banking app every month. Our customers make around 100,000 payments through goMoney every day. Later this year we will be adding a Host Card Emulation (HCE) technology to goMoney, which we are calling ‘goMoney Wallet’. We see this as the next evolution in payments, and we expect our customers will enjoy the convenience of paying for things like coffees, petrol or groceries with the tap of their phone. Of course, in delivering technologies that make payments so easy, we also need to ensure it is safe and secure. Our customers expect this of us, and we take this responsibility very seriously.

Michael Bullock NEW ZEALAND

CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER, ANZ NEW ZEALAND

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FST MEDIA: What are your priorities for the next 12 to 18 months?

BULLOCK: Since we merged The National Bank and ANZ systems in New Zealand in 2012, we have experienced a fantastic energy in our business. My main priority is to build on this momentum and further enhance our customer proposition by being an easy, convenient bank to do business with.

Delivery excellence is a key reason for our customers’ trust in us, so protecting that reputation, as well as our 175 year heritage, is critical. We are in a unique position to connect Kiwi businesses to 33 markets within ANZ’s global reach, and our scale affords many benefits and responsibilities.

I am looking forward to continuing the tremendous work we do in our communities, and working in partnership with organisations that are making such a significant difference for many Kiwis. ANZ is

FST MEDIA: As a member of the ANZ Global payment leadership team and director for Payments New Zealand, what are your thoughts on the emergence of digital disruptors in the payments space like Apple and Samsung?

BULLOCK: We are watching this space closely, as are the payment industry bodies and our regulators. Disruption in itself is nothing new, and remains an important element in any dynamic market place but, as a bank, we have a responsibility to our customers and shareholders. We need to differentiate between healthy, sustainable solutions that benefit our customers and the market place, and those that are short term and risky. In banking, “trust” is a critical element for customers.

FST MEDIA: What are your views on cloud adoption?

BULLOCK: The cloud is a great thing and it cannot be ignored as an industry trend. We need to be mindful of protecting customer

CO - SPONSO R E D A R T I C LE

Banks Risk Disintermediation if they Don’t Act – Fast As global customer experience levels stagnate, bankers’ ability to drive top-line growth with existing customers is becoming more challenging as flight risks increase.

According to Capgemini’s World Retail Banking Report 2015, customers likely to leave their banks increased anywhere from 3.6 per cent to 12.3 per cent. Customers unwilling to make referrals rose over 9.5 per cent in some regions, and the unlikelihood to purchase a second product increased as much as 25 per cent in Western Europe.

“Our view is that the threat is real, it is presenting and very close at hand,” said Philip Gomm, Director – Banking Practice Lead, Capgemini Australia and NZ, a contributing author of the study, now in its 12th year.

Drawing on one of the industry’s largest customer experience surveys – including responses from more than 16,000 customers in over 32 countries as well as in-depth executive interviews – the study reveals a startling reality for banks. While they have invested heavily in digital technologies at the front-end and channels, they have simultaneously failed to keep pace with digital engagement against steadily growing customer expectations.

“Consumer experiences are strongly influencing expectations. In particular, Apple and tablet technologies are setting a very high bar,” said Gomm. “To remain competitive, banks need to drive ongoing improvements by investing in middle- and back-end infrastructure to keep pace.”

Full transparency is now expected across every aspect of life, as consumers become accustomed to real-time information.

“Customers now demand that kind of immediacy,” said Gomm.

Alarmingly for banks, there is also a significant increase in the percentage of customers surveyed who were unlikely to buy additional products or refer someone to their bank. In fact, according to Gomm, customers

are more likely to have a relationship with more than one bank.

“This is challenging for banks, who prefer to create a ‘sticky’ environment where the barriers to exit outweigh any potential action from dissatisfaction,” said Gomm. “Banks cannot afford to rest on their laurels.”

Disintermediation and the competitive threat The threat of competition is accelerating for banks. The main factors driving this threat, according to WRBR 2015 include: • Slow digital channel adoption by customers; • The burden of legacy infrastructure limiting banks’ ability to drive actionable data analytics and insights, which then limits their ability to quickly innovate • Agile, innovative and digitally-savvy non-traditional players and new entrants luring customers away with their array of new offerings To Improve the customer experience and avoid this threat, Gomm suggests the best offense to deflect competition from non-bank players. While banks have focused on front office enhancements to expand their reach and offerings, middle and back office transformation has been plagued by underinvestment and will be key to resolving disjointed customer experiences and improving longer term loyalty rates.

To avoid disintermediation, the Capgemini proposes the following actions: • Digitisation – replace manual processes with digital to bring the bank to customer anytime, anywhere with easy-to-use, one-stop solutions • Simplification – simplify internal processes and external services for a faster and more seamless customer experience • Insights and data – leverage vast customer data and digital tools to help customers make better decisions.

twitter.com/philipgomm

“ Banks cannot afford to rest on their laurels. ” Philip Gomm DIRECTOR – BANKING PRACTICE LEAD, CAPGEMINI AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

To learn more, download the Capgemini’s 2015 World Retail Banking Report at fst.net.au/whitepapers/worldretail-banking-report-2015

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data, so our current focus is on leveraging the cloud for services or data that we classify as public, for example ‘customer help’.

Meanwhile, we have invested in building our own internal cloud for ANZ’s network.

It spans 33 markets and keeps 48,000 staff securely connected with millions of customer records. It helps us to reduce costs and leverages our global scale, which obviously plays well for us.

FST MEDIA: How do you define success?

We make it our business to be where our customers want us to be.

FST MEDIA: How will ANZ leverage data insights and an agile release approach to deliver a seamless customer experience?

BULLOCK: The customer experience is something I am particularly passionate about, and we can use our data to make a lot of transactions easier for our customers.

The speed of innovation is so rapid now that we have moved to an Agile, release-based delivery. It is quicker for us to make changes and adapt, if things move in a different direction from the one we were expecting.

For instance, we are making improvements to our digital banking platforms all the time in order to deliver new features to our customers as soon as they are ready to go.

Introducing small enhancements can help us deliver a seamless customer experience, and facilitate greater customer engagement with our products. We are also well advanced in modernising our technical infrastructure, and have strong momentum in connecting our customer-facing channels with our core systems. This enables better customer experiences and will ultimately have real rewards for Kiwi business.

FST MEDIA: What is your most effective customer acquisition channel and why?

BULLOCK: Our physical branches are still a really important channel for us. Four out of five of our customers say they would like to talk to someone in person when they are making important purchases like a home loan. We have invested a great deal in optimising our branches, so that the physical experience of ANZ is closely matched with our online channels. We have also expanded the reach of our branch network to cover

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87 per cent of the places that Kiwis live and work. We make it our business to be where our customers want us to be, whether that is online, in a branch, or visiting them at home or work.

FST MEDIA: How are ANZ leveraging social media and mobile platforms to engage with an increasing Gen Y customer base?

BULLOCK: We are embracing social media at all levels within our organisation. Our Group CEO, Mike Smith, believes in the future of social media and supports it from the top level of ANZ. BlueNotes, our branded journalism site, is a great external example of how we are innovating to reach new audiences and becoming a ‘thought leader’.

Internally, we are installing a collaboration tool – we believe this form of social media within our organisation will increase interactions between staff, and create better outcomes for our customers. Mobile is obviously an important channel for Gen Ys and we are already investing more in mobile development than we are online.

FST MEDIA: What is the ‘holy grail’ that technology and innovation are yet to deliver in financial services?

BULLOCK: No single technology will change the world. However, incremental developments will provide customers with more choices.

There is a lot more that we can do to unlock the potential of the data we are in contact with every day. We will also be keeping an eye on bio-technologies and virtual currencies: these could have a significant bearing on where our business heads.

BULLOCK: There are a number of key business metrics that determine success, but in my view it is the underlying performance that truly motivates me. Do we have an engaged, respected team that collaborates well to improve our customer experience? Are we fulfilling our corporate social responsibilities, and actively contributing to New Zealand’s prosperity beyond the traditional purpose of a bank?

Our success will be defined by connecting Kiwi businesses with opportunities outside of New Zealand, and offering our unique market insight by partnering with educational bodies to provide a relevant curriculum that ensures New Zealand remains efficient and easy to do business with.

FST MEDIA: With respect to career development, what is the greatest advice you have ever received?

BULLOCK: An old boss once said to me: “take the time to reflect”. Five small words, but at the time they meant nothing to me. After many years, and many pieces of advice, this one has stood out. As my career has developed, I have found it deeply rewarding to take the time to reflect, and to understand how I could have done things differently. It is a powerful learning tool: particularly if you have the courage to involve others in that reflection. After all, a little humility goes a long way.

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy they wish to be remembered for, what is yours?

BULLOCK: Some basic philosophies have helped to steer me in life: common courtesy, good manners, respect and a strong work ethic. These are all crucial elements of my leadership style. These, in turn, create an environment where people feel valued, innovation is encouraged, a sense of purpose becomes obvious and, ultimately, a strong emotional connection is made. The outcome could be greater customer satisfaction or a more efficient operating environment. What remains important is that this legacy will be upheld by those I lead.

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W H O’ S W H O Q& A // L ISA C L A ES

and continuous change in the interest of the customer. This move towards enhancing the customer experience is going to reshape financial services and we also have to consider how will financial services change or manipulate data.

FST MEDIA: What are your key priorities in the next 12 to 18 months?

Lisa Claes AUSTRALIA

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CUSTOMER DELIVERY, ING DIRECT

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FST MEDIA: Which emerging trend or innovation currently flying under the radar do you think will have the greatest impact on the sector today?

CLAES: The financial services industry is on the cusp of significant transformation and that is largely being pulled rather than pushed by digital. What that trend has ignited within customers is an appetite for transparency, immediacy and value. Financial services is one of the laggards in terms of how it has responded to the digital and consumer trends.

What we need to focus on is who is going to be able to adapt and create change in the midst of these trends. I think we are one of the last industries to make the mindset shift from finding the right answer to the optimal path forward. A lot of adjacent industries and other consumer industries have taken massive steps in restructuring their resources and culture to be agile and respond to constant

CLAES: Our strategy in the next 12 to 18 months is very simple. We are undergoing a transformation to become a customer’s main financial institution. In the near future we will continue building out the primary bank’s proposition. We currently have savings, mortgages, transaction accounts and superannuation which are key footholds in the financial services customer lifecycle, but we will be adding a consumer credit product and other essential ‘category killing’ products to that suite. However, it is not just about ING Direct having simple, high-value products, which I am confident we have brought to the market today, it is also about ensuring that our customers have an enjoyable experience with ING Direct. We want to make it very easy for them to see the breadth of our offering and building up our product lifecycle. We have done a lot of work on the foundation to be able to support some exciting work on the customer interface. Now we are focusing on improving our campaign management, content management and personal financial management tools to allow us to be more meaningful to the customer by customers with our proposition and empowering them with the right tools to be able to manage their money in the way they want.

FST MEDIA: How will social media platforms change the way that ING Direct can interact with its customers, particularly in terms of customer delivery?

CLAES: There are three key ways in which social media platforms will fundamentally change our interactions with our customers.

Firstly, in content development, we are creating a content series and we need to consider our target demographic to ensure that the messaging and the creative resonates with those particular age groups. Because

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social media acts as a continual feedback loop, we will use the feedback from that source which has been quite specifically crafted to evolve. Another way we can harness the power of social media is in our tone of voice, so we can ensure that we do not use the language our legal department might use. Our bank is more than just a brand and we are here to help customers get ahead and use social media as a channel in a way that will resonate with them. Finally, the key advantage of social media is being available all the time; it is always online. Gen Y, who are the largest consumers of social media, are always online, so we have to be ready to meet their demands and needs.

FST MEDIA: What is your most effective customer acquisition channel and why?

CLAES: For ING Direct, our primary channel is currently digital; mobile is very close on its heels as we build out the capability in that channel to be way beyond just a service device. Digital is a key acquisition channel for us because it is real-time and seamlessly facilitates cross-buy, self-service. It enables people to be self-directed in terms of not only serving themselves, but also buying product which is more cost-effective. Digital is also a very strong complement to our human channels. If we can build our digital channel in a way that empowers acquisitions through cross-buys, self-service and self-direction, this will be tapping into what our customers want.

FST MEDIA: What is it that first appealed to you about the banking industry and what methods would you consider to increase the number of women in the financial services sector?

CLAES: My background is quite different to traditional banking executives as I was a barrister when I graduated from university, so I have had quite an interesting career trajectory. Banking ticks all the boxes for me personally. I am very happy where I am and I know very clearly what appeals to me about banking. I am a very curious person by nature, I love people and I am also a very eclectic person. I like stimuation from lots of different fields, and I think banking as an intellectual pursuit is fascinating because

Everyone in any industry has to be articulate and be able to influence others. Understanding data is a key part of this.

industry has to be articulate and be able to influence others. Understanding data is a key part of this. There is a wide array of targeted programs that can help women in that respect. There are some forces that will naturally enable women to rise to the top and they are already in play, but I think there are some particular interventions that would help enormously.

FST MEDIA: How are you leveraging data analytics to gain a deeper understanding of your customers and develop personalised solutions for them? there are a lot of parts to the banking value chain. There is risk, process, product, pricing and there is also the incredible human element, both in terms of staff and the customers, so for me it is a complete ecosystem. If you can picture a pyramid, there are actually a lot of women who bank, but there are not as many women in finance when you ascend to the upper echelons of banking. The key question then becomes, “How do we encourage more women to take the escalator up the pyramid?”

I think there are a number of answers for increasing gender equality and diversity in finance. Firstly, there are a raft of initiatives currently being pursued across the industry but these initiatives are not bearing fruit as quickly as the proponents would like. I do believe that attacking the challenge from a number of angles will slowly but surely move the compass along.

I think one of the most powerful ways to implement change in this space is having women making up a fair percentage of your board as well as holding positions in your executive ranks. It is a very strong signal to women externally and internally that women can be leaders and it is quite normal and natural for women to be making these decisions at a senior management level.

I think there are a whole lot of other non-textbook skills that certainly are useful in the banking arena. You have to be numerate.

There is an engendered misconception that women do not like mathematics so, in my household, I tell my daughters that they have to do Advanced Maths. The idea of working with numbers is very important – you have to be comfortable with it. Everyone in any

CLAES: Developing analytic skills to understand our customers is a core pillar of our global strategy. It helps us to understand the problems our customers care about and what impacts them. Through analytics, we can discover unknown points of friction on the customer journey and that will enable us to become more proactive in our analysis; to identify future problems and address them before they occur. Another example would be how we are using channel analytics to show us where on the web people stop searching for information and call the contact centre. This data allows us to prioritise initiatives internally against customer needs, so we can see what the biggest drivers are of engagement, satisfaction or advocacy. We can also see the speed that our digital services are impacting the ease and likelihood of a customer completing the process to switch to us, so analytics are a key input into our decision making to ensure we get the most out of any investment we make as a bank. Finally, data is a great calibrator. It enables us to validate hypotheses and assumptions. If we have the right analytics and tracking tools in place, it gives us the ability to test, learn, measure and progress, so it is a critical tool in the armoury of building an innovative culture.

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy that they wish to be remembered for, what is yours?

CLAES: I would like to be remembered as a leader for seeing people not for what they are but what they could become. The legacy I would like to be remembered for is for being a true igniter of potential in people.

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application, we have industry-standard security such as an extended SSL certificate, reverse proxy BIG IP, secured two factor authentication and embedded software tokens. At Bank Danamon, we follow industry standards, including regular testing by security experts, compliance with global IT and Indonesian Central Bank standards and we continuously benchmark to ensure full safety for our customers.

FST MEDIA: How do you balance supporting a social media presence with the risk of reputational damage?

Satinder Ahluwalia INDONESIA

CHIEF RISK OFFICER, BANK DANAMON

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FST MEDIA: What challenges do emerging social and digital technologies represent to risk management at Bank Danamon?

AHLUWALIA: Recent studies indicate that there are more than 75 million social media users and over 100 million smartphone users in Indonesia, making it one of the top five social media markets in the world.

With this in mind, we launched our mobile application, ‘D-Mobile’, which catered to the use of social media for banking transactions.

The application allows our customers to send money through social media and the recipient can collect the money through cardless withdrawal in one of our speciallymarked ATMs. In addition, the application has features such as augmented reality and personalised photo, among others.

However, every new foray into technology has inherent risks, including vulnerability through hacking. For our mobile banking

AHLUWALIA: Social media monitoring is not just about reputational risk management, but brand building as well. When a consumer says something negative it impacts our brand, but if we respond quickly we are seen to be a responsive company and that can lead to increased customer loyalty. Of course, the foundation of this is based on the soundness of our inherent processes as well as our ability to swiftly identify the problem and rectify it.

At Bank Danamon, we have an established social media strategy which includes assignment of accountability to various stakeholders. The social media plan includes metrics, objectives, goals and purpose.

We have set up policies and procedures for the use of social media for all employees to ensure they understand and follow the rules. We closely monitor for any negative information in social media and update senior management on a daily basis regarding any references to the bank on social media.

FST MEDIA: What are Bank Danamon’s greatest challenges around regulatory compliance and reporting in the next five years?

AHLUWALIA: Fraud is a very key risk in the Indonesian banking context. In recent times, the industry has seen fraud trends emerge in the liabilities business, given that most banks have tightened up fraud detection in the lending areas. We have a detailed anti-fraud strategy that covers the entire fraud-control cycle, from monitoring and prevention to detection and deterrence. At

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the Head Office level, the fraud team’s role is to set up a framework and strategy and coordinate anti-fraud activities through the business level fraud-detection teams.

This effort is supported by a continuous communication stream through email blasts and fraud videos, as well as coordinating and cooperating with police and reinforcement of our zero tolerance to fraud at every internal forum.

We have adopted technology to monitor ‘through the door’ fraud applications, as well as transaction monitoring. We maintain close contact with the regulators and peers within the industry, to ensure that there is adequate dissemination and sharing of relevant fraud-related information.

FST MEDIA: How do you ensure data consistency across all reporting requirements?

AHLUWALIA: Data quality is an especially acute challenge. Without consistent and reliable data, accurate reporting and sound decision-making become irrelevant, because the ability to process and analyse data depends on the quality of the data.

In addition, the ability to accurately measure and manage enterprise-wide risk management would be virtually impossible without reliable and consistent data.

Thus, it is essential to have a centralised data management system or data pooling server with a single common definition for each item of data, as it provides great advantages in producing timely and correct data across systems. Furthermore, this will result in a huge reduction in reconciliation activities and hence will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of various teams who use the data. To maintain data integrity within the data pooling server, it is essential to have a written data governance policy, which should cover data quality, data management and data policies surrounding the handling of data in the bank.

This is a challenging task but the bank has commenced its journey and has set clear milestones.

FST MEDIA: How significant are data insights in managing your risk, finance and compliance requirements?

AHLUWALIA: The global risk theme will be

We will start seeing competition from non traditional financial services players and, with the development of scorecards, we will start to rely more on social media input.

AHLUWALIA: In today’s competitive landscape and with higher levels of transparency being mandated within the compliance and risk management function, financial organisations need to achieve these objectives using fewer resources.

Our priority is to comply with the prevailing risk management regulations.

Data gives us facts about customer interaction and, through the study of the historical data, we are in a position to infer the customer’s future intentions and actions – both positive and negative – which could have a bottom-line impact for the bank. In this way, centralised validated and reconciled data is a prerequisite to strong risk-management activities, such as segmentation and exploratory analysis as well as predictive and proposition analytics.

All of this will be possible, and more importantly, closer to real-time, when we have right quality input. It is also important to have accessible historical data, in order to develop the predictive models and carry out the out-of-time testing in the recent sets of data. In these circumstances, enterprise-wide data warehousing comes into play.

FST MEDIA: What emerging trend do you feel is destined to make a significant impact on the financial services industry in the next year?

the much-anticipated US dollar interest rate hike with its implications on global liquidity.

Emerging markets, such as Indonesia, have already felt the impact, during the equity market sell-off episodes. The timing of this potential interest rate hike is anybody’s guess.

It is also now more complicated by the recent oil-price reduction, which has led to lower inflation worldwide. Banks in emerging markets should be well prepared with their liquidity management plans, and also closely assess potential impact on their customers’ US dollar denominated debt.

On the business front, we will start seeing competition from non traditional financial services players and, with the development of scorecards, we will start to rely more on social media input.

FST MEDIA: What is the most inspiring career advice you have received?

AHLUWALIA: “Look professional, talk professionally, act professionally, always speak up and always do the right thing” is a summary of my learnings from superiors and peers over the years. In short, do not bring your ego to the office, but do remember to bring your emotional maturity.

FST MEDIA: What is your definition of success?

AHLUWALIA: I see success in terms of leaving a positive impact on a community at large. If we can achieve something that contributes, on a lasting basis, to the community as a whole then we will be considered successful.

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy they wish to be remembered for, what is yours?

AHLUWALIA: A contribution that I hope will serve Bank Danamon well into its future, is the recent setting up of Danamon Risk Academy where we offer in-house structured learning, across all risk disciplines, and at various levels from beginner to advanced.

It is in its initial stages, but the long-term aspiration is to provide all our employees with mandatory risk training and certification, appropriate to their job roles.

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be far more simple and convenient, with increasing levels of integration into the endproduct’s purchase experience. Another area that will see advances in leaps and bounds is personalisation. Banks will need to be experts in real-time data analysis and rethink digital ways of accessing financial services, to be able to provide the right products, to the right customers, at the right time. Banks will have to rival technology companies like Google and Apple on the creation of a technology-enabled future.

FST MEDIA: What are your IT priorities for the next 12 to 18 months?

SUPPIAH: The banking sector is going

Iswaraan Suppiah MALAYSIA

GROUP CHIEF INFORMATION & OPERATIONS OFFICER OF CIMB GROUP

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FST MEDIA: What will banking look like in 2020?

SUPPIAH: Digitalisation will dramatically change the immediacy and simplicity with which both consumers and corporates access financial services. For example, banking has been an industry that extended many of its offerings as products, although they did not meet the end-use objectives of the customer.

Take the case of a loan: consumers need the home or the car, and not the loan per se.

Technology is enabling banks to offer models where customers can use such services at the point of need, without having to initiate and complete a separate transaction with a bank. In 2020, the successful banks will be those that recognise the difference between their real products and the scenarios where they are the facilitators. The customer experience in areas like borrowing, and making various types of payments, will

through an exciting time of tremendous change, due to rapid advancements in technology. These technologies are enabling financial innovation at an unprecedented rate, the most significant of which is the integration of financial services into the ecosystems of consumers and corporates, as well as greater inclusiveness, both from the demand side, into unbanked territory or from the supply side, with models like crowdfunding.

The enabling technologies that are digitising financial services invariably embrace elements of social, mobility, analytics and cloud (SMAC). At CIMB, we firmly believe a new world order will be built by those who use SMAC to revolutionise the customer experience in banking. Smart SMAC adopters will create disruption at a magnitude that makes it difficult for the competition to react. CIMB is building a SMAC platform to position us to create order-of-magnitude improvements to customer experience.

We will also continue to upgrade the capabilities of our mobile and internet platforms. Another key focus area is managing IT security risks, including cybersecurity risks and internal controls. As digital banking becomes increasingly the mainstream way to bank, banks should not under-estimate the impact of cyber-attacks.

FST MEDIA: What were the challenges you overcame to rebuild CIMB’s infrastructure through the Optimus program and enable growth across the ASEAN region?

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SUPPIAH: Before Optimus, our focus had been on growth. We had rapidly expanded our footprint, both organically and inorganically. Our business was operating in a highly “federated” model with a large amount of heterogeneity in our IT systems. The objective of Optimus was to converge and consolidate processes, as well as IT platforms, to achieve better cost and time-to-market. Our key challenge was to change the mindsets of the people who were operating with a high degree of autonomy.

Standardising to one common way of working across the region was the key driver that propelled us forward. For example, any new system we implement now has to be preceded by a regional operating model which standardises the processes, policies and organisational structure prior to implementing system changes.

FST MEDIA: How will products such as CIMB Clicks, Kwik Account, Octopay and Octosend evolve in the changing technology and digital landscape?

SUPPIAH: Clicks will evolve to incorporate greater personalisation, context-awareness and intelligence, and personalised communication (text, chat, voice and video) capabilities. Kwik Account and Octosend will both be part of a larger digital payments implementation.

FST MEDIA: How will the ‘bank-in-a-briefcase’ technology enable CIMB to enhance the customer experience?

SUPPIAH: Bank-in-a-briefcase is a model which will increasingly take the bank to the customer. Today, our staff can take a tablet device (with a fully interactive interface) to meet existing or potential customers. CIMB’s mobile financial advisory staff can use the app on their device, not only to gain a credit decision on the spot, but also to enable the customer to access funds instantly. The app can open an account, create a new facility and even disburse funds to the facility. The sales person can then hand over a debit card for the customer to use. Our roadmap will

We track financial innovation by both bank and non-bank competitors around the world, and encourage ideation on “early adopter” or disruptive business models.

see us adding new banking services, in phases, into this model.

FST MEDIA: How important is data analytics in developing a seamless customer journey, and what are your plans to implement data solutions to achieve this at CIMB?

SUPPIAH: We think it is critical to know everything a customer does with us. We are currently in the process of examining our entire infrastructure around data and analytics in a futuristic program we call Business Intelligence 2.0. At its heart, it is moving to a real-time world where customers’ expectations can be met immediately. Our reporting, management information and analytics need to be real-time.

FST MEDIA: How do you balance supporting a social media presence with the risk of reputational damage?

SUPPIAH: CIMB led the charge in terms of ASEAN banks who have been active on social networks. Our presence on Facebook today is anchored. We have more than 2.7 million fans across the region. We have been innovative over the years – and our social media activities have included deposit campaigns and pools to gather feedback and improvement ideas, as well as general engagement on our positioning. We have also always employed an ‘open wall’ policy, to ensure we stay true to the conversational elements of social media.

By maintaining an open platform to the public, there is a risk of reputational damage, but the key is to have a framework to protect, and improve upon, our reputation.

We have Group Crisis Communication Guidelines in place to ensure proper process and communication will be employed to contain or resolve any brand-related crisis.

We constantly monitor our social pages, and any new social presence, to listen, learn and understand how people are reacting. More importantly, we are constantly engaging with our social audience to try to defuse any adverse situation and improve their perception of our brand.

FST MEDIA: How do you encourage a culture of innovation in your team?

SUPPIAH: We constantly communicate the importance of innovation, invite ideas at various forums and formally recognise worthy ideas with awards every quarter. Innovation is formalised as a Key Performance Indicator in some roles within the organisation. We have inculcated innovation in multiple streams.

One example is ‘Leannovation’ which trains our fulfillment-side staff on Lean Six Sigma and encourages the use of lean principles to make our processes significantly faster, more accurate and more efficient. On the business side, we have a fintech forum where we track financial innovation by both bank and non-bank competitors around the world, and encourage ideation on ‘early adopter’ or disruptive business models.

FST MEDIA: What are your thoughts on the evolving nature of the CIO role in banking and to what extent has technology shaped its career trajectory?

SUPPIAH: The CIO role is now one of business enablement. Every CIO must think from both perspectives – business issues and how to solve them with technology solutions – but also the other way round – advances in technology and how they can be best applied to enable the business. With mounting cost pressures from commoditisation and regulation, it is becoming increasingly incumbent on the CIO to reduce the total cost of ownership of existing IT capabilities.

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technology business executive is talent management – making sure that they find QBE the best place to work. as well as to develop their careers.

FST MEDIA: What is the ‘holy grail’ that technology and innovation are yet to deliver in financial services?

BRISCO: I do not believe a ‘holy grail’

John Brisco ASIA PACIFIC

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, LATIN AMERICA AND CIO, EMERGING MARKETS, QBE INSURANCE

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exists, for the simple reason that technology and digital innovation will be perpetually improving, particularly as more people become connected socially and have accessibility to technology across the world. It is still staggering to think that over three billion people across the world still have limited or no access to technology.

When this eventually happens, then it will breed new concepts, new innovation and importantly, even better connectivity and collaboration across the planet.

For financial services this means that over the next couple of years the key is achieving the right balance between strategic technology choices as well as technology and digital bets. Those who are able to flex idea combinations more quickly than competitors, whilst not being afraid to discard or change solutions if the market dictates such a change, will be the winners in achieving marketleading customer experiences.

FST MEDIA: What skills should aspiring technology chiefs invest in over the next 12 months to help build future success?

BRISCO: The key skills are talent acquisition, talent development and talent satisfaction.

QBE places great focus and pride on the importance of acquiring new talent and retaining existing talent, because we truly believe in the human capital value across all our divisions, business units and functions.

Given the pace of change in the technology and digital arena, the quality of talent that I have the great pleasure in working with, is what I will continually focus on to build successes.

Obviously. understanding new technologies, security management and improving delivery pace and practices is always going to be important. However, one of the key underlying factors in a successful

FST MEDIA: How is QBE Insurance identifying and overcoming operational bottlenecks to create an end-to-end seamless customer experience?

BRISCO: QBE is already significantly involved in programs across our group which is focused on delivering outstanding customer experience and propositions in the markets within which we operate.

Insurance carriers and the intermediary market has taken longer to embrace the importance of customer experience compared to, say, banks or retailers. However, we sense a shift across the industry is occurring and QBE is ready to be at the forefront of this.

The latest example is the new underwriting and operational workflow platform that we have recently released in our Asia Pacific business this year.

JO H N B R ISC O // W H O’ S W H O Q& A

Named ‘SmartQ’, the new platform allows our underwriting teams, marketers and operations teams to follow a highly digitised and intelligent workflow that will accelerate the capture of data and assignment of activities, with straight-through processes across our underwriting and operational process chains. Also, being fully multi-device and multi-browser compatible, SmartQ allows our teams to perform such activities ‘on the go’, significantly enhancing the efficiency of our operation and service delivery.

Another feature of SmartQ is that it changes the customer experience from a very paperdriven and high hand-off touch-process that could take several days to complete, into a dynamic, interactive and fast-paced experience that can be managed in hours or even minutes.

SmartQ will also be rolled out to other markets in the Emerging Markets Division this year or next, so that more customers can enjoy the benefits.

FST MEDIA: How will the launch of QBE’s Asia Pacific’s Qnect digital platform deliver value to the business and customers?

BRISCO: Our innovative insurance portal ‘QBE Qnect’ (Qnect) is a source of pride among the QBE Group and our Asia Pacific business.

If we look back approximately two years ago, it is amazing to think that we started with a blank sheet of paper in a kick-off room with 20 or 30 QBE staff members and external customers, to embark on a journey with the aim of designing a market-leading digital and eBusiness experience for our intermediaries and customers within Asia Pacific.

Today, we have a multi-channel and multiproduct platform that is deployed in our two major markets (Hong Kong and Singapore) and is generating significant new revenue for our business. The positive feedback from our customers and intermediaries has been extremely gratifying and we are continuing to work closely with them to ensure they get the most out of the platform while we continue to learn and embrace their ideas for improvements.

The role of the CIO is linked to the perpetual pace of change and disruption in the world we live in today.

collaborative team who interact and problemsolve with all types of internal and external stakeholders, to not only deliver outstanding successes, but to push the barrier to see where else we should explore improvements, both internally and for our customers.

QBE takes great pride in collaboration and pushing boundaries. It is something that really energises our staff and teams across all the regions in which we operate.

FST MEDIA: How will the role of the CIO Achieving success has not been easy.

Nevertheless, it has given all our teams and management confidence in our ability to make digital and technology change possible across our business – anywhere and at anytime.

Qnect will continue to grow and improve in 2015, with additional new products, countries of adoption and functionality being released across the year – we cannot and will not rest on our laurels, and will continue to invest in driving new innovation and improvement wherever we can in the platform.

FST MEDIA: How will you leverage data analytics to improve how QBE does business in the future?

BRISCO: Challenging our existing data insights and knowledge base across all our businesses will continue to be a core focus within QBE. The Group is making exciting investments in data analytic technologies as well as new talent to develop leading-edge analytics capability.

As a group we are confident this will provide value across both our business levers and for our customers, via the implementation of new analytic insights and assumptions into our business model and product and service offerings.

FST MEDIA: How do you encourage a culture of innovation in your team?

BRISCO: Innovation is a mindset – among the functions I lead we have a motto “Nothing at QBE is somebody else’s problem.” Having such a mindset means we have a highly

change over the next five years and to what extent will technology shape its career trajectory?

BRISCO: The role of the CIO is linked to the perpetual pace of change and disruption in the world we live in today. Predicting how the role will change over five years is likely to be fraught with mystery and global society trend-assumptions.

However, I do believe core skills and behaviours surrounding digital connectivity and partnerships, user/customer experience designs, talent management centric, strategic visioning capability, whilst becoming educated regarding continual changing technology and security best practices will be needed for a CIO to be successful.

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy they wish to be remembered for, what is yours?

BRISCO: Since I joined QBE, nearly four years ago, the organisation has been continually striving to facilitate improvement. This really motivates the executive teams, and QBE teams across all of our divisions, to focus on the exciting future we believe the organisation is heading towards.

I would like to think that my role will provide strong direction and leadership and assist QBE’s ongoing transformation of operations, claims, digital and IT from being traditional and sensible, to providing unique and differentiated solutions that unlock the potential for greater connectivity, relationships and growth, for all our customer segments and our own staff as well.

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FST MEDIA: What will payments look like in 2020?

Philip Yen ASIA PACIFIC

GENERAL MANAGER, GLOBAL DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY CENTRE, MASTERCARD

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FST MEDIA: You have predicted Australia to become the global leader in mobile payments, why?

YEN: Australia is now the world-leader in contactless payments. A major use case for mobile payments is Near Field Communication (NFC). Australia not only maintains one of the most advanced infrastructures to facilitate mobile NFC payments, but also a willing population and industry that embraces new ways of transacting. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) was the first in the world to implement the embedded Secure Element (eSE) payment solution from Samsung – CBA’s mobile banking application remains one of the most advanced. Coles, a major merchant, is also a leader in utilising mobile technology to enhance the value proposition for customers.

YEN: The ability to pay anywhere, anytime, with any number of devices, using strong but non-intrusive multi-factor authentication, coupled with many value-added payment functions (for example, product reviews, price comparison, loyalty, promotions, etc.) will ultimately displace traditional payment methods. Having said that, payments systems and infrastructure enhancements have traditionally taken a long time to evolve – the typical adoption cycle for Europay, Mastercard and Visa (EMV), from first exploration to final deployment, is around 10 years. Indeed, while there will be more devices enabled for payments, more methods of authentication and better integration of payments with value added services, we are unlikely to see the plastic card disappear by 2020.

Digital commerce accounts for about six per cent of total retail commerce today.

By 2020, it is likely to be in the range of eight to 25 per cent, depending on how some of the newer initiatives, such as ApplePay and Samsung Pay, will shape the markets. Emerging markets will grow more quickly than developed markets, with the potential for emerging market transactions to be equal to that of developed markets by 2020.

Browser-based digital payments will remain a major force, and indeed may still remain the dominant method of payment in 2020, compared with mobile in-app or mobile contactless payments.

FST MEDIA: What is the ‘holy grail’ that technology and innovation are yet to deliver in financial services?

YEN: It is less a consideration of ‘not yet delivered’, and more one of ‘not yet fully embraced’. While we do have a strong value proposition for merchants when it comes to payments, we have yet to see merchants fully embrace them. Moreover, we need reach a situation where such payments are not simply seen a “cost of doing business”, but rather as a means to increase sales and retain customers.

W H O’ S W H O Q& A // PH IL I P Y E N

From a consumer standpoint, we are already seeing how digital convergence is radically altering the day-to-day shopping experiences and habits of consumers.

While people do not necessarily wake up every morning excited about how they will pay for the things they need each day, the way these payments are made has changed considerably.

Compared to any other time in its history, the payment card industry faces an extraordinary variety of security challenges.

FST MEDIA: What are your plans to integrate wearable devices with payments across the Asia Pacific region?

YEN: We have a strong history of working with consumer product-leaders such as Apple, Google, and Samsung. We will continue to work with industry leaders, as other form factors are introduced for payments.

This is not a new area for us. Even in the early days of contactless payments, about seven to eight years ago, MasterCard had already partnered with vendors to test wearables, such as wrist bands and key fobs, that have contactless payment capabilities.

FST MEDIA: How has MasterPass delivered value to the business and how are you measuring success?

YEN: MasterPass is one of our ‘anchor products’ as we transition from plastic to digital. It provides a strong value proposition of convenience and safety to consumers.

As with previous efforts to upgrade the payments infrastructure, the transition to digital will take time. We are measuring success by the continued expansion of MasterPass countries and the increased use of MasterPass.

Any time we use new technology to make payments simpler, more secure and smarter, we are adding value to all the stakeholders in the value chain: cardholders, issuers, acquirers, merchants, and of course, MasterCard as well.

MasterPass is not the only digital payments solution that we are relying on for the transition to digital. Our MasterCard Digital Enablement Service (MDES) provides critical digitalisation and tokenisation for our customers. It is the foundation for 108

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ensuring safe transactions on devices that naturally carry higher security risks than chip cards.

FST MEDIA: How are you responding to the increasing threat of payments disruptors such as Alipay and Apple Pay? YEN: We see Apple, Alipay and others as partners in advancing the entire industry towards digital. We are an integral part of Apple Pay, providing digitalisation and tokenisation services through the MasterCard Digital Enablement Service (MDES). The payment transaction facilitated through Apple Pay is a MasterCard transaction, processed by MasterCard – creating great synergy between Apple and MasterCard.

FST MEDIA: How will cryptocurrencies affect the payments landscape?

YEN: There has certainly been a lot of interest in cryptocurrencies, and venture capitalists are funding further development. It is too early to predict what will happen and when, but it is safe to say there will be further development in this space.

Regulators will play a key role here, as they are the ones entrusted with protecting the public interest and the integrity of the financial system. Cryptocurrencies embody many interesting innovations, but the public, especially those less savvy with the benefits and risks, must be protected.

FST MEDIA: What role will biometrics play in paving the way for more secure online and mobile transactions?

YEN: There will be increased use of biometrics – particularly with fingerprint recognition on mobile devices – to facilitate safer payments.

Consumers will no doubt readily adopt it, as it is much more convenient than entering a password or passcode.

Compared to any other time in its history, the payment card industry faces an extraordinary variety of security challenges, as the transaction environment grows in size and complexity. In order to protect the integrity of the payment ecosystem, MasterCard is developing standards to ensure acceptable levels of security have been implemented.

In the same vein, a stringent testing and approval process will be in place to reduce the risk of improper use of biometrics authentication methods.

FST MEDIA: How do you encourage a culture of innovation in your team?

YEN: Coming up with ideas is easy, but coming up with ideas that can be commercialised and scaled is a lot more difficult. My focus is to promote end-to-end innovation, thinking through all business and technology aspects with a strong value proposition identified for all relevant stakeholders: consumers, merchants and financial institutions.

I also seek to promote the notion of embracing ideas and things not invented by ourselves. We are a small team and must leverage innovation from the rest of the organisation, as well as from outside MasterCard. In many ways, I view the team as one that packages innovation – while we will generate some, many will come from the industry.

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy they wish to be remembered for, what is yours?

YEN: To be remembered as someone who has influenced technology standards to change merchants’ thinking about payments, from simply being seen as of a ‘cost of doing business’, to truly understanding and embracing modern payment systems as a smart way to increase sales and retain customers.

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C H E L SY SN E L L // W H O’ S W H O Q& A

Chelsy Snell AUSTRALIA

CHIEF TECHNOLOGY & PROJECTS OFFICER, AIA AUSTRALIA

are a key success factor in driving health awareness, measuring and monitoring.

This technology, and its integration with insurance, will only strengthen and continue in its forward innovation path.

The data it provides, and the potential for health diagnostics and preventative alerts, remains an exciting prospect for us.

FST MEDIA: What are your IT priorities for

FST MEDIA: How significant are data analytics and insights in enhancing the overall customer journey?

SNELL: Data is very significant to our organisation. In addition to what our customer tells us, we can gather comprehensive data, and learn how they interact and behave based on different interfaces and controlled experiences.

the next 12 to 18 months?

SNELL: We will be looking at a complete

FST MEDIA: How can social media and digital channels of interaction help you to engage a growing Gen Y customer base?

SNELL: There is no escaping the demand of digital and online experiences, especially with Gen Y customers. They are a generation of ‘digital natives’ who primarily evaluate businesses on their technology experience with them; therefore, we must ensure we have the capability to meet their expectations in any interaction.

Although we must balance the right exposure for social and communitybased forums to maximise interaction opportunities, if our balance is unsound from a technological perspective, we risk driving away engagement opportunities.

FST MEDIA: What are your thoughts on the future of wearables and telematics in the insurance industry?

SNELL: Health is the foundation of our AIA Vitality strategy, and wearables

realignment of the company’s strategic digital needs. Our priority is to provide a technology platform which partners with our marketing team and enables a digital presence that engages our customers to facilitate secure, simple and innovative services online.

Data is also a big challenge for our industry and, from our perspective, we have a heavy focus on quality and insights.

Technology is the essential enabling factor for our vision, providing our business with a capability for quality decisionmaking, discovering opportunities and improving performance.

FST MEDIA: Which emerging trend or innovation currently flying under the radar will make the greatest impact on the financial services industry?

SNELL: Human-centred design: this is about focusing on user experience in our technological capabilities, rather than on function or service. A superior purchase or service experience can provide a key point of difference for consumers, particularly when faced with numerous product choices.

FST MEDIA: What are your views on cloud adoption?

SNELL: Cloud provides the opportunity for connection and scale at an optimised cost. However, I believe we must tread carefully to ensure it is leveraged appropriately, assessing important factors such as the increasing exposure risk for highly sensitive data.

FST MEDIA: How do you encourage a culture of innovation in your team?

SNELL: To foster an environment for innovation, there must be trust, investment and support from leadership. The team should be given vision, problems to solve and license to be bold. We engage transparently and allow boundaries where it is acceptable to fail.

FST MEDIA: What methods appeal to you to increase the number of women in IT?

SNELL: Aside from the importance of highlighting that women can succeed in technology, I think it is important for women to know that it is a great industry that can catapult them into varying career opportunities.

It spans industry types, and offers paths across pure technology, strategy, business transformation projects, sales and people management. Companies like AIA provide a supportive environment for women to foster a fruitful and varied career through technology.

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy that they wish to be remembered for.

What is yours?

SNELL: I would like to be remembered for being an ‘influencer’ and ‘enabler’ of business transformation, particularly through the projects my team and I have driven. In addition, I would like to think that by leveraging technology to its full extent, I am able to provide the company with the opportunity to succeed.

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POON: Streamlining banking operations to deliver both business and customer value is always one of the key focuses for our operations and IT team. We plan to re-engineer ourselves, in terms of our staff, processes and systems, to be more competitive and responsive to the dynamic market environment.

This focus will be greatly beneficial in terms of reducing turnaround times, enhancing service effectiveness and supporting the implementation of new products and services.

We are implementing a culture of ‘continuous improvement’, to help to ensure that the process of fine-tuning our procedures will make us more effective and efficient. This is will be a key objective for our team.

FST MEDIA: What technology or innovation will be a game-changer for Dah Sing Bank in the year ahead?

POON: Mobile technology remains a key game-changer for Dah Sing Bank, particularly as we aim to deliver real value and benefits to customers. We want to focus on improving our interactions with customers in terms of convenience and speed to enable trouble-free services.

Edmund Poon HONG KONG

CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER, DAH SING BANK

FST MEDIA: What are your IT priorities for the next 12 to 18 months?

a seamless customer experience and provide benefits to business operations?

POON: We currently view our IT priorities

POON: The key factors in successfully

for this period in terms of major surgery – perhaps best described as a two-fold ‘operation’. Our initial ‘open-heart surgery’ will involve an upgrade of our core banking system, for more efficient functioning, and a better overall customer experience, while the ‘facelift’ focuses on introducing new internet and mobile banking services to help us satisfy our customers’ evolving needs.

In addition, we are also addressing our regulatory requirements, particularly those surrounding risk management.

delivering a seamless customer experience are the intelligence and capabilities of our data systems, particularly in terms of how we extract factual and quality data from a mass of unstructured data. This will help to ensure our subsequent efforts are geared towards supporting our business operations and overall business strategic plan.

FST MEDIA: What is your strategy to streamline bank operations to deliver both business value and customer value?

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FST MEDIA: How can data analytics deliver

FST MEDIA: How do you encourage a culture of innovation in your team?

POON: Innovation is all about going beyond the comfort zone. It is certainly risky, as there is no guarantee for a positive outcome.

However, we should reward those who

E DM U N D P OON // W H O’ S W H O Q& A

are willing to try and innovate. From time to time, management teams have to be prepared to embrace change and welcome innovative ideas with the appropriate guidance and coaching. However, we should work to identify new talent, either internally or externally, as this will help us plant the seeds that are needed to foster a real culture of innovation.

Virtual currency will be a potential opportunity for banks if it is endorsed by the regulators and governments.

FST MEDIA: How significant is the role of

our digital platform, deepen our customer relationships and allow our customers to seamlessly enjoy our banking services.

FST MEDIA: How can Dah Sing Bank harness the potential of social media, particularly in terms of your customer interactions and engaging with a growing Gen Y customer base?

FST MEDIA: Where do you see cloud

FST MEDIA: What’s next for Dah Sing Bank’s

POON: Customers today, especially Gen Y customers, do not interact with their banks from just a traditional channel perspective.

Leveraging social media to reach out to this growing young segment and to obtain customer insights such as attitudes, behaviours and needs would be the key areas for us.

We view social media as a channel that brings both opportunities and challenges.

We aim to optimise channel collaboration, to produce an effective model which will engage our customers. This will help us to offer products and services of real value to our customers, and therefore help us to retain them. Finally, social media also helps to refresh and rejuvenate the perception of our brand.

adoption in financial services over the next five years?

digital platform, You Banking, and how will you measure its success?

FST MEDIA: With respect to career

POON: A significant number of financial

POON: YOU Banking is targeted at the

development, what is the greatest advice you have received?

institutions have already adopted cloud in areas with less sensitive data, due to regulatory constraints. Cloud adoption will become more extensively used, with greater support and endorsement by the regulators, over the next five years.

The willingness to embrace cloud technology is a vital aspect for consideration and the future adoption of it depends on the pricing and servicing strategies of the cloud service providers.

younger market segment. This market segment demands simple and efficient banking services that can be operated anywhere, and at anytime. Digital banking is the optimal service to meet their needs.

During the launch last year, we rolled out Dah Sing Bank’s mobile app, embedded with banking services, and also provided the brand new ATM e-receipt, to satisfy the needs of this young segment.

Since the launch of YOU Banking last year, we have observed that YOU Banking customers’ reliance on digital channels is much higher than our other banking customers. They perform more digital transactions than other customers. This demonstrates that digital channels do create real value to this young segment.

Our long-term aim for YOU Banking is to further enhance transactional capabilities on

technology in your everyday life?

POON: I am the chief technologist at home.

Being surrounded by technology helps me to explore and apply the latest innovations, not only at work, but also in my daily life, to become more effective and efficient.

It can be as simple as using cloud technology that lets me work on my own personal tasks from anywhere I am. I also enjoy using technology as a hobby. For example, recently I used technology and packaged software to learn more about home video making and editing.

FST MEDIA: How do you sustain your level of motivation in a high pressure environment?

POON: The easiest way is for me to keep motivated when working under pressure is to keep myself brimming with positive energy and thinking. High pressure can drive me to be a stronger and better person

and this can be of great benefit to me and also to the company.

FST MEDIA: Is virtual currency a threat or potential opportunity and how should banks respond?

POON: Virtual currency will be a potential opportunity for banks if it is endorsed by the regulators and governments in at least the major countries. At Dah Sing Bank, we are keeping a close eye on its evolution.

POON: In addition to having sound technical knowledge and operational experience, the key factor to success is to ‘think customer’ and ‘think business’. With a deep understanding of what the customer wants and needs, we will be able to produce an applicable end-to-end solution that will delight our customers and deliver on our business expectations.

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy they wish to be remembered for, what is yours?

POON: We are always remembered for our achievements. Mine at Dah Sing Bank would be that my set deliverables have been achieved and have had a key impact on our business, the customers and the market and what I would hope to be remembered for is my passion in making all of this happen.

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Galvin Yeo MALAYSIA

GENERAL MANAGER, DIGITAL INNOVATION AND TRANSACTIONAL BANKING, HONG LEONG BANK

solutions to our existing branch networks, by using mobile to make the customer experience at branches more pleasing.

FST MEDIA: What technology or innovation will be a game-changer in the banking industry in the year ahead?

YEO: We believe that contactless payments will be a game-changer, given that both Apple and Android have commerciallyavailable solutions now. The use of apps on mobile and tablet, to enable internal process improvements within the bank from sales processes to mobile salesforce enablement, will be another area that will transform the way we do business and deliver an excellent customer experience.

FST MEDIA: What strategies will Hong Leong Bank use to interact with its increasingly mobile customer base?

YEO: We have already started that journey

FST MEDIA: How do you encourage a culture of innovation in your team?

YEO: Our structure provides a framework within which all team members have access to senior staff to share new ideas or improvements. We have a structure that encourages all team members to have access to a lot of information and they are also encouraged to walk up to their superiors to discuss ideas that they may have to further improve processes or platforms. They are also encouraged to attend functions that provide them with an opportunity to network and learn from the industry leaders, not only in banking but also in other industries that are fast adopters of digital technologies.

FST MEDIA: What are your innovation investment priorities for the next 12 to 18 months?

YEO: We will be focusing on mobile solutions and new online applications that do not need physical interactions. Another priority is to focus on the integration between our mobile

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by releasing a new mobile phone and iPad tablet app. Our mobile phone app is available on all major platforms, while the tablet app is available on iOS. Development of multiple apps for different customer needs will also allow the bank to further increase interactions with its growing mobile customer base.

FST MEDIA: What is your strategy to deliver a seamless experience across all social and digital platforms?

YEO: We have launched the bank’s presence on LinkedIn and more recently on Facebook.

There are also plans to develop digital capabilities for specific segments of our customer base and their specific needs (i.e. engaging them for services that are relevant when they are utilising social media to interact with their friends).

We have also deployed a centralised team to engage with our customers on social media platforms, live and video chat platforms as well as other digital platforms to ensure a consistent customer experience.

FST MEDIA: How will the implementation of ‘PEx’ payment technology deliver value to the business and customers?

YEO: PEx is a cashless payment technology that replaces actual cash expenditure. It provides convenience to our customers and is a service that our customers want to have as part of their daily payment needs.

The aim is that this service will make customers transact more using the bank’s services and ultimately make their account at Hong Leong Bank their main operating account, which ultimately will lead to more deposit balances with the bank.

FST MEDIA: What is your most effective customer acquisition channel and why?

YEO: Currently, branches are still the most effective customer acquisition channel, as there are certain regulatory requirements that require customers to be physically present at branches if they want immediate account opening or collection of debit cards.

FST MEDIA: What are your thoughts on the evolving nature of the CIO role in banking and to what extent has technology shaped its career trajectory?

YEO: CIOs are no longer just taking care of service availability and technology architecture. They need to be in tune with the ever-changing landscape and need to be ahead of the curve when adopting new technologies. Gone are the days when a CIO looks at investing in a large system with the intention of keeping the system for at least five years. Now many of the systems that are installed in the overall ecosystem are much smaller and have much shorter life spans.

FST MEDIA: What is the greatest career advice you have received?

YEO: The greatest advice I have ever received is with regards to the significance of disruption: evolve or be irrelevant.

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy they wish to be remembered for, what is yours?

YEO: The legacy I wish to be remembered for is for helping Hong Leong Bank establish a culture of growth and innovation where no idea is too small or is out of reach.

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DAV I D B U L LOC K // W H O’ S W H O Q& A

David Bullock NEW ZEALAND

DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT AND TECHNOLOGY, BANK OF NEW ZEALAND

improve the style and speed in which we deliver change to the organisation. Thirdly, we are looking closely at having a significantly positive impact on our customers.

We have embedded a relentless focus within our teams to ensure our primary goal is to release work that has positive customer impact. This means a strong focus on user experience and design, so we can ensure that we are creating services that add real value to our customers.

FST MEDIA: What technology or innovation is the ‘holy grail’ that is yet to be delivered in financial services?

FST MEDIA: What are your key priorities for BNZ in the next 12 to 18 months?

BULLOCK: BNZ’s strategy is all about enabling people to be good with money. My team is bringing that proposition to life by focusing on three clear priorities. Firstly, we are investing in our people. In order produce great work, you need great people.

However, it is equally important to empower those individuals and ensure they have the right opportunities to do great things.

My leadership team and I care passionately about removing all of the barriers for our people to create an environment where they can do the best work of their careers. Secondly, we are engaging in simplification.

We are serious about making it easier both for customers to bank with BNZ, and for our staff to do their jobs effectively.

Our simplification agenda manifests itself across many areas; from creating more selfservice and straight-through solutions for our customers, to Agile development and development operations practices, which

BULLOCK: If there really is a ‘holy grail’ in financial services, we need to think about it in terms of customer outcomes, rather than a particular technology. Creating genuine customer value comes down to developing remarkable services and experiences.

To deliver that, we have invested heavily in building a world-class design team.

They are not traditional bankers, but they share our passion for making banking better for customers, and they are fully empowered to drive the future direction of our digital channels.

FST MEDIA: How can BNZ enhance its product and customer solutions functions to improve its overall customer journey?

BULLOCK: Traditionally, banks have been centred on products. At BNZ we have moved away from the traditional understanding of bank products as solely accounts or loans.

Instead, we think about how and where we create value for our customers, which can lead us anywhere.

FST MEDIA: How can banks harness the power of social media to engage with a growing Gen Y customer base?

BULLOCK: Nearly everyone, Gen Y or otherwise, is involved in social media in some way. BNZ is active on seven or eight social platforms, but engaging fully with social media is more than having a Facebook page.

Social media is another way of speaking with and listening to our customers and

others. It is more about the conversations that we are part of and, importantly, are listening to. These conversations are transforming businesses, customers and the relationship between the two. We can and do learn a great deal from those conversations and this changing dynamic.

FST MEDIA: What is the most overstated technology today?

BULLOCK: It seems like there is a huge amount of hype across the entire fintech sector right now. Omni-channel, SoLoMo, gamification, the Internet of Things, BlockChain and the ‘Uber’-isation of every industry is happening. It has been said many times but it is true, that in the short term we tend to overestimate the impact of technology, but underestimate it in the long term. For me all technology is a journey. So it is not so much about whether something is ‘overstated’ or not. Instead it really depends on where you are on its lifecycle.

FST MEDIA: How do you define success?

BULLOCK: At BNZ, we have decided to focus on just one key metric: customer advocacy, and we are religiously using Net Promoter Score (NPS) to measure it.

We also ask everyone in the BNZ team: “Are you proud of what you have built?” because while you can use statistics to paint any picture you want, you cannot lie to yourself. If you have employed the right people and your people are proud of what they have achieved, then the chances are it is going to be very successful.

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy they wish to be remembered for, what is yours?

BULLOCK: Creating an environment where our staff is able to do their best work and not be constrained by how a traditional bank should ‘act and behave’ is really important to me. I also believe we have a huge opportunity to provide customers with banking that not only meets their needs, but also truly impacts their lives in a positive way and helps them be better with their money. That really excites me.

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FST MEDIA: What are your IT priorities for the next 12 to 18 months?

TEN BOS: Our first general priority is to ensure that we continue to align our IT capabilities with the evolving needs of our business. Based on our expected business growth and new strategic initiatives, we will assess whether changes or upgrades to our IT infrastructure are required and implement changes to our application environment as part of the projects that are managed by our Change Management Office, on behalf of the users.

More specifically, one of our key initiatives for the coming period will be an upgrade of our core insurance environment for sales and operations, to ensure it is ready for the coming three to five years’ business.

FST MEDIA: How has ‘Ageas FNA’ delivered value to the business, and how will you measure its success?

TEN BOS: Our groundbreaking Financial

Henk ten Bos HONG KONG

CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT OFFICE, AGEAS INSURANCE COMPANY (ASIA) LIMITED

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FST MEDIA: What technology or innovation will be a game-changer in the insurance industry?

TEN BOS: I do not think there is one single game-changer, but it will be the combination of social, mobile, analytics and cloud (SMAC) that will enable a lot of insurance companies to innovate in ways that were not possible before (or if they were, they were very costly).

As an example, for car insurance the black-box technology that provides a significant amount of information about the car and the driving behaviour of the owner will help to better manage claims and create a more personalised approach towards premiums. We will see a similar approach in the health insurance industry, using the wearable devices that can measure and track all sorts of statistics about our personal health.

Needs Analysis (FNA) app, which is used by our insurance agents on their iPad, has helped them to engage in a much better, personalised way with their customers, compared to the traditional approach of going though endless forms.

The FNA app is visual, entertaining and, to a certain extent, fun to use. Although there are always many different factors that can influence the productivity and the sales of agents, the app will definitely contribute to their productivity.

Besides a better-supported sales process, the app also helps our agents to ensure that the sales process is compliant. These days there is a lot of focus by the regulator on ensuring that the advice that customers receive matches their needs and risk-appetite.

With the FNA app, our agents can ensure this is the case.

FST MEDIA: What were the challenges in creating a sound IT governance framework at Ageas HK? TEN BOS: I think the main challenge has been to convince the staff of the benefits of implementing such a framework. It obviously

H E N K T E N B OS // W H O’ S W H O Q& A

looks great on paper to implement a full Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) approach, which ensures that all processes are defined and documented, but I must admit that it was a challenge for staff, as it required a lot of additional work.

To manage this perception we took our time with a phased approach and, where it made sense, we have implemented tools to support the framework. We also tried to highlight the benefits to everyone on a regular basis.

There is always something that can be done in a better way, whether it is to improve the customer experience or internal efficiency.

FST MEDIA: What were the results of integrating mobile applications with advertising campaigns?

FST MEDIA: What role has the Google

TEN BOS: Our marketing and communication

Apps for agents played in the overall customer journey?

team has been very innovative in this area and have won a number of awards for using modern technology in their campaigns.

The team has used QR-codes to link advertisements to videos that customers can watch on their smartphone.

Some time ago they used Augmented Reality in a campaign, to make the traditional posters hanging in Hong Kong truly ‘interactive’. I think this approach to add digital, as an additional channel to the traditional marketing mix, is very effective and is definitely helping our company with brand image in Hong Kong. It is obvious that such initiatives use one or more components from the SMAC-stack.

FST MEDIA: How effective has the ‘Ageas Career Development App’ been as a recruitment tool and what other IT tools have made a significant impact?

TEN BOS: Our recruitment tool called the ‘Ageas Career Development App’ has been developed to give our agents all the information they need for the recruitment process. The app is very comprehensive, uses a lot of graphical elements and provides a lot of information about our company and products, in an interactive way. Because our agents are travelling across Hong Kong and in doing so meet customers as well as potential new agents in various places, we want them to be able to have all the information they need, in a very modern, engaging way: thus the iPad.

TEN BOS: We were one of the first companies in Hong Kong to adopt Google Apps for our insurance agents. Besides the benefits for my internal team in terms of maintenance and support, compared to an in-house hosted solution, all our agents now have access to a comprehensive set of very well-known tools that they can use to manage their work.

When a new agent joins the company, we automatically provision an account on Google and instantly they have access to corporate email, calendar, collaboration options and all sorts of other information that we make available. These features can be accessed on any device. I believe this helps our agents to work more effectively.

FST MEDIA: What is your most effective customer acquisition channel and why?

TEN BOS: At the moment we are an insurance company that uses agents and brokers.

Around 80 per cent of our business is sold via our ‘tied agents’ and the remaining 20 per cent via independent brokers. We believe that in the Hong Kong market these two channels – together with the banks – are still the most important and trusted channels used by customers to purchase insurance.

FST MEDIA: How do you encourage a culture of innovation in your team?

TEN BOS: Besides the fact that the younger generation of staff who are coming into

our team have a natural interest in modern technology and new ‘innovative’ ideas, we try to stimulate staff in a number of ways.

This year we have created a number of small innovation teams that have done some research and studied various areas in which we could improve our services, either within our IT department or to provide something new or improved to our users. A few of these teams have looked at new technologies. We hope that this will help the staff to ‘think outside the box’ and have an open mind to new ideas.

I also try to share IT strategies with the team on a regular basis, to ensure everyone is aware of the IT trends in the market, how relevant these are for our insurance business and how we could apply them to our projects and day-to-day work.

FST MEDIA: What do you consider to be the greatest achievement of your career to date?

TEN BOS: A particular project I am very proud of is an initiative to create a full endto-end digital process between an insurance company and its agents. This was 15 years ago, while I was working for an insurance company in The Netherlands as an external consultant. With the technology available at that time we managed to link up the quotation system that the agents were using on their laptop, all the way to the back-end of the insurance company, where new business data was automatically populated into the system. It was seen as quite innovative at that time and we had a great team of very enthusiastic ‘techies’ and business people working on this initiative.

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy they wish to be remembered for, what is yours?

TEN BOS: In my work I am hardly ever satisfied with the status quo, because I believe there is always something that can be done in a better way, whether it is to improve the customer experience or internal efficiency. I hope people will remember me as someone who has been focused on helping the organisation and the staff to achieve this objective with the help of new, innovative technologies.

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Michelle McPherson AUSTRALIA

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER AND DEPUTY CEO, NIB HEALTH FUNDS

FST MEDIA: What key innovation will be a game changer for the insurance industry over the next five years?

MCPHERSON: Digital and mobile technology is arguably the next game changer, not only for the private health insurance industry, but health and the management of peoples’ health in general.

We want to be at the forefront of this movement, to not only empower our customers to better manage their health care needs, but to also drive efficiency gains through our business and industry.

FST MEDIA: What are your main priorities over the next 12 to 18 months?

MCPHERSON: Our focus is to continue to grow earnings in our core Australian Residents Health Insurance (ARHI) business, as well as to increase the contribution of our new and adjacent businesses. To support this, we are looking towards further investment in innovation

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and business diversification, in conjunction with disciplined financial management.

As CFO, I am also responsible for our ‘people and development’ function. My focus is to continue to foster a high-performance organisational culture that successfully delivers our overall business strategy.

FST MEDIA: What are the key factors that help drive the profitability of nib’s business and how will nib continue to provide competitive offerings?

MCPHERSON: The private health insurance industry is a growth sector. While Government currently funds approximately 70 per cent of our nation’s healthcare expenditure, projections show that this relative share of funding is not sustainable. This, combined with growing wealth and incomes, as well as an ageing population, provides massive opportunity for health care funders.

Given this positive operating environment, our focus is on continuing to profitably grow our Australian residents’ health insurance business, which accounts for approximately 80 per cent of our operating earnings, together with growing the contribution of our adjacent businesses, which currently include international students’ and workers’ health insurances, New Zealand residents’ health insurances, as well as ‘nib Options’ – a service that provides overseas cosmetic and major dental treatment to Australians.

FST MEDIA: What are nib’s most successful distribution channels and why?

MCPHERSON: We understand that each of our customer’s needs are different, so we provide a number of channels for them to interact with us as best suits them, including face-to-face, phone, email, web and mobile.

analytics is playing a key role in our digital strategy, by allowing us to deliver information which helps to empower our customers and assist them to better manage their health care.

One of the other major initiatives now embedded within the company is the Net Promoter Score (NPS). We use this extensively as the ‘voice of the customer’ to assist in improving customer touchpoints and servicing, as well as overall customer experience and expectations. This is driving significant improvement in how we interact with our customers.

FST MEDIA: How do you encourage a culture of innovation in your team?

MCPHERSON: We actively work to create a culture of innovation, by encouraging our employees to constantly challenge the norm and find more effective ways to help our customers. As part of the executive management team, I know we all actively work to create a culture within our people leaders and teams for innovation. However, I am often asked: “How can a CFO encourage innovation within an organisation?” The answer is this: a culture of continuous improvement with a customer focus in financial and management accounting, business intelligence, strategic modelling, development of new business initiatives, people development, and risk and compliance, provide enterprise-wide foundations that are key to creating a culture of innovation.

FST MEDIA: What is the greatest advice you have received?

MCPHERSON: In my early professional life I worked for Gerry Greer, Caltex’s Group Financial Controller, who instilled a culture of “avoid a blame game at all costs,” “always be accountable” and “people matter most.”

FST MEDIA: How will you use data analytics to measure productivity and help improve sales and profits?

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy they wish to be remembered for. What is yours?

MCPHERSON: We use analytics and business

MCPHERSON: For me it is about being a

intelligence extensively for day-to-day forecasting, overall longer term strategy and new business development. In terms of new business development and initiatives, data

leader of people who is remembered for being the leader that other people want to be like, being known for delivering great results in a way that is positive for all involved.

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A N DR E W WA R D // W H O’ S W H O Q& A

Andrew Ward NEW ZEALAND

CHIEF RISK OFFICER, SOVEREIGN

with choices and that will require innovative products that are attractively priced.

FST MEDIA: What is the future of wearable devices in the insurance industry?

WARD: Wearables present real opportunities

FST MEDIA: What are your key priorities for the next 12 to 18 months?

WARD: The changes in regulatory and legislative trends from other jurisdictions, such as Australia, UK and South Africa, are likely to find their way to New Zealand. This places further emphasis on the importance of embedding a risk management framework across the entire business, supported by a strong workplace culture.

FST MEDIA: What strategies or initiatives will Sovereign introduce in the future to help minimise risk and create value with microfinance?

WARD: Research consistently suggests that New Zealanders are under-insured and, as such, there are opportunities here for providing more people with access to life and health insurance options. Insurance could be viewed as a luxury for those on lower incomes, and our data tells us there is a higher likelihood of these policies lapsing. We want to provide more people

for data sharing between the insured and insurer. For example, take health insurance: when we come to price and individual risk, much of the information we use is based on historical data, which is then taken as a predictor for the future. The reality is that more of us are likely to develop life-long conditions that are unattractive from a risk-pricing perspective. If we can use some of the emerging technology to track and monitor how individuals manage their own health, it allows us to reward good behaviour.

For example, where the taking of regular medication reduces hospitalisation, which many would regard as a win-win situation.

I see similar risks to those we have encountered with other technologies, particularly around protecting data. The protection of personal data will become more strategic, with a clearer need to implement ‘privacy by design’ into processes and systems. Insurers who demonstrate competence will hopefully encourage the sharing of more information.

FST MEDIA: How significant are data insights in managing your risk, finance and compliance requirements?

WARD: We have reduced the number of policy administration systems supported, and have improved the data quality at each migration. Our data analytics capability is now centralised and resourced to provide more insight across our products and distribution channels. This has enabled us to challenge some of the beliefs that we have held about our business.

FST MEDIA: How do you ensure data

FST MEDIA: How significant of an issue is fraud detection and what are Sovereign’s greatest challenges around regulatory compliance and reporting in the next five years?

WARD: Fraud detection already forms a significant part of many of our processes and is managed through our control environment.

However, there is always a challenge in linking the indicators of fraudulent behaviour, especially if it relates to internal fraud. The key to improving fraud detection is to provide staff with training to increase their awareness.

The regulatory compliance responsibilities for us are also increasing. This is expected, given the focus of regulators after the global financial crisis and, increasingly, because regulation introduced in one country may now apply to other jurisdictions. If we look at the experiences of financial services companies in other countries, such as the UK, we would expect the cost of non-compliance to be more of an issue. Our challenge is in assessing specific regulatory requirements and applying a pragmatic solution.

FST MEDIA: How do you balance supporting a social media presence with the risk of reputational damage?

WARD: We are slowly growing our social media presence and have leveraged others’ experience in managing the risks here. It is critical to ensure we are engaging with people in an open and transparent way, and that means accepting the good with the bad. In this context, all feedback allows us to improve what we do.

FST MEDIA: What are the three most important qualities for a leader?

WARD: Be authentic in your interactions and courageous with your decisions, but most of all, be humble about your successes.

FST MEDIA: Every leader has a legacy that they wish to be remembered for. What is yours?

consistency across all reporting requirements?

WARD: In order to ensure data consistency, we have developed a number of checks and balances across the process, which are subject to internal and external review.

WARD: Sovereign is well-positioned to take the lead to innovate insurance in New Zealand. To be part of a leadership team that encourages all New Zealanders to take charge would be a wonderful legacy.

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Revolutionising the Australian Payments Landscape to Deliver World-Class Banking

Top row (from left to right): Paul Jennings, Chief Technology Officer, eftpos; James Lind, FSI Account Director, Juniper Networks; Kieron Fitzpatrick, Head of Capability Development, Citibank; Eren Dogan, Chief Engineer – Network and Communications, IAG; Trevor Dixon, General Counsel and Company Secretary, BPAY; Adam Townsend, Program Manager Pi, CBA; Mangala Martinus, Managing Director, Payments Consulting Network.

Bottom row (from left to right): Steven Spizer, Vice President, Banks, FI & Public Sector Group, Citi Treasury & Trade Solution, Citibank; Brett Death, Head of ASP – Life & Investments, Zurich Financial; Natasha David, Editorial Director, FST Media; Louise Boreham, Director, CB&S Operations, Group Technology & Operations, Deutsche Bank; Nathan McGregor, ANZ Managing Director, Juniper Networks; Matthew Brotherton, Director Payments Technology, Westpac; Absent: Tony Ritchie, General Manager, Digital, Technology & Operations, Virgin Money.

The executives featured in this roundtable editorial held the above positions at the time of publication.

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PAY M E N T S // RO U N DTA B L E

Australia’s rapidly-evolving payments landscape may throw up a host of security and investment challenges as financial service organisations try to keep pace with technological advancements.

FST Media and Juniper Networks hosted an exclusive luncheon in Sydney with senior executives of leading financial services organisations to discuss the environment for innovation in the payments industry in the coming years.

The promise of NPP

With Australia’s New Payments Platform (NPP), an industry-driven initiative to create a fast, data-rich, low-value payments infrastructure now underway, executives highlighted the need for an architectural approach to have a cohesive, multilateral framework.

According to Mangala Martinus, Managing Director, Payments Consulting Network, Australian financial services organisations will have to leverage the ISO messaging format of the NPP, which provides for advanced data capabilities.

Banks should also consult with their customers to evaluate opportunities, Martinus added. A payments hub like the NPP will support innovation and banks are likely to see more opportunities arise on the corporate side than customer.

“There are also more payment hubs coming together within banks compiled through single interfaces, and multiple channels and systems,” Martinus said. “Being able to see all their different payment channels on a single portal has been good for [banking] clients.”

Louise Boreham, Director, CB&S Operations, Group Technology & Operations, Deutsche Bank, which offers payment services globally, noted “the NPP or other initiatives could make it easier from an infrastructure perspective to set up a global transaction banking model in the local market.”

According to Matthew Brotherton, Director Payments Technology, Westpac, the innovation envisaged by [Reserve Bank of Australia] should not stop with NPP. “Many of the innovative things that will materialise have not been thought of yet,” said Brotherton.

“The NPP will be an enabler of some of those [innovations].”

Martinus noted RBA’s efforts to introduce a levelplaying field through the NPP and a core infrastructure that can create the opportunity for innovation, whether through a more flexible messaging platform or by boosting real-time payments.

“It is about giving your own internal systems that flexibility to adapt for change going forward,” said Martinus.

Kieron Fitzpatrick, Head of Capability Development, Citibank, noted an often-cited challenge with industry-wide initiatives is that it could potentially inhibit innovation.

“There will be a lot of smaller bank initiatives targeting the real estate sector or getting rid of a particular niche – whether it is cheque payments or leveraging data. That is where we will see innovation happening a lot more quickly,” said Fitzpatrick.

Brett Death, Head of ASP – Life & Investments, Zurich Financial Services, questioned if standardising all the messages in data will stifle the ability of organisations to differentiate themselves against competition.

According to Martinus, banks should spend 18 months to two years talking to their customers about their problems, as well as with value-added service providers in the industry verticals they liaise with.

“That is where they will get quicker coverage and access expertise,” said Martinus. “Expertise will be on a bank-by-bank level, leveraging the platform, rather than necessarily at an industry-level.”

According to Martinus, the next couple of years will see a few battle lines emerge in the payments space. For example, there will be friction between

“There are also more payment hubs coming together within banks compiled through single interfaces, and multiple channels and systems.”

– MANGALA MARTINUS, PAYMENTS CONSULTING NETWORK

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eftpos and card schemes, as eftpos is facing flat-line in transactions for the first time because of contactless payment technologies. There are also changes underway in the ATM space.

“In two to three years banks might re-evaluate the utility for ATMs,” said Martinus. “There will be a battle line with Apple Pay and where they are trying to take a click.”

Brotherton sees hurdles coming from several fronts – security, dealing with non-traditional partners, changing expectations of customers to changing the way organisations will do business in the future.

“The battle lines will be multi-dimensional,” said Brotherton.

Constant innovation a challenge

“We have to build and design our architecture to ensure that we are able to adapt as the technology or the market demand changes.”

– MATTHEW BROTHERTON, WESTPAC

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According to Martinus, constant innovation is a challenge for financial services organisations.

“There is always a new innovation every six months,” said Martinus. “The challenge for banks is they have to back every horse, and unfortunately it is hard to pick a winner.”

Like retailers, banks are also making a push into branch transformation and self-service check outs, Martinus added.

“For some branches, 50 per cent of deposits that were previously over-the-counter are now being done through a self-service device,” he said. “Eventually we will have cheque truncation and automation. Banks are also potentially looking at cash recycling – and that creates issues around infrastructure and how to support that in back-end systems.”

Martinus noted Australian banks’ strides in the contactless payments space, citing data from Visa that indicates 58 per cent of face-to-face transactions in Australia are now contactless. He also noted ANZ Bank’s recent foray in contactless ATM. According to Brotherton, it is important for banks to have a business-led strategy.

“We have to understand what we are trying to achieve, the drivers, and how we will derive value from it – whether it is financial, social or other…

And then from there we select the right technology,” said Brotherton.

“We have to build and design our architecture to ensure we are able to adapt as the technology or market demand changes.”

Tony Ritchie, General Manager, Digital, Technology and Operations at Virgin Money Australia, said the challenge of mobile payments goes beyond merely bringing together financial industry players. Lining up handset manufacturers and operating system and network providers is also a key hurdle.

“People do not know which horse to back,” said Ritchie. “In the absence of that, they choose to wait – both at the institutional and consumer level.”

Ritchie cited the example of eftpos, which started in the 1980s as a series of bilateral arrangements, and took nearly eight years to garner critical mass.

Canada’s payments system, as a counter-example, launched a multilateral system that was supported by all banks, and reached critical mass within three years, he added.

Paul Jennings, Chief Technology Officer, eftpos, emphasised the importance of an architecture-driven approach. “You need to think about capabilities,” said Jennings. “If you are entirely business-led, you tend to back the horse that is currently leading, which could easily be overtaken.” Focusing on capabilities allows financial organisations to think about running projects like infrastructure implementations that lend flexibility in go-to-market strategies, according to Jennings.

“Despite having large shareholders and members, we are a company of modest means,” said Jennings.

“We have to be careful to not back too many horses because of our limited resources. Hence that capability-based approach becomes particularly important.”

Trevor Dixon, General Counsel and Company Secretary, BPAY, a leader in bill payments services for its member banks, sees BPAY’s role as an enabler of innovation for its banking partners.

“We work closely with our bank partners to make sure the experience of paying a bill or other financial activities using BPAY is as seamless on whatever device they use,” said Dixon. “Our goal is making sure we are channel agnostic for our bank partners.”

Steven Spizer, Vice President, Banks, FI & Public Sector Group, Citi Treasury & Trade Solution, Citibank, also noted that banks face the challenge of building the right international payments architecture while rationalising multiple different correspondent partner relationships.

This rationalisation has been driven by the complexity of managing counterparty, regulatory, and market risk – in addition to understanding the payment systems developments in multiple jurisdictions around the world.

According to Spizer, the questions facing financial intuitions revolve around “[how to build] the very open architecture that will plug into legacy and next generation payment platforms around the world, while at the same time building out a unique customer value proposition.”

PAY M E N T S // RO U N DTA B L E

Fitzpatrick added that financial services organisations will have to think across consumers, merchants and corporate requirements.

“You have to move across a spectrum of [stakeholders],” said Fitzpatrick.

Fighting fraud

Innovation in the payments space is also increasingly fraught with security and fraud-related risks that financial organisations must address. With the emergence of real-time payments for even large transactions, fraud monitoring becomes even more critical, noted Martinus.

“Sixty per cent of Apple Pay transactions are done on fraudulent cards,” said Martinus, adding that fraudsters are taking advantage of any cracks in Apple’s authorisation mechanism.

Nathan McGregor, Managing Director, ANZ, Juniper Networks, added that the scenario of real-time international payments could make the fraud risk exponential.

“Banks need to prepare themselves for the fraud risk as much as the new entrants risk that comes with other capabilities,” said McGregor. “The risk is that the new entrant will take the customer relationship and customer experience, which translates to the app on the smart device, dumping the risk of fraud on traditional banking players.”

Death noted that the insurance industry faces similar issues. “We want [payments] to be easy, but there is a risk that people will not see the value in what we are selling,” said Death. “Are customers seeing apps as the thing that is valuable above the promise that a bank or an insurance company provides?”

Ritchie added the approach by financial services organisations is driven by market forces, risk, and customer demand.

“When you look at complexity in payments, it is in the operational requirements to manage risk,” said Ritchie. “This is not just a payments issue, there is a broader issue around IT security and it is becoming tougher.”

McGregor sees opportunity in financial services organisations monetising data they glean from customers, not just from payments. “You can monetise data that you extract about a person in many ways. It does not need to be directly correlated,” said McGregor.

Disruptive threats

Executives noted the threat from non-bank disruptors taking increasingly larger market share of the payments space that could potentially disintermediate

banks. For example, players like Apple have a presence in payments and command a huge mind share, according to Death.

“Whether it is a toe in the market to [Apple] doing something in the future, that is a hindrance to us doing something else ourselves,” said Death.

Spizer added that many banks are still assessing the right value and how they should target a changing market.

“The next generation of payments platforms are capable of passing much more information; what is the information that we are going to value and how will that data allow for improved client experience; intelligence and automated reconciliation?” asked Spizer. He added that banks and their clients will need to work out the value the data provides and who will be conducting the analysis.

“There is a part of the banking transaction that will always stay with a traditional bank; the ‘rails’, as we call them” said Spizer. “But what portion of the payment and client experience moves into this next social money interaction environment remains to be seen.”

According to Ritchie, the trust element connected with banks will remain an important consideration.

“It will be of importance, irrespective of age, whether we can trust where money and information is going and being dealt with,” said Ritchie.

Increasing regulation is another challenge for many banks. “All the markets around the world are doing something different. They are all constantly introducing new changes,” said Spizer.

“We live in a global ecosystem. The financial flows are becoming more international and intertwined and we have significant amounts of rules – technological, regulatory and social – that we constantly have to stay on top of.”

According to Jennings, the next few years could see a contest between open and closed networks.

“The iPhone 6 added an NFC controller which allows tap-and-go, but it is only for Apple users, whereas Android allows open use of NFC,” said Jennings.

James Lind warned against the exposure to multiple platforms across the world and transacting intercountry with the emergence of several digital wallets.

“If we can set the standard [in Australia] for a model that the rest of the world wants to emulate, that would be the ultimate goal,” said Lind.

“There is an opportunity for a healthy discussion among the banking and payments fraternity of Australia to set best practices for other markets to emulate.”

“We want [payments] to be easy, but there is a risk that people will not see the value in what we are selling.”

– BRETT DEATH, ZURICH FINANCIAL SERVICES

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Top 10 to Watch In our digital age, the pulse of innovation no longer beats with the technology team alone. In response to this trend, FST Media profiles some of the key influencers from marketing, digital, operations and out of industry faces who are shaping the future of financial services.

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TO P 1 0 // F E AT U R E

Kelly Bayer Rosmarin

Group Executive, Institutional Banking and Markets, Commonwealth Bank of Australia Under Kelly Bayer Rosmarin’s leadership, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) launched Albert in 2015. Touted as a key achievement for CBA in the payments space, the new 7-inch tablet device aims to compete with traditional eftpos terminals by creating a new platform for communication between merchants and customers.

Albert is the next step in CBA’s vision of creating a seamless software ecosystem aimed at driving greater community interaction.

Spearheaded by CBA’s own App Bank initiative, the Albert terminal is gathering significant momentum with more than 800 developers registering to create apps for the device in 2015 alone.

According to Bayer Rosmarin, in this digital age, whoever makes the most of data wins. As Australia’s largest bank, CBA prides itself on rich, real-time data and providing the customers with modelling tools and innovations to turn this data into results. Albert is seen as a key development for CBA as it provides an open source distribution platform for pushing real-time data to business owners, allowing businesses to leverage CBA’s technology to gain valuable customer insights.

Bayer Rosmarin is Group Executive for Institutional Banking and Markets at CBA. This group provides relationship management and product capability for CBA’s major corporate, government and institutional clients, and provides a full range of capital raising, transaction banking and risk management products and services.

Bayer Rosmarin currently serves as President of the Stanford Alumni Association in Australia and is also an executive board member of the JCA community organisation, where she chairs its Building and Capital Committee. She is also a member of the University of New South Wales Engineering Faculty Advisory Board and serves as a board member of AFMA and the Stanford Australia Foundation.

Bayer Rosmarin graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering and a Master of Science in Management Science, winning the Academic Excellence Award for being the top masters graduate.

Simon Pomeroy

Chief Digital Officer, Westpac New Zealand Simon Pomeroy was instrumental in leading Westpac to partner with Moven in a bid to help the bank deliver insights to customers in real-time. The initiative allows customers to manage their finances effectively and gain greater awareness on how they are spending money. The partnership helps Westpac step beyond the transactional nature of banking and delivers real value to Westpac customers by making it simple and seamless for everyday banking.

According to Pomeroy, most budgeting tools focus on having customers fill out a lot of information and be fully engaged in the completion of the budgeting. The cornerstone of Westpac’s digital strategy is to consider how it can use data in a meaningful way, particularly customer data.

Pomeroy led Westpac to develop Symphony, a banking communications framework which allows Westpac to have conversations with customers through all of its channels, from when customers step into a branch, to when they contact the customer call centre.

As an omni-channel communications engine, Symphony helps Westpac’s front line teams have a “next-best” conversation with customers based on smart data that the bank has access to, thereby enriching its customer relationships and interactions.

The Symphony program allows Westpac to speak to more than 90 per cent of customers proactively, compared to less than 40 per cent in 2013.

According to Pomeroy, Symphony completely transforms the way Westpac speaks to its customers across the board by allowing for relevant conversations and deep insights into the fundamental nature of customer interaction.

Pomeroy joined Westpac in 2012 from Air New Zealand and was appointed as Chief Digital Officer in January, 2014. He has a proven track record of success in customer experience transformation and commercial change management.

Pomeroy is responsible for developing and delivering Westpac’s digital strategy and financial outcomes, as well as piloting innovative initiatives to consolidate Westpac’s wider customer experience strategy.

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Su Shan Tan

Managing Director and Group Head, Consumer Banking and Wealth Management, DBS A key achievement for Su Shan Tan has seen DBS’ integration of the Asian franchise French bank Société Générale into its overall operations.

This move saw DBS add US$12.6 billion in assets which was shared between clients in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan.

Under Tan’s leadership, DBS partnered with IBM to help further the bank’s forays into technological innovation. This unique partnership allows DBS to harness IBM’s technology in the space of artificial intelligence to provide DBS customers with enhanced access to banking products and investment solutions. The partnership is also expected to facilitate DBS’ use of robo-advisers across Asia, a move that will allow DBS to consolidate its reputation as a key innovator in Asia Pacific.

For Tan, encouraging a culture of innovation within her team is a key priority. By instilling a mindset of disruptive thinking, Tan inspires her team to transform their use of technology in new and creative ways. Tan is a proponent of having the bank think like a startup and she encourages her team to keep a close eye on developments in the fintech space, particularly with the increasing emergence of agile, nonbanking disruptors.

Tan joined DBS in July 2010 as Managing Director and Group Head of Wealth Management. She was promoted to Group Head of Consumer Banking & Wealth Management in April 2013.

Prior to joining DBS, Tan served as Morgan Stanley’s Head of Private Wealth Management for South-East Asia as well as Regional Head for Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei for Citi Private Bank. She was responsible for the private bank’s overall business and a board director of Citi Trust Singapore.

Tan spent eight years in ING Baring Securities in institutional equity sales, working in financial hubs in London, Tokyo and Hong Kong. Tan is currently a Nominated Member of Parliament in Singapore. She was the founder and past president of the Financial Women’s Association in Singapore, and a board member of Aetos Security Management, a whollyowned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings. In addition, Tan is a member of the Monetary Authority of Singapore Private Banking Advisory Group.

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Zia Zaman

Chief Innovation Officer, Metlife Asia Zia Zaman was instrumental in establishing futureLab, the first global research and development hub of MetLife. Founded with the aim of meeting rising expectations and changing customer behaviour across Asia Pacific, futureLab is designed to develop innovative business models and to create products and services that are relevant to the Asian market.

According to Zaman, futureLab will achieve its goals by leveraging the disruptive innovation principles which are typically applied by entrepreneurs in high-tech sectors in Silicon Valley. This will be applied alongside the inputs of Metlife’s strong creative talent pool in Singapore to transform how services are conceived, created and delivered within MetLife.

For Zaman, a key goal of futureLab is to explore how an insurer can improve the quality of life. Zaman adds that futureLab will attract new talent from other industries with innovative ideas by combining the right mix of people who have fresh perspectives on developing disruptive innovation strategies and practices.

With futureLab, MetLife is able to foster new partnerships with customers and other sectors including NUS research institutes, medical and pharmaceutical companies as well as data research companies.

As a result, MetLife is focusing on disruptive innovation that differentiates the business and opens up new opportunities. Zaman maintains that the incubation of new innovative ideas may help Metlife to form entirely new businesses within the company, with Metlife commencing the incubation of the new ideas for its hubs in China and Japan.

As Chief Innovation Officer for Metlife Asia, Zaman is responsible for establishing Metlife’s Innovation Centre in Singapore. Zaman is a member of the Asia Leadership Group and served as the Chief Strategy Officer and VP of Emerging Businesses for SingTel’s Group Enterprise.

As founder of Singtel’s Innovation Catalyst council, he also co-led the acquisition of US-based Amobee, igniting SingTel’s entry into the mobile advertising market. Prior to arriving in Singapore, Zaman was the Chief Strategy Officer for LG Electronics North America.

TO P 1 0 // F E AT U R E

Clive Whincup

Colin Chan U-Meng

Clive Whincup, formerly CIO of Westpac Banking Corporation, has implemented a customer-centred design framework for the Woolworths Group. This has improved the availability of critical IT resources and has helped strengthen Woolworths through the recent Google Chrome framework implementation including embedding a new level of productivity, capability and flexibility across all brands.

Whincup affirms that Woolworths will need to balance the daily dynamics of retail against the more strategic aims of a medium to long-term plan to achieve ongoing success. Woolworth’s customers face similar daily challenges as retail banking customers and want to be able to maximise their leisure time by minimising the complexity of their interactions.

For Whincup, Woolworths’ key focus is helping customers to achieve that balance, whether by ensuring better onshelf availability through Woolworth’s supply chain excellence, access to a broader range of products, offering a great online experience or by helping to combine these experiences together to provide a seamless interaction.

An example of this is Woolworths’ new ‘Simply Collect’ service, allowing customers to shop online and pick up in store, whichever is more convenient for them. Woolworths are all about simplifying customers’ lives and providing them with great choices and experiences.

Tasked with the need for digital transformation, Colin Chan saw to Great Eastern Life becoming the first insurer in Singapore to have an Electronic Mobile Advisory Solution system (EMAS), a point of sale system for electronic submission conducted with their financial advisory force. The company conducted a significant refresh of this system with a more advanced version called SynerGE. SynerGE not only improves business efficiency but it also enhances Great Eastern Life’s customers’ financial planning experience.

To complement this system, Chan also introduced iDream, an industry-first tool which allows customers to map out their life goals and personal financial planning needs in a creative and stylish manner by virtue of a highly-interactive tablet. Great Eastern Life has integrated iDream with SynerGE so that all data inputs can be uploaded directly to SynerGE, allowing the financial planning process to run seamlessly.

Chan believes technology is a key enabler that empowers teams and allows them to be creative, spurring Great Eastern Life to be productive and offering its employees opportunities to innovate.

By harnessing the power of technology, Great Eastern Life can realise its business potential. In this age of intense competition and technologically-savvy customers, Chan argues that financial services organisations need to fully embrace technology to innovate and stay one step ahead of the curve.

Ultimately, the key consideration for Great Eastern Life is how they can harness technology to improve overall efficiency and productivity.

According to Chan, this will help provide greater mobility to Great Eastern Life’s financial advisers, allowing them to deliver a superior customer experience.

Chief Information Officer, Woolworths Group

Whincup was appointed Chief Information Officer for the Woolworths Group in April, 2014, which includes iconic Australian brands such as Woolworths Supermarkets, Countdown Supermarkets, Big W, BWS, Dan Murphys and Masters.

Whincup is an accomplished senior executive with a strong track record of delivering large scale transformation programs, who drives strategic business outcomes, delivers technology innovation and initiates new ways of working and doing business.

Whincup and his team are focused on improving business value and performance through rapid technology innovation and customer centric IT solutions. Prior to joining Woolworths, Whincup worked in a number of senior leadership positions in the financial services industry with Westpac Banking Corporation, Lloyds Banking Group, Banca Popolare di Milano and the Bank of Scotland in Edinburgh.

Chief Marketing Officer, Great Eastern Life, Singapore

Colin Chan began his career with Great Eastern Life in 1994 and has been the Chief Marketing Officer in Singapore since August, 2011. His current responsibilities include overseeing the Product and Marketing Division which encompasses the development and implementation of all individual Life and Health insurance products, the implementation of marketing activities and campaigns, as well as leveraging customer analytics to reach out to the market. He has been in this role since August, 2011.

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F E AT U R E // T O P 1 0

Jeffrey Ming Cheung

Operations Director and Chief Operating Officer, Bank Ekonomi Under Jeffrey Cheung’s leadership, Bank Ekonomi formed Project Cheetah to support the tracking of market insights that are accessible by all Bank Ekonomi branches and staff members. The initiative has helped the bank grow revenues and streamline internal processes.

Bank Ekonomi is investing in combating financial crime under a program called Global Standards. According to Cheung, this is a key challenge that will become more common in Indonesia and many other countries, with Bank Ekonomi leading in this space.

Currently, Bank Ekonomi has mobile banking capabilities which share the same infrastructure with internet banking, thus providing Bank Ekonomi customers with the same security but with a lower cost of development to the business.

According to Cheung, a key aim for Bank Ekonomi is to grow its mobile banking activity annually by 40 per cent to become a sizeable and effective platform for customer interaction by 2017. By that time, the balance between branches and internet and mobile channels will reach a new chapter.

For Cheung, a bank branch represents the opportunity to do more than sell products and services; the branch will help facilitate selfservice with an enhanced digital channel offering geared at enhancing the experience for customers.

Cheung is excited by the potential of wearables and is looking at the different ways in which this technology can be incorporated into everyday interactions. The key challenges for Bank Ekonomi in this space will be to conform to industry standards and regulations surrounding wearables, in addition to overseeing their widespread adoption in a sustainable fashion. However, Cheung believes that with wearables, using a framework for capturing useful data and leveraging this data to help prevent health problems is no longer a pipe dream.

Cheung began his career in HSBC Hong Kong in 1989, before joining Bank Ekonomi in 2013. He has served as the Operations Director of PT Bank Ekonomi Raharja Tbk since 2013. Cheung obtained his Bachelor of Computer Science and Minor Statistics from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1984.

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Phil Gray

Director of The Garage, Westpac Phil Gray’s vision for The Garage is to foster a sense of entrepreneurialism within a 200-year-old bank with 37,000 employees. As an extreme accelerator of change, Gray’s team concentrates on customer-centred design and operates with real-time decision-making.

By maintaining a unique toolkit, startup mindset, lean governance together with a mandate to challenge and disrupt the status quo, The Garage delivers solutions in 90-day cycles.

Focusing on incubation, acceleration and disruption, The Garage is at the heart of helping Westpac think and act as Australia’s ‘oldest startup’. The Garage’s key goal is to adapt to the changing demands of customers and broad disruption across the financial services industry.

One of the main challenges The Garage faces as it matures will be how to make sure it does not embody a typical ‘business as usual’ ethos. Gray maintains that a key priority for the Garage will be to retain its edginess in terms of being disruptive. The Garage maintains its competitive edge by constantly asking the question: “What is the customer problem we are trying to solve here? Is the solution desirable and is it feasible?”

Instead of building the ‘Rolls Royce’ solution from the start, The Garage encourages failing fast. The Garage mandate for cultural change is accelerate, disrupt the status quo, and then spread this mentality through the organisation.

For Gray, an innovative prototype is worth a thousand meetings.

Gray argues that his biggest challenge at The Garage will be to make sure the organisation stays lean, hungry and always thinks like a startup.

Gray was appointed as the inaugural director of Westpac’s The Garage in July, 2014. Previously, Gray worked as a Change Management Director for Westpac, overseeing the Deposit Growth Strategic Investment Priority portfolio of projects as well as leading a practice of more than 40 change management, communication, learning and development professionals in the Product Projects business unit of Westpac’s Australian Financial Services division.

TO P 1 0 // F E AT U R E

Simon Andrews

Neil Roberts

With the introduction of Zero Touch, Simon Andrews led ING Direct to become the first bank in Australia to fully adopt cloud computing.

By transitioning to a private cloud, ING Direct signalled its intention to overhaul its existing suite of applications and improve interactions with customers.

Andrews focuses on how ING Direct can take systems and applications directly to the customer in a way that delivers a seamless experience. As a result, ING Direct can now scale infrastructure up and down as needed, increasing agility and reducing costs. The move to a cloud-based operational framework allows ING Direct to simplify complex IT processes and reduce the number of platforms, significantly decreasing the cost of deploying and managing IT. A key advantage of Zero Touch is that it also enhances ING Direct’s business continuity and disaster recovery capabilities with 24/7 monitoring.

According to Andrews, agility is the real value of cloud technology.

However, he argues that cloud is more than just a cost-effective approach, it is one that facilitates greater technological innovation.

A key project for ING Direct in the future will be omni-channel, which Andrews maintains is the “next evolution” in banking. ING Direct is standardising all business functions in addition to its applications so that the bank can work in tandem with ING Direct’s multi-channel offering.

Neil Roberts is the founder of lending marketplace Harmoney, New Zealand’s first peer-to-peer (P2P) lending business. He has turned failing companies into resounding success stories and influenced how government treats business, before becoming a key pioneer in the personal lending space with Harmoney.

Harmoney has attracted worldwide investors, secured cornerstone shareholders, and developed an advisory board from the cream of the global P2P lending community.

P2P lending, by its very nature, is a high up-front investment, low margin business. Roberts affirms the need to scale as well as making banking technology frictionless so that customers enjoy using it.

Roberts has announced that Harmoney is now looking at P2P mortgages. The company is seeking P2P licensing in Australia to open up a market roughly five times the size of New Zealand’s current market for P2P lending.

A business leader and financial services entrepreneur, Roberts thrives on big challenges and the opportunity to build successful teams that accomplish great things. One of his fundamental tenets is that success has little to do with the economy, and everything to do with the business itself.

Chief Operating Officer, ING Direct Australia

Andrews joined ING Direct Australia in 1994 after eight years with NatWest. He progressed through various IT, sales and operations roles before moving to ING Direct in the UK and then TMB Bank in Thailand, which is partly owned by ING. In October, 2013, Andrews was appointed COO at ING Direct Australia, overseeing IT, Operations, Facilities, the Project Management office and Process Services.

CEO, Harmoney

Before launching Harmoney, Roberts was a key part of the team that took Australian company Flexigroup from a specialist product and channel leasing business to a top 200 ASX listed entity with a market cap in excess of AU $1 billion. He led startup company PRF Direct to a pre-tax profit of NZ $100 million over five years. Roberts also launched a personal loan business in New Zealand which grew to NZ $3.2 billion in applications and NZ $1.6 billion in written business over a five year period before the business was sold to GE Money.

Do you know someone who should be featured, or do you have an innovation you would like profiled in our popular weekly online Who’s Who interview series? Email a short biography, key achievements and the best way to contact you to info@fst.net.au.

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The Who’s Who of Financial Services 2015/2016 Directory ASIA PACIFIC’S TOP PRODUCT, SERVICE AND SOLUTION PROVIDERS 128

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W H O’ S W HO DI R EC TO RY

Agile/Lean Software Development

130

Enterprise Architecture

147

Analytics

130

Enterprise Information Management

Application & Process Integration

131

Event Processing

150

148 –149

Banking Technology

131–132

Financial Self-Services

150

Big Data

132 –133

Geographic Information System (GIS)

151

Business Intelligence

133 –135

Infocommunications Technology

Business Process Management

136

151–152

Infrastructure Management

153 153

Cloud

137–138

IT Infrastructure

Consulting & Systems Integration

139 –141

Managed Services

154 –155

Contact Centre

141

Mobility

156

Core Systems

142

Payments

156

Customer Experience

143 –145

Security

157–159

Customer Relationship Management

146

Thin Client Software & Hardware

159

Data Centre

146

Unified Communications

160

Document Management Systems

147

Virtualisation

160

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129

W H O’ S W H O DI R EC T O RY

AGILE/LEAN SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

ANALYTICS

Jade Software

TIBCO Software

Jade Software designs, delivers, and supports innovative software and technology, making it easier for you to do business.

We are a team of over 200 practical minds, strong collaborators, technical experts, and deep thinkers. Our specialist talent covers digital strategy and experience design, creating and managing high performance enterprise systems, and developing software platforms used by companies around the world.

Some of our clients include TAL, CUA, ClearView, JBWere and SBS Bank. When you work with us, the first thing we do is find out exactly what your business needs. We work hard to create truly new platforms and systems that help minimise the problems our customers face.

What do your customers want? What do your staff need to be more productive? How doing business could be easier?

Problems can be tough to explain or hard to quantify, so working with the right people makes all the difference. When we are designing software, we work with users. When we advise on strategy, you are involved at every step.

By filling the gaps between people, information and systems, our expert team can produce the right mix of powerful technology and services to help you compete. Whether you have great systems but questions about the future, or big plans that are stretching your capabilities today, our approach works.

Backed by decades of innovation in infrastructure technology and a customer base of leading global banks, TIBCO offers a unique, event-driven approach to growing revenue and solving the operational challenges of twenty first century financial services organisations.

TIBCO has deep experience working with financial services businesses.

TIBCO’s record in capital markets is demonstrated by more than two decades of leadership in innovative, high-performance infrastructure technology which enables capital markets players to compete in a world where success is measured in milliseconds.

TIBCO can assist your organisation with massive volumes of events and data flowing across your operations through: • A customer-oriented, event-driven architecture that aligns your operations to customers and customer opportunities.

• Innovative event-processing technologies that leverage in-memory computing to capture and correlate millions of events, allowing you to identify opportunities and risks in real-time.

• A standard way to perform integration and create new services, resulting in significantly greater agility and reducing the time and resources needed to add new applications, capabilities and partners.

• Operational efficiency gains and significant cost savings resulting from automation and workforce optimisation.

Jade Software Level 12, 409 St Kilda Road Melbourne, VIC 3004 Australia

TIBCO Software Inc.

Contact: Justin Mercer Phone: 1800 734 760 (Australia) Email: contactjadeaus@jadeworld.com Twitter: @jadesoftware Website: www.jadeworld.com

Phone (USA): +1 650 846 1000 Phone (Australia): +61 2 9458 2100 Phone (Singapore): +65 6836 3880 Phone (Hong Kong): 800 969 897 (toll free) Website: www.tibco.com

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APPLICATION & PROCESS INTEGRATION

BANKING TECHNOLOGY

K2

Avaloq

K2 is a leading provider of business application platforms and solutions that empower people to build and run business apps, from the very simple to the highly complex, limited only by their imagination.

The low code platform allows users to create customised business applications – using workflows and forms – that stretch across roles, departments, and data sources. Understanding the importance of getting the right information to the right people at the right time, K2 allows business users to make smarter, data-driven decisions, fast. In this fast-paced environment, workforces can stay focused on building and growing the business, instead of managing processes.

With K2’s visual tools, creating, launching and using the first K2 application is made simple. Reusable components ensure the next application delivers faster than the one before, and when the business needs change, it is easy to update your K2 apps to fit. Users rely on K2 to streamline operations, save money and reduce risk.

With its products used across the Fortune 500 and mid-market, K2 currently has more than 1.5 million users across 80-plus countries.

The Avaloq Group is an international leader in integrated and comprehensive solutions for wealth management, universal and retail banks. It has a reputation for the highest standards in engineering excellence, is passionate about innovation and invests more in research and development (R&D) than any other provider for the financial industry.

The company’s meticulous and uncompromising attention to detail has enabled it to achieve a unique 100 per cent success rate in its implementation of banking solutions around the world.

The entire ‘Avaloq Banking Suite’ is consistently designed throughout and delivers unique business benefits to its users as well as strong technical performance. Avaloq is the only independent provider for the financial industry to both develop and operate its own software.

Avaloq offers business process and IT outsourcing solutions from business process outsourcing centres in Switzerland, Singapore and Germany. The company employs more than 1,400 highly-qualified banking and IT specialists and has a global customer base of more than 100 financial institutions in over 20 countries worldwide including Tier-1 banks located in the most demanding financial centres.

Headquartered in Switzerland, Avaloq has branches in Berlin, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong, Leipzig, London, Luxembourg, Paris, Singapore, Sydney, and Zurich. It has development centres in Zurich and Edinburgh as well as a development support centre in Manila.

K2 APAC Headquarters 18 Cross Street #09-03A China Square Central Singapore 048423 Phone: +65 6536 3171 Fax: +65 6536 0141 Email: contactAPAC@k2.com Twitter: @k2onK2 Website: www.K2.com/financial-services

Avaloq Asia Pacific 1 Philip Street, #06-01 Singapore 048692 Contact: Gery Dachlan Phone: +65 6506 4046 Email: gery.dachlan@avaloq.com Website: www.avaloq.com WHO ’ S W HO O F FS I

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BANKING TECHNOLOGY

BIG DATA

Intellect Design Arena Ltd

Pivotal

Intellect Design Arena Ltd, a Polaris Group company, is a global leader in Financial Technology for Banking, Insurance and other Financial Services.

Pivotal, the company at the intersection of big data, PaaS, and agile development, is enabling the creation of modern software applications that leverage big and fast data – on a single, cloud-independent platform.

Pivotal has a strong pedigree working in the financial services industry. We believe that banking platform transformation will allow high-speed banks to use systems of engagement to offer great customer experiences, such as business apps that deliver real-time payment information, as well as new banking products and services with a short time-to-market.

We have recently worked with the industry to create seamless, connected and simultaneous demand through an Omni-channel experience for banking customers. We have created innovative business models that: • Consolidate channel investments into streamlined customer experience applications and services.

• Offer lower cost-per-transaction through mobile services where the cost is 10 times cheaper than via ATM and 50 times less than a branch.

• Generate revenue more quickly through monetisation of information and multi-channels.

Pivotal has delivered enhanced customer relationships and relevance by helping banks identify and manage: • Acquisition of digital customer insights to increase opportunities.

• Minimisation of attrition by focusing on churn analysis.

• Maximisation of customer lifetime value.

• Cross sell and upsell through streamlined customer channels.

• Improvements in the # of channels to customer interactions to increase business reach and benefits.

Our Products and Speciality iGCB is strongly equipped with next generation technology products that will help in enabling bank transformation and creating an agile operating model. This enables the banks to offer their customers the benefits of a true Digital 360 customer experience, with Digital Outside (Customer Experience) as well as Digital Inside (Operational Efficiency Enabler) capabilities.

Intellect Digital Core helps banks to become the preferred bank for every customer by redefining the customer experience. This is based on powerful technologies such as canvas technology, hub technology, coupled with superior software design. Intellect Digital Core harmonises the power of digital 360 with customer-centric architecture thereby ensuring a consistent experience at all touch points.

Intellect RBX, an app-based channel banking platform for the retail users, is built on new generation technology and provides a high level of configuration flexibility, with the ability to work with any channel solution across platforms.

Intellect Digital Branch, an integrated suite of sales, service and teller solution, enables hbetter branch efficiency. It is a unique solution of 40 apps that can be grouped into multiple workspaces and accessed via a “single platform”.

Intellect Design Arena Ltd Head office: 34, IT Highway Chennai 603103, India Email: Shivashankar.r@intellectdesign.com Phone: +91 44 2743 5001 Website: www.igcb.com 132

WHO ’S WHO OF FS I

Pivotal Level 6, 175 Pitt Street Sydney NSW 2000 Australia Contact: Rushenka Perera Phone: +61 402 472 848 Email: rperera@pivotal.io Twitter: @pivotalanz LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/pivotalsoftware Website: www.pivotal.io

W H O’ S W HO DI R EC TO RY

BIG DATA

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

Splunk

Qlik

Splunk offers the leading platform for Operational Intelligence. It enables the curious to look closely at what others ignore – machine data – and find what others never see: insights that can help make your company more productive, profitable, competitive and secure.

Splunk’s vision is to make machine data accessible, usable and valuable to everyone.

Machine data is one of the fastest growing and most pervasive segments of big data – generated by websites, applications, servers, networks, mobile devices and all the sensors and RFID assets that produce data every second of every day, by monitoring and analysing everything from customer clickstreams and transactions to network activity and call records – and more.

Splunk software turns machine data into valuable insights, no matter what business you are in. We call it ‘Operational Intelligence’. Splunk Enterprise is patented software with the flexibility to collect and index virtually any machine data. Splunk Enterprise provides the scalability to handle massive live data streams from across an entire infrastructure as well as the power to provide deep drilldown, statistical analysis and realtime, custom dashboards for anyone in an organisation.

Splunk delivers operational value over a wide range of use-cases, including infrastructure and IT operations, information security and compliance, application development, internet of things, and business analytics.

Try Splunk for free. Download Splunk at www.splunk.com

Qlik simplifies the way people use data by making it a natural part of how they make decisions. We help people to do more than just report findings; we help them to change their worlds, in ways both small and large, through understanding and sharing data more naturally and effectively to create value. Our mission, “Simplifying decisions for everyone, everywhere,” is about harnessing the real potential of data – both big and small – and unleashing its power to change the world.

Approximately 34,000 customers in 100 countries depend on us to support their most important decisions.

We have pioneered new ways of transforming data into meaningful information. Our products QlikView and Qlik Sense are leading Self Service Business Discovery and Data Visualisation, providing userdriven business intelligence to a variety of organisations worldwide.

More than 2,500 financial services institutions rely on the Qlik platform, including all of the top 15 banks based in North America and Europe, because it empowers business users and decision-makers, providing access to on demand analysis, insights and business discovery.

The uncertainty in financial markets means banks must closely manage costs while still managing risk and meeting regulatory compliance. Increased revenue can be achieved through stronger customer relationships. This means both attracting new business and driving profitable operations. Now more than ever, banks must leverage business intelligence in new ways to gain competitive advantage.

Splunk Asia Pacific Miramar Tower, 6/F Suite 609-11 132 Nathan Road, TST, Hong Kong Phone: +852 3975.4000 Email: apac-marketing@splunk.com Twitter: @splunk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/splunk Website: www.splunk.com

Qlik Level 11, 213 Miller Street North Sydney NSW 2090 Australia Contact: Lisa Fenelus Phone: +61 2 9922 1138 Email: infoanz@qlik.com Twitter: @qlik_apac LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/qlik Website: www.qlik.com.au W HO ’ S W HO O F FS I

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BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

Qlik

Rocket Software

Qlik (NASDAQ: QLIK) is a leader in data discovery, delivering intuitive solutions for self-service data visualisation and guided analytics.

Approximately 33,000 customers rely on Qlik solutions to gain meaning out of information from varied sources, exploring the hidden relationships within data that lead to insights that ignite innovation. Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, Qlik has offices around the world, with more than 1700 partners covering more than 100 countries.

• Qlik offers a new perspective on BI – Qlik brings a completely different perspective to the BI market, through a unique and innovative platform approach, giving everyone the ability to answer not just ‘what happened’, but ‘why’ and ‘what will happen’.

• Qlik is a platform for visual analytics – Underpinned by the Qlik Analytics Platform, Qlik supports a full spectrum of business intelligence and analytics use-cases, with centrally deployed guided analytics, self-service data discovery and embedded analytics, in any enterprise or web application.

• Qlik provides agility for the business user, with trust and scale for IT – We provide agility for the business, from upstream data sourcing and preparation, through to visualisation and advanced analytics, and on to downstream collaboration and reporting, but importantly, all within a governed framework that drives enterprise scalability and trust for IT. Try it out for yourself! Download our freemium version on www.qlik.com now!

Since 1990, Rocket Software in Australia has built a loyal client base across government, corporate and small to medium business. Rocket Software specialises in business intelligence and analytics, performance management, data virtualisation, mobility and cloud solutions. It is currently used by clients as diverse as the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Department of Human Services, NSW State Emergency Service, North Sydney Council, City of Greater Geelong, and the Northern Territory Government.

Rocket Software is used by over 17,000 organisations worldwide, with over 700 clients in Australia, and is engaged in technology partnerships with IBM, EMC, Fujitsu, HP and many others.

Founded in 1990, Rocket Software has over 1,300 employees worldwide with a global annual revenue of US $300 million. Our key offices are Boston , London, and Sydney (which includes our Research & Development lab).

In Australia, Rocket Software solutions encompass two key areas: • Access Anywhere – we help clients and partners do more with existing applications and data; including cloud-enablement, mobility and real-time access to data.

• Business Intelligence – we help clients and partners drive their business forward with improved understanding and increased visibility of organisational performance.

Qlik Singapore Office 9 Temasek Boulevard Suntec Tower Two, #17-01, Singapore 038989

Rocket Software Australian Head Office: Level 18, 111 Pacific Highway North Sydney NSW 2060 Australia

Phone: +65 6690 7085 Email: info.sea@qlik.com Twitter: @Qlik_APAC LinkedIn: Qlik APAC Facebook: Qlik Asia Community: www.qlikcommunity.com Website: www.qlik.com

Contact: Michael Fidler (Mobile: +61 411 101 534 or mfidler@rocketsoftware.com) Phone: +61 2 9412 5400 Email: info@rocketsoftware.com Twitter: @rocket LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/rocket-software Website: www.rocketsoftware.com

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W H O’ S W HO DI R EC TO RY

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

Splunk

Tableau Software

Splunk offers the leading platform for Operational Intelligence. It enables the curious to look closely at what others ignore – machine data – and find what others never see: insights that can help make your company more productive, profitable, competitive and secure.

Splunk’s vision is to make machine data accessible, usable and valuable to everyone.

Machine data is one of the fastest growing and most pervasive segments of big data – generated by websites, applications, servers, networks, mobile devices and all the sensors and RFID assets that produce data every second of every day, by monitoring and analysing everything from customer clickstreams and transactions to network activity and call records – and more.

Splunk software turns machine data into valuable insights, no matter what business you are in. We call it ‘Operational Intelligence’. Splunk Enterprise is patented software with the flexibility to collect and index virtually any machine data. Splunk Enterprise provides the scalability to handle massive live data streams from across an entire infrastructure as well as the power to provide deep drilldown, statistical analysis and realtime, custom dashboards for anyone in an organisation.

Splunk delivers operational value over a wide range of use-cases, including infrastructure and IT operations, information security and compliance, application development, internet of things, and business analytics.

Try Splunk for free. Download Splunk at www.splunk.com

Tableau Software helps people see and understand data. Used by more than 26,000 customer accounts worldwide, Tableau’s awardwinning software delivers fast analytics and rapid-fire business intelligence. Create visualisations and dashboards in minutes, then share in seconds. The result? You get answers from data quickly, with no programming required.

Splunk Asia Pacific Miramar Tower, 6/F Suite 609-11 132 Nathan Road, TST, Hong Kong Phone: +852 3975.4000 Email: apac-marketing@splunk.com Twitter: @splunk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/splunk Website: www.splunk.com

Why we are different • Organisations must be able to unleash the power of their data and the power of their people. What is needed is self-service analytics software for everyone, that can be deployed and used now • It must be easy for people to ask questions of their data and gain insights • It must be easy for people to understand – people need to see the point quickly so that they can ask their next questions right then.

• It must be fast to use and fast to deploy. It should not add another support burden to IT • It should leverage the existing IT infrastructure but give people access to other data Today, only Tableau offers rapid-fire business intelligence that is fast and easy to use and easy to deploy. It fits into existing infrastructure while extending peoples’ capabilities to analyse and understand their data.

Tableau Software Level 21, Tower 2, Darling Park 201 Sussex Street Sydney NSW 2000 Australia Email: anzsales@tableau.com Phone: 1800 016 521 (Toll-free within Australia) Website: www.tableau.com W HO ’ S W HO O F FS I

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BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT

BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT

Konica Minolta

OpenText

Konica Minolta Business Solutions Australia Ltd is a marketleading provider of integrated printer hardware, software solutions and managed services with the power to transform the business environment. As a technology innovator, Konica Minolta invests continually in research and development in order to deliver inspiring products and give shape to ideas.

Globally recognised for its award winning products, Konica Minolta works closely with businesses to deliver a range of multifunctional digital imaging solutions that serve as a central resource for document scanning, printing, copying, faxing as well as electronic archiving and distribution. ‘Optimised Print Services’ (OPS) combine consultancy with hardware and software implementation and operation, to help customers further improve efficiency, cut costs, strengthen security and reduce their impact on the environment.

Headquartered in Sydney, Konica Minolta delivers expert professional services with experienced and responsive client support, in addition to the world-class service provided through its extensive network of direct sales offices and authorised dealers.

Smart process applications

Konica Minolta 4 Drake Avenue Macquarie Park NSW 2113 Australia Phone: 1800 789 389 (Australia) Twitter: @KonicaMinoltaAu Website: www.konicaminolta.com.au 136

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Whether your business focus is to process claims faster, enable consistent communication across a range of marketing channels or have a 360 degree view of your customers, the end goal is the ability to deliver faster and better service.

Progressive organisations such as QSuper and AIA represent some of the growing numbers of financial services organisations leveraging the ‘OpenText Smart Process Suite’ in delivering better service and compelling customer experience.

Implementing the ‘Smart Process Suite’ in the cloud gives your business a faster and a more cost-effective way to get the solution out of the door. Utilising out-of-the-box business modules you can rapidly get up to speed with delivering personalised experience to your customers.

OpenText Level 6, 80 Pacific Highway North Sydney NSW 2060 Australia Contact: Andrew Antal Phone: +61 2 9026 3440 Email: enquiries@opentext.com Website: www.opentext.com/bpm

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CLOUD

CLOUD

Akamai Technologies

Salesforce

Akamai® is the leading provider of cloud services, helping enterprises to provide secure, high-performing user experiences on any device, anywhere.

If you have ever shopped online, downloaded music, watched a web video or connected to work remotely, you have probably used Akamai’s cloud platform.

Akamai helps enterprises accelerate innovation in the hyperconnected world, by removing the complexities of technology, so that you can focus on driving your business forward faster.

We enable enterprises to capitalise on market opportunities presented by trends like mobile and cloud, while overcoming the challenges presented by security threats and the need to reach users globally.

The Akamai Intelligent Platform™ reaches globally and delivers locally, providing unmatched reliability, security and visibility into your online business.

Salesforce pioneered the shift to cloud, social, mobile and digital and is now the world’s leading enterprise cloud computing company.

Today, everyone and everything is becoming connected, and more than ever companies need to put the customer at the forefront of their business decisions.

The Salesforce1 Platform brings together ground-breaking cloud applications for sales, service, marketing, community and analytics, allowing companies to connect with their customers in new ways.

Akamai Technologies 1 Raffles Place #16-61 One Raffles Place Tower 2 Singapore 048616 Phone: +65 6593 8717 Email: sales-singapore@akamai.com Website: www.akamai.com

Salesforce Level 12, Darling Park – Tower Three 201 Sussex Street Sydney NSW 2000 Australia Phone: 1800 667 638 (AU), 0800 450 064 (NZ) Email: gpidcock@salesforce.com Twitter: @salesforceApac LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/salesforce Website: www.salesforce.com/au/industries/financial-services WHO ’ S W HO O F FS I

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CLOUD

CLOUD

ServiceNow

VCE

ServiceNow is changing the way people work. With a serviceorientation toward the activities, tasks and processes that make up everyday work life, we help the modern enterprise operate faster and be more scalable than ever before. Customers use our service model to define, structure and automate the flow of work, removing dependencies on email and spreadsheets to transform the delivery and management of services for the enterprise. ServiceNow provides service management for every department in the enterprise including IT, human resources, facilities, field service and more. We deliver a ‘lights-out, light-speed’ experience through our enterprise cloud – built to manage everything as a service.

Globalisation, mergers and acquisitions, changing regulatory landscapes, and rapid consumer adoption of mobile and online banking channels are among many forces that have significantly impacted the financial services industry. These forces have also produced fragmented, legacy systems and massive IT complexity.

ServiceNow enables IT organisations to leverage a single system of record to improve the end-user experience and drive efficiencies throughout the company. A robust suite of IT applications built on a single cloud platform reduce IT complexity, automate IT services, deliver security and privacy, ease regulatory compliance efforts and allow executives to manage the business of IT. With ServiceNow, financial services companies can spend more time creating innovative business solutions and less time managing the infrastructure behind them.

VCE provides converged solutions that accelerate the adoption of cloud-based computing models for enterprises and service providers globally. Based on VCE’s industry-leading converged infrastructure, VCE converged solutions dramatically simplify IT, enabling customers to focus on business innovation instead of integrating, validating and managing IT infrastructure. Our pre-integrated, pre-tested and pre-validated converged infrastructures for cloud environments enable transformative data center agility, simplicity and economics to enterprises and service providers. The VCE Experience includes Vblock Solutions that are delivered and supported by VCE as a single product, with seamless component-level updates, lifecycle management and end-to-end vendor accountability.

VCE ‘Vblock Systems’ deliver faster time-to-market, the performance and availability customers need, and insights that drive heightened business agility – all at lower cost and with lower risk to the business.

A recent study from IDC documented that with ‘Vblock Systems,’ customers experienced a deployment five times faster than other systems, at half the price, and with 96 per cent less downtime.

VCE is the clear leader in integrated infrastructure systems according to Gartner and IDC. In 2014, VCE was positioned as a leader in the Gartner, Inc. Magic Quadrant for Integrated Systems, based on an evaluation of VCE’s completeness of vision and ability to execute.

The company surpassed a two billion dollars annualised demand run-rate for Vblock and Vblock-related products and services exiting Q3 2014, its sixth consecutive quarter of greater than 50 per cent yearover-year demand growth.

ServiceNow Level 21, 50 Bridge Street Sydney NSW 2000 Australia Contact: Penny Hammond Phone: +61 2 9321 2200 Email: penny.hammond@servicenow.com Twitter: @servicenow LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/servicenow Website: www.servicenow.com 138

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VCE Technologies Pty Ltd Level 20, 321 Kent Street Sydney NSW 2000 Australia Email: moreinfo@vce.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/VCE/205724442779547 Twitter: twitter.com/VCE G+: plus.google.com/+VceCorp/posts Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/vcecomputing LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/vce Website: www.vce.com

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CONSULTING & SYSTEMS INTEGRATION

CONSULTING & SYSTEMS INTEGRATION

Capgemini

Cloud Sherpas

With more than 145,000 people in over 40 countries, Capgemini is one of the world’s foremost providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services. The Group reported 2014 global revenues of EUR 10.573 billion.

Together with its clients, Capgemini creates and delivers business and technology solutions that fit their needs and drive the results they want. A deeply multicultural organisation, Capgemini has developed its own way of working, the Collaborative Business Experience™, and draws on Rightshore®, its worldwide delivery model.

Capgemini’s Global Financial Services Business Unit (FSGBU) brings deep industry experience, innovative service offerings and next generation global delivery to serve the financial services industry.

With a network of 24,000 professionals serving more than 900 clients worldwide, Capgemini collaborates with leading banks, insurers and capital market companies to deliver business and IT solutions and thought leadership which create tangible value.

Learn more about us at: www.au.capgemini.com

Cloud Sherpas is an award-winning global cloud advisory and technology services organisation, serving thousands of businesses in Australia, New Zealand, Asia Pacific, the U.S. and the U.K. With more than 15 years of focus on business CRM and cloud consulting and with extensive experience and numerous accreditations in financial services, our global team of experts share a passion for innovation and exhibit a culture of collaboration.

We provide clients with: • Unrivalled cloud strategy and advisory • Technology implementation • Data integration • Solution development services • Managed services and systems support Cloud Sherpas’ customers gain a competitive advantage and achieve higher performance by utilising our industry and CRM frameworks and accelerators, which also help them more quickly realise a return on their software investment. We understand how important it is to meet customer demands in an ever-changing global landscape, and have helped some of the largest financial services organisations to become more connected and collaborative, and to better manage their customer relationships and streamline their IT processes.

Cloud Sherpas is a Salesforce Global Strategic Cloud Alliance Partner, a four-time Google Enterprise Partner of the Year for Google Apps and a ServiceNow Master Partner, making us one of the world’s leading cloud services providers.

Capgemini Australia Pty Limited Level 7, 77 King Street Sydney NSW 2000 Australia Phone: +61 2 6276 2048 Email: capgemini.marketing.au@capgemini.com Twitter: @capgemini_aust LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/capgemini Website: www.au.capgemini.com

Cloud Sherpas Level 5, 151 Castlereagh Street Sydney NSW 2000 Australia Phone: 13000 CLOUD (AU), +61 2 8094 1206 (International) Twitter: @cloudsherpas Website: www.cloudsherpas.com.au WHO ’ S W HO O F FS I

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CONSULTING & SYSTEMS INTEGRATION

CONSULTING & SYSTEMS INTEGRATION

Dell Services

MuleSoft

Are you looking for a technology services partner that listens and delivers practical innovation to give you the power to do more? Dell Services enables leading banks and financial institutions to accelerate innovation, with tailored services covering consulting, applications, BPO, infrastructure and hardware. We deliver transformational solutions across key functional areas within banking and securities including: Core Banking, Payments and Cash Management, Cards, Loans, Pricing and Loyalty, Customer Channels, Investment Banking and Wealth Management.

We help clients to reduce operating costs, retain customers, ensure compliance with regional regulations and maximise return on technology investments, by leveraging deep domain expertise, coupled with third-party product partnerships, proven global system integration and delivery capabilities and technology best practices.

Some of our focused financial services solutions and offerings include: • Improving straight-through-processing rates and reducing operating costs, through payments system modernisation • Digital transformation to create a scalable, agile and innovative bank • Reducing TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) through industrialisation of services • Increasing customer centricity and reducing revenue leakages, through relationship pricing and enterprise loyalty • Improving time-to-market and reducing costs through lending system modernisation For more information on Dell’s transformational solutions to achieve your business goals, please visit www.dell.com/financial-services

MuleSoft provides the most widely used integration platform for connecting any application, data source or API, whether in the cloud or on-premises.

With our Anypoint™ Platform, MuleSoft delivers a complete integration experience built on proven open source technology, eliminating the pain and cost of point-to-point integration.

Our Anypoint Platform includes CloudHub™ iPaaS, Mule ESB™, and a unified solution for API management, design and publishing.

MuleSoft Level 6, 56 Berry Street North Sydney 2060 Australia

Contact 1: Mano Lekhwani Email: Mano_Lekhwani@Dell.com

Contact 2: Gururaj Hosur Email: Gururaj_Hosur@Dell.com

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Contact Person: Marcus Rossato Phone: +61 2 8854 5600 Email: info@mulesoft.com Twitter: @MuleSoft LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/www.mulesoft.com Website: www.mulesoft.com

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CONSULTING & SYSTEMS INTEGRATION

CONTACT CENTRE

S & I Systems

Nuance

S & I is an IT consulting, business solutions and services company that helps organisations leverage technology to drive operational and strategic business success. Built on 17 years’ experience with more than 100 employees in Singapore and Malaysia, S & I partners with leading technology vendors to serve more than 500 unique enterprise clients across industries and regions, including leading financial services organisations. We keep mission-critical applications available and optimise IT infrastructure resources to achieve real-time information access, while meeting security and governance requirements.

Nuance is reinventing the relationship between people and technology for large financial institutions around the world, in order to improve customer experience (CX) and reduce customer effort. Our innovations in Virtual Assistants (VA), Natural Language Understanding and Voice Biometrics come together to deliver improved CX: a contact experience that is engaging, efficient, effective and, above all, on your customers’ terms.

IT infrastructure consulting • • • •

Enterprise Infrastructure design and implementation Cloud Infrastructure migration and implementation Server and storage optimisation, consolidation and virtualisation Converged infrastructure, systems integration and security solutions

Enterprise solutions • • • • • •

Customer relationship and wealth management solutions Information integration and business/predictive analytics Social listening and sentiment analysis solution Real estate management solution Enterprise mobility management E-Learning and Certification

Managed services • • • • •

Operations management, maintenance and support services Disaster recovery and business continuity services IT outsourcing and data centre hosting Security compliance and enterprise risk management Database/middleware services and cloud computing services

S & I Systems 6 Serangoon North Avenue 5 #03-16 Singapore 554910 Phone: +65 6826 3600 Email: marketing@si-asia.com Website: www.si-asia.com

Improving CX Recognised globally for rapidly advancing voice recognition technology, Nuance has more experience deploying natural language interactions than any other organisation worldwide. It automates over 14 billion customer service interactions yearly. Our technology enables virtual expert assistance, predictive customer engagement and intuitive communication. Today, your organisation has the computing power, storage, machine learning and infinite amounts of data to allow your organisation to grow in CX delivery!

The Virtual Assistant revolution The VA momentum is here because our customers want it and technology’s capabilities can deliver it! Nuance’s ‘Nina’ delivers intelligent, conversational customer service and monitors every customer interaction; tuning to the customer accordingly ensures your VA stays relevant and effective. Thousands of travellers are engaging Jess – Jetstar’s VA – to assist them with their booking and travel enquiries. Perhaps it is time your organisation started talking with Nuance.

Nuance Communications Australia Level 11, 124 Walker Street North Sydney NSW 2060 Australia Contact: Heath Wilson Phone: +61 2 9434 2300 Email: enquiries.au@nuance.com Website: www.australia.nuance.com WHO ’ S W HO O F FS I

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CORE SYSTEMS

CORE SYSTEMS

Bravura Solutions

EIS Group

Bravura Solutions is a trusted provider of software solutions for the wealth management, life insurance and transfer agency industries.

Bravura Solutions is underpinned by functionally rich technology that enables modernisation, consolidation and simplification.

We are committed to increasing operational and cost efficiency for our clients, enhancing their ability to rapidly innovate and grow, minimising their risk and enabling them to provide better service to their customers.

Backed by more than 30 years of experience, our installed solutions or hosted managed application services are mission critical to some of the world’s leading financial institutions. In excess of A $2.5 trillion in assets are entrusted to our systems.

We support our clients with a team of more than 850 people in 16 offices across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, United Kingdom, Europe and South Africa.

For more information about us visit www.bravurasolutions.com

EIS Group is a global provider of insurance core systems for general insurance, warranty, and group and voluntary benefits insurance. We provide the innovation-capable core systems platform for today’s business transformation while also providing flexibility as business needs emerge and grow.

Bravura Solutions Level 6, 345 George Street Sydney NSW 2000 Australia

EIS Group 283-287 Sir Donald Bradman Drive Brooklyn Park SA 5032 Australia

Phone: +61 2 9018 7800 Email: info@bravurasolurions.com Twitter: @BravuraFinTech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/bravura-solutions Website: www.bravurasolutions.com

Contact: Philippe Lafrenière, SVP & General Manager, Asia Pacific Phone: +64 027 712 4007 or +1 415 402 2622 Email: PLafreniere@eisgroup.com Twitter: @EISGroupLTD Website: www.eisgroup.com

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EIS Suite: Putting the Power to Innovate at the Core EIS Suite™ is a next-generation suite of core systems designed to help insurers innovate, respond to changing market dynamics, gain operational efficiencies, and embrace today’s connected consumer.

Harnessing the power of a robust platform, the Suite applications – PolicyCore™, BillingCore™, ClaimCore™ and CustomerCore™ – provide a complete end-to-end, multiline system. The applications are fully integrated and deliver a single view of the customer, but their modular nature enables them to be used alone or as a comprehensive suite. EIS Suite is based on a modern services-oriented architecture and open technology standards. This architecture ensures that you have the right tools and technology, along with a highly configurable, scalable solution that will align with your specific business needs today, tomorrow, and well into the future.

EIS Suite core applications support the full insurance lifecycle: • PolicyCore – multi-line policy administration and management • BillingCore – consolidated policy billing • ClaimCore – end-to-end claims management • CustomerCore – customer management and engagement EIS Group (formerly Exigen Insurance Solutions) customers include IAG (New Zealand) subsidiary AMI, winners of a Celent 2015 Model Insurer award for a core systems replacement with EIS Suite.

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CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Cincom Systems Australia

Genesys

Cincom’s Configure-Price-Quote (CPQ) solution is an easy-to-use web sales application that empowers consumers, agents and broker channels to easily meet the needs of their clients with financial products and services. Cincom CPQ provides a highly flexible user interface built into your e-commerce application or developed using the Cincom Application Builder. This level of agility allows rapid creation of a solution suited to the audience and the delivery channel.

The solution is backed by a powerful, centralised rules engine that can work with input from internal sources or external sources to output relevant recommendations and best fit.

Streamlining your sales, quoting and e-commerce functions, Cincom Configure-Price-Quote (CPQ) allows you to increase sales effectiveness by consistently delivering a customer experience that aligns with the way customers want to buy – across any channel, any application and any device.

Businesses that benefit from Cincom CPQ are those that sell highly regulated complex or bundled products and services, in fields, including: insurance; wealth management and financial planning; superannuation; banking and brokerages in the financial services sector.

With Cincom CPQ, businesses can: • Drastically reduce quoting time • Provide deep customer personalisation with product configuration and across line bundling • Achieve faster speed-to-market • Increase up-sell and cross-sell revenues • Maintain pricing consistency and identify most profitable costing options • Manage resellers and gain omni-channel consistency

All industries face growing demands from their customers to solve problems faster, provide more mobile and self-service capabilities and deliver better customer experiences.

For many organisations this has resulted in disparate silos of service to be managed, underpinned by a patchwork of technology.

Businesses are facing these challenges and the demand for better service on smaller budgets; they face industry-specific challenges and specific customer needs tied to industry offerings. Businesses also need to come to terms with perceived standards, competitive pressures and regulatory compliance.

Genesys enables you to provide industry-specific service differentiation, helping you drive loyalty with great cross-channel customer experiences. This increases your revenue generation, as well as productivity and operational efficiency. You are able to connect and manage customer interactions across all communication channels, for both self-service and assisted service offerings. By discerning the reasons customers are contacting you and applying knowledge of previous history and context, customers are routed to the best options that serve their needs and resolve the issues at hand.

Genesys enables you to accelerate your return on industry-specific investments by leveraging existing technology through open integration, increasing your agility and speed-to-market.

Cincom Systems Level 4, 123 Epping Road North Ryde NSW 2113 Australia Phone: +61 2 8875 1400 Email: info@cincom.com.au Twitter: @CincomAustralia Website: www.cincom.com.au

Genesys Como Office Tower, Level 9 Suite 1, 644 Chapel Street South Yarra VIC 3141 Australia Contact: Renee Byatt Phone: +61 3 9832 6508 Email: renee.byatt@genesys.com Twitter: @Genesys LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/genesys Website: www.genesys.com/anz WHO ’ S W HO O F FS I

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CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

GMC Software Technology

Nuance

GMC is a global leader in Customer Communications Management, empowering companies around the world to drive more efficient and effective customer communications.

GMC delivers innovative software solutions that enable enterprises to transform the customer experience, by deploying powerful engagement strategies.

We provide the means for business users to develop contextual, highly personalised communications.

Supporting thousands of clients and partners in banking, insurance and healthcare, GMC has the only single design solution for all of the channels that span the entire customer journey, giving our clients a competitive edge in a market shaped by rapidly changing consumer-technology.

For more information about GMC’s solution, visit: www.gmc.net.

Nuance is reinventing the relationship between people and technology for large financial institutions around the world, in order to improve customer experience (CX) and reduce customer effort. Our innovations in Virtual Assistants (VA), Natural Language Understanding and Voice Biometrics come together to deliver improved CX: a contact experience that is engaging, efficient, effective and, above all, on your customers’ terms.

Improving CX Recognised globally for rapidly advancing voice recognition technology, Nuance has more experience deploying natural language interactions than any other organisation worldwide. It automates over 14 billion customer service interactions yearly. Our technology enables virtual expert assistance, predictive customer engagement and intuitive communication. Today, your organisation has the computing power, storage, machine learning and infinite amounts of data to allow your organisation to grow in CX delivery!

The Virtual Assistant revolution The VA momentum is here because our customers want it and technology’s capabilities can deliver it! Nuance’s ‘Nina’ delivers intelligent, conversational customer service and monitors every customer interaction; tuning to the customer accordingly ensures your VA stays relevant and effective. Thousands of travellers are engaging Jess – Jetstar’s VA – to assist them with their booking and travel enquiries. Perhaps it is time your organisation started talking with Nuance.

GMC Software Technology Suite 3, Level 6, 309 George Street Sydney NSW 2000 Australia Contact: Nick Dempsey, General Manager – Australia & New Zealand Phone: +61 2 8284 1022 Email: n.dempsey@gmc.net Twitter: @gmc_net LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/gmc-software-technology Website: www.gmc.net

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Nuance Communications Australia Level 11, 124 Walker Street North Sydney NSW 2060 Australia Contact: Heath Wilson Phone: +61 2 9434 2300 Email: enquiries.au@nuance.com Website: www.australia.nuance.com

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CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Pegasystems

Verint Systems

Pegasystems develops strategic applications for sales, marketing, service and operations. Pega’s applications streamline critical business operations, connect enterprises to their customers seamlessly in real-time across channels, and adapt to meet rapidly changing requirements. Pega’s Global 500 customers include the world’s largest and most sophisticated enterprises. Pega’s applications, available onpremises or in the cloud, are built on its unified Pega 7 platform, which uses visual tools to easily extend and change applications to meet clients’ strategic business needs.

Pega’s clients report that Pega gives them the fastest time to value, extremely rapid deployment, efficient re-use and global scale.

For more information, please visit us at www.pega.com.

Verint® is a global leader in Actionable Intelligence® solutions for customer engagement optimisation, security intelligence, and fraud, risk and compliance. Today, more than 10,000 organisations in over 180 countries use Verint solutions to improve enterprise performance and make the world a safer place.

In 2014, Verint acquired KANA® Software. KANA®, A Verint® Company, is a leading provider of cloud and on-premises customer service solutions. KANA helps global organisations optimise their engagements with consistent and contextual customer journeys across employee, web, social, and mobile experience. Using KANA solutions, organisations can reduce operational costs, increase resolution rates, and improve brand loyalty.

Pegasystems Pty Ltd Level 7, 1 Market Street Sydney NSW 2000 Australia Contact: Molita Coelho Phone: +61 2 9581 7000 Email: apac.marketing@pega.com Website: www.pega.com

Verint Systems Level 14, Northpoint 100 Miller Street North Sydney NSW 2060 Australia Contact: Jo Giorgiutti Phone: +61 2 8907 0320 Email: marketing.au@verint.com Twitter: @Verint LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/verint Website: www.verint.com W HO ’ S W HO O F FS I

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CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

DATA CENTRE

Salesforce

Pure Storage

Salesforce pioneered the shift to cloud, social, mobile and digital and is now the world’s leading enterprise cloud computing company.

Today, everyone and everything is becoming connected, and more than ever companies need to put the customer at the forefront of their business decisions.

The Salesforce1 Platform brings together ground-breaking cloud applications for sales, service, marketing, community and analytics, allowing companies to connect with their customers in new ways.

Pure Storage, the market’s leading independent solid-state array vendor, enables the broad deployment of flash in the data centre.

The company’s all-flash enterprise arrays offer significant performance and efficiency gains over mechanical disk, at a lower price point per gigabyte stored.

Pure Storage FlashArrays are ideal for performance-intensive applications, including server virtualisation and consolidation, VDI, OLTP database, real-time analytics and cloud computing.

To learn more, visit: www.purestorage.com.

Salesforce Level 12, Darling Park – Tower Three 201 Sussex Street Sydney NSW 2000 Australia

Pure Storage Level 4, 95 Pitt Street Sydney NSW 2000 Australia

Phone: 1800 667 638 (AU), 0800 450 064 (NZ) Email: gpidcock@salesforce.com Twitter: @salesforceApac LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/salesforce Website: www.salesforce.com/au/industries/financial-services 146

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Email: sales@purestorage.com Phone: +61 2 8249 8211 Twitter: @PureStorage LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/pure-storage Blog: www.purestorage.com/blog Website: www.purestorage.com

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DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE

Konica Minolta

Juniper Networks

Konica Minolta Business Solutions Australia is a market-leading provider of integrated print hardware and software solutions with the power to transform the business environment.

As a technology innovator, Konica Minolta invests continually in research and development in order to deliver inspiring products and give shape to ideas.

Globally recognised for its award winning products, Konica Minolta works closely with businesses to deliver a range of multifunctional digital imaging solutions for document scanning, printing and electronic archiving and distribution.

Optimised Print Services combine consultancy with hardware and software implementation to help customers further improve efficiency, cut costs, strengthen security and reduce their impact on the environment.

Headquartered in Sydney, Konica Minolta delivers expert professional services with responsive client support through its extensive network of direct sales offices and authorised dealers.

At Juniper Networks, we believe that the network is the single greatest vehicle for knowledge, understanding, and human advancement that the world has ever known. Now, more than ever, the world relies on high-performance networks and now, more than ever, the world needs network innovation to unleash our full potential.

The network plays a central role in addressing the critical challenges we face as a global community. Consider the healthcare industry, where the network is the foundation for new models of mobile affordable care for underserved communities, or the energy sector, where the network is helping to accelerate distribution of clean, renewable sources of energy. In education, the network continues to provide expanded access to quality teaching resources, so that people of every socioeconomic background have a chance to educate themselves and participate in the global economy. At its core, the network has become a platform – one that transforms how we interact with our government institutions, conduct business on a daily basis, and connect with our family and friends.

Who are our customers? The world’s top 100 service providers – the biggest and busiest wireline and wireless carriers, cable and satellite operators, content and internet services providers, as well as cloud and data centre providers – run on Juniper Networks. So do major banks and other global financial services organisations, seven of the eight largest stock exchanges in the world, national government agencies and U.S. federal organisations, healthcare and educational institutions, energy and utility companies, and 99 of the Fortune Global 100.

Konica Minolta 4 Drake Avenue Macquarie Park, NSW 2113 Australia Phone: 1800 789 389 Twitter: @KonicaMinoltaAu Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/konica-minolta-businesssolutions-australia

Juniper Networks Level 6, 60 Miller Street North Sydney 2060 NSW Australia Phone: +61 2 8913 9800 Website: www.juniper.net WHO ’ S W HO O F FS I

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ENTERPRISE INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

ENTERPRISE INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

AvePoint

ClearPoint

AvePoint is the established leader in enterprise-class cloud management, governance, and compliance software solutions for next-generation social collaboration platforms. Focusing on helping enterprises in their digitisation journey, AvePoint enables their information workers to collaborate with confidence.

AvePoint is first-to-market with a unique solution that centralises access and control of information assets residing in disparate collaboration and document management systems on-premises and in the cloud.

Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey, AvePoint serves more than 13,000 organisations worldwide. AvePoint is privately held and backed by Goldman Sachs and Summit Partners.

ClearPoint are masters of software engineering, designing seriously clever software for big business and savvy startups in New Zealand, Australia and around the world. We provide IT strategy and architecture, enterprise software development and IT project delivery services.

ClearPoint has deep experience in the financial services sector.

We design, build and run data solutions for investment management.

Clients in this sector include SuperChoice (Australia), the Australian Future Fund, the NZ Superannuation Fund, the NZ Accident Compensation Commission and QIC. We have changed their business game with solutions that show them off as innovators in their field.

Experience, skills and market expertise have driven our latest innovation: ‘AlphaCert’. AlphaCert is a made-to-measure data management platform for the investment management sector.

It loads complex data from disparate sources and in different formats into a single source of truth, importing, auditing, transforming and loading the data automatically. Tasks that normally take hours can be completed in minutes. AlphaCert reduces business risk and the potential for errors that can erode reputation and customer confidence.

With AlphaCert, the business benefits are clear: • Save valuable time for highly paid operations and investment managers • Focus on delivering portfolio returns instead of time-wasting administration • Reduce business risk by addressing issues of data quality • Spend more time on core business with swift, timely and accurate reporting

AvePoint Solution for Insurance Industry • Know where your sensitive information is and secure it • Identify current, valuable information and migrate to SharePoint/cloud • Automate the disposal or retention of outdated information • Extend secure document collaboration to parties outside your organisation

AvePoint Level 11, 459 Collins Street Melbourne VIC 3000 Australia

ClearPoint Level 3, ClearPoint House, 7 Fanshawe Street Auckland 1010 New Zealand

Phone: +61 3 8535 3200 Email: Sales_AU@avepoint.com Twitter: @AvePoint_Inc LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/avepoint Website: www.avepoint.com.au

Contact: Phil Pietersen Phone: +64 9 373 4626 Email: contact@clearpoint.co.nz Twitter: @clearpointnz Website: www.clearpoint.co.nz

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ENTERPRISE INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

Informatica Corporation Informatica is the world’s number one independent provider of data integration software. More than 5,000 enterprises worldwide rely on Informatica to realise their information potential and drive their top business imperatives.

Informatica Vibe, the industry’s first and only embeddable virtual data machine (VDM), powers the unique “Map Once. Deploy Anywhere” capabilities of the Informatica Platform. Vibe harnesses data in every application, every process, for every person and in every device in the world.

Organisations around the globe depend on Informatica to fully leverage their information assets, from devices to mobile, to social to big data residing on-premise, in the Cloud and across social networks. For more information, call +61 02 8907 4400, or visit www.informatica.com.au.

Informatica Corporation Head Office: 2100 Seaport Blvd Redwood City, CA 94063 USA Phone: +1 800 653 3871 Local Office: Level 5, 255 George Street Sydney NSW 2000 Australia Phone: +61 2 8907 4400 Contact: Debra Yamashita Email: dyamashita@informatica.com Twitter: @infaANZ Website: www.informatica.com

ENTERPRISE INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

Varonis Systems Varonis is the leading provider of software solutions for unstructured, human-generated enterprise data. Varonis provides an innovative software platform that allows enterprises to map, analyse, manage and migrate their unstructured data.

Varonis specialises in human-generated data, a type of unstructured data that includes an enterprise’s spreadsheets, word processing documents, presentations, audio files, video files, emails, text messages and any other data created by employees. This data often contains an enterprise’s financial information, product plans, strategic initiatives, intellectual property and numerous other forms of vital information.

IT and business personnel deploy Varonis software for a variety of user cases, including data governance, data security, archiving, file synchronisation, enhanced mobile data accessibility and information collaboration.

As of March 31, 2015, Varonis has approximately 3,500 customers, spanning leading firms in the financial services, public, healthcare, industrial, energy and utilities, technology, consumer and retail, education and media and entertainment sectors.

Varonis Systems Inc 1250 Broadway, 29th Floor New York NY10001 USA Varonis Systems (Australia) Level 3, 115 Pitt Street Sydney NSW 2000 Australia Phone (US): +1 877 292 8767 Phone (Australia): + 61 2 8199 9448 Email: sales@varonis.com Twitter: @varonis Website:www.varonis.com W HO ’ S W HO O F FS I

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EVENT PROCESSING

FINANCIAL SELF-SERVICES

TIBCO Software

Diebold

Backed by decades of innovation in infrastructure technology and a customer base of leading global banks, TIBCO offers a unique, event-driven approach to growing revenue and solving the operational challenges of twenty first century financial services organisations.

TIBCO has deep experience working with financial services businesses.

TIBCO’s record in capital markets is demonstrated by more than two decades of leadership in innovative, high-performance infrastructure technology which enables capital markets players to compete in a world where success is measured in milliseconds.

TIBCO can assist your organisation with massive volumes of events and data flowing across your operations through: • A customer-oriented, event-driven architecture that aligns your operations to customers and customer opportunities.

• Innovative event-processing technologies that leverage in-memory computing to capture and correlate millions of events, allowing you to identify opportunities and risks in real-time.

• A standard way to perform integration and create new services, resulting in significantly greater agility and reducing the time and resources needed to add new applications, capabilities and partners.

• Operational efficiency gains and significant cost savings resulting from automation and workforce optimisation.

Driving Financial Experiences Globally

TIBCO Software Inc. Phone (USA): +1 650 846 1000 Phone (Australia): +61 2 9458 2100 Phone (Singapore): +65 6836 3880 Phone (Hong Kong): 800 969 897 (toll free) Website: www.tibco.com 150

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Diebold Incorporated is a global leader in providing innovative selfservice technology, security systems and related services. Diebold has approximately 16,000 employees worldwide and is headquartered near Canton, Ohio, USA. Diebold harnesses the resources of a global company with a long history of success as it continues to positively impact the financial services marketplace.

Our focus is on driving collaborative innovation. The opportunities facing today’s financial institutions are riddled with complexity. Black Hat foes who once busted through the front door now operate unseen in the hedges of technology. Digital upstarts overturn established value patterns and form new expectations overnight.

Customers who have come to rely on always-on DIY service experiences need human touch. Paradigms in the marketplace are shifting quickly, and few things are certain. We can, though, be sure of one thing: Tomorrow will not be just like today. Financial institutions trying to maintain a profitable trajectory in an age of uncertainty deserve a new kind of partner: one who is equipped to think beyond hardware and collaborate wholeheartedly to overcome the complex challenges our industry faces.

At Diebold – We’ve Got a Solution for That™.

Diebold Asia Pacific Unit 1101, No. 88, Hua Tsing Building Lane 777, West Guang Zhong Road Shanghai 200 072 PR China Phone: +86 21 6168 6588 Twitter: @DieboldInc Facebook: www.facebook.com/DieboldInc Website: www.diebold.com

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GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS)

INFOCOMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY

Esri Australia

Emerson Network Power

Esri Australia is the nation’s leading Geographic Information System (GIS) and location intelligence specialist. For more than three decades, Esri Australia has partnered with thousands of government and commercial enterprises to deliver quality GIS solutions that have transformed the way organisations address opportunities and challenges.

GIS employs the science of geography to map and analyse information. Esri Australia uses the world’s most advanced GIS technology to expose patterns and relationships within data, providing an analytical vantage point that no other tool can.

Worldwide, financial services organisations use GIS technology to understand the geography of their business data. Using the universal language of smart maps, GIS technology translates data into powerful visual representations, enabling decision-makers to uncover hidden truths that may previously have gone unnoticed.

Beyond the visualisation of data, GIS technology brings together disparate data sources from across organisation or departmental silos to create a single and powerful point of truth.

Whether evaluating risk, quantifying customer value or managing distribution networks, GIS technology empowers businesses to get more out of existing data – leading to quicker decision-making, new insights and new ways of thinking.

Emerson Network Power, a business of Emerson (NYSE:EMR), delivers software, hardware and services that maximise availability, capacity and efficiency for data centres as well as healthcare and industrial facilities.

A trusted industry leader in smart infrastructure technologies, Emerson Network Power provides innovative data centre infrastructuremanagement solutions that bridge the gap between IT and facility management and deliver efficiency and uncompromised availability, regardless of capacity demands. Our solutions are supported globally by local Emerson Network Power service technicians.

Learn more about Emerson Network Power products and services at www.EmersonNetworkPower.Asia.

Esri Australia Level 3, 111 Elizabeth Street Brisbane QLD 4000 Australia Phone: 1800 447 111 Email: connect@esriaustralia.com.au Twitter: @esriaustralia LinkedIn: Esri Australia Website: www.esriaustralia.com.au

Emerson Network Power Level 6, Suite A, 15 Talavera Road North Ryde NSW 2113 Australia Contact: Robert Linsdell Phone: +61 2 9805 9549 Email: marketing.ap@emerson.com Twitter: @EmersonNP_AP LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/emerson-network-power Website: www.EmersonNetworkPower.com W HO ’ S W HO O F FS I

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INFOCOMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY

INFOCOMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY

Panduit

Vocus Communications

Panduit has developed the industry’s most comprehensive Data Centre Infrastructure Management (DCIM) solution, with a portfolio of Panduit ‘SmartZone’ solutions that deliver comprehensive energy and physical infrastructure efficiency in data centres, building facilities, and remote enterprise sites through intelligent products, systems and services.

By leveraging our pioneering ‘6 Zone’ infrastructure methodology for assessment, plan/design, integration, and operation, our ‘SmartZone’ solutions provide a holistic view of connectivity, energy, and environmental parameters in the data centre and extended enterprise.

The key pillars of Panduit’s intelligent data centre solution include: • DCIM software and intelligent hardware – Panduit’s ‘SmartZone’ infrastructure management suite platform provides an end-to-end physical-to-logical view of your data centre and extended enterprise.

• Centralise collection and representation asset attributes to ensure your physical infrastructure supports mission-critical applications.

• Data centre advisory services – best-practice methodologies for data centre consolidation, virtualisation and automation.

• Energy efficient cabinets – use modular components that address power, cooling, space and cable management challenges, enabling a 25 per cent reduction in energy consumption, speed to deploy and optimised space utilisation.

• Pre-configured physical infrastructure with modular design helps meet the demands of consolidation, virtualisation and implementing cloud architecture and may reduce deployment times up to 65 per cent.

• High-Speed Data Transport (HSDT) copper and fibre cabling systems – Panduit’s HSDT Solutions are both protocol and media agnostic, delivering maximum flexibility during planning, designing, commissioning and operation of the data centre.

Vocus Communications is a leading supplier of telecommunications, data centre and high bandwidth connectivity solutions in Australia and New Zealand. Founded in 2008, the company owns and operates a global telecommunications network connecting Australia and New Zealand to the global internet backbone in the USA and utilises its domestic network to provide telecommunications services to ISP and telecommunications markets. Vocus also provides data centre storage and dark fibre solutions.

Vocus provides a range of services to meet the connectivity and data centre hosting requirements for its customers demanding the highest performing infrastructure. With data centres located in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, Vocus provides geographical redundancy and dedicated links between the all sites.

On top of this, Vocus also provides a number of fibre and ethernetbased connectivity services designed to meet the requirements of the most demanding companies. Coupled with its wholesale DSL services, Vocus can provide connectivity throughout Australia over multiple mediums.

Vocus also provides IP transit between Australia, New Zealand and the US as well as up into South East Asia via multi-gigabit links.

Vocus is run by a team of highly skilled technicians who pride themselves on extensive experience designing and building carrier networks. The executive team and board of directors have a broad range of skills, with more than 70 years combined experience in owning, operating and advising in the telecommunications and business sectors.

Panduit 60 Tuas Ave 11 Singapore 639106 Phone: +65 6305 7575 Email: contactap@panduit.com Twitter: @panduitap Website: www.panduit.com 152

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Vocus Communications Vocus House Level 1, 189 Miller Street North Sydney NSW 2060 Australia Phone (Australia): 1300 88 99 88 Phone (International): +61 2 8999 8999 Email: info@vocus.com.au Twitter: @VocusComm Website: www.vocus.com.au

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INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT

IT INFRASTRUCTURE

Virtual Instruments

Intel

Virtual Instruments is the leader in Infrastructure Performance Management (IPM), delivering solutions that help customers ensure their applications and infrastructure perform better together.

The VirtualWisdom4 IPM platform provides comprehensive visibility and definitive insight into the health, utilisation and performance of the end-to-end IT infrastructure (servers, network, storage) supporting and delivering mission-critical application workloads. This empowers customers to guarantee the performance and availability of their mission-critical applications across physical, virtual and cloud computing environments. It also drives greater utilisation against existing assets, while at the same time mitigating risk.

Underpinned by an analytics-focused database, the VirtualWisdom4 platform ingests millions of metrics per second and presents authoritative, actionable answers in mere seconds, making it the most powerful performance platform available on the market. With Virtual Instruments’ solutions, customers can stop reactive troubleshooting, start managing performance, eliminate vendor finger pointing and achieve true cost optimisation.

Virtual Instruments’ customer base is made up of industry leaders in every major vertical market and includes 38 of the Fortune 100. The company was founded in June 2008 with headquarters in San Jose, California. Our sales and engineering offices are located throughout the US, EMEA and Asia Pacific regions.

Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) is a world leader in computing innovation. The company designs and builds technologies that serve as the foundation for the world’s computing devices. Intel has a proven record in the financial industry for several decades. Intel has recently doubled investment in this space and has local financial services technology expertise stretching from New York to Sydney and from London to Mumbai. The work between Intel and the industry has enabled new levels of performance and reliability while driving down the cost of computing and IT infrastructure.

Intel delivers technology to the industry in the areas of capital markets, retail banking, exchanges and liquidity venues. As a proven thought leader and technology partner, Intel is continually working on future concepts around intelligent data, intelligent banking, and intelligent money. These capabilities touch the entire financial services value chain from data centers to end-point consumer devices.

Intel delivers platforms for server, storage, networking, and client devices used extensively in the financial services industry. Intel and the eco-system deliver solutions that enable the industry to deploy innovative technology solutions and enable new products and services.

The broad eco-system of developers, system integrators, and service providers led by Intel allows for continued financial innovation based on open standard, that meet the critical business needs of financial services clients.

Virtual Instruments 8 Cross Street, Level 28 PWC Building, Singapore 048424 Contact: Raj H. Patel Phone: +65 6850 7481 Email: raj.patel@virtualinstruments.com Twitter: @virtual_Inst LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/virtualinstruments Website: www.virtualinstruments.com

Intel Australia Level 17, 111 Pacific Highway North Sydney NSW 2060 Australia Contact: Andrew Ridley, Financial Services Industry Development Manager Phone: +61 2 9937 5800 Email: sydney.reception@intel.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/intel-corporation Twitter: @Intelanz Facebook: www.facebook.com/intelaustralia WHO ’ S W HO O F FS I

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MANAGED SERVICES

MANAGED SERVICES

Capgemini

Dell Services

With more than 145,000 people in over 40 countries, Capgemini is one of the world’s foremost providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services. The Group reported 2014 global revenues of EUR 10.573 billion.

Together with its clients, Capgemini creates and delivers business and technology solutions that fit their needs and drive the results they want. A deeply multicultural organisation, Capgemini has developed its own way of working, the Collaborative Business Experience™, and draws on Rightshore®, its worldwide delivery model.

Capgemini’s Global Financial Services Business Unit (FSGBU) brings deep industry experience, innovative service offerings and next generation global delivery to serve the financial services industry.

With a network of 24,000 professionals serving more than 900 clients worldwide, Capgemini collaborates with leading banks, insurers and capital market companies to deliver business and IT solutions and thought leadership which create tangible value.

Learn more about us at: www.au.capgemini.com

Are you looking for a technology services partner that listens and delivers practical innovation to give you the power to do more? Dell Services enables leading banks and financial institutions to accelerate innovation, with tailored services covering consulting, applications, BPO, infrastructure and hardware. We deliver transformational solutions across key functional areas within banking and securities including: Core Banking, Payments and Cash Management, Cards, Loans, Pricing and Loyalty, Customer Channels, Investment Banking and Wealth Management.

We help clients to reduce operating costs, retain customers, ensure compliance with regional regulations and maximise return on technology investments, by leveraging deep domain expertise, coupled with third-party product partnerships, proven global system integration and delivery capabilities and technology best practices.

Some of our focused financial services solutions and offerings include: • Improving straight-through-processing rates and reducing operating costs, through payments system modernisation • Digital transformation to create a scalable, agile and innovative bank • Reducing TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) through industrialisation of services • Increasing customer centricity and reducing revenue leakages, through relationship pricing and enterprise loyalty • Improving time-to-market and reducing costs through lending system modernisation For more information on Dell’s transformational solutions to achieve your business goals, please visit www.dell.com/financial-services

Capgemini Australia Pty Limited Level 7, 77 King Street Sydney NSW 2000 Australia Phone: +61 2 6276 2048 Email: capgemini.marketing.au@capgemini.com Twitter: @capgemini_aust LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/capgemini Website: www.au.capgemini.com 154

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Contact 1: Mano Lekhwani Email: Mano_Lekhwani@Dell.com

Contact 2: Gururaj Hosur Email: Gururaj_Hosur@Dell.com

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/dellservices

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MANAGED SERVICES

MANAGED SERVICES

Hewlett-Packard

TAS Managed Services

HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society.

With the broadest technology portfolio spanning printing, personal systems, software, services and IT infrastructure, HP delivers solutions for customers’ most complex challenges in every region of the world.

Learn how offerings from HP Enterprise Services can help drive the evolution of your enterprise at hp-enterprisesolutions.com.

TAS is a leading provider of hosted and managed solutions to the financial services industry, with more than 50 clients across the mutual, banking and general insurance sectors.

Set up in 1989 by a group of Australian credit unions, our unique heritage means that we have an in-depth understanding of the requirements of the industry. This knowledge and expertise enables us to develop complete technology-based solutions that are tailored to each company’s specific business needs.

At TAS, we are committed to helping our clients manage their most critical operations by offering a range of leading-edge products and services that we are able to deliver through a single monthly contract.

This eliminates the need for multiple industry relationships, saving unnecessary expense and allowing our clients to focus on driving their business forward.

With more than 25 years’ experience behind us, we remain committed to servicing the financial services industry through our truly innovative product and service offerings that are cost-effective, highly secure, adhere to APRA CPS231 and CPS232 protocols and have the capability to support our clients’ current and future business requirements.

Please contact us to learn more about how TAS Managed Services can help your business.

TAS Managed Services PO Box 6764 Silverwater NSW 1811 Australia Hewlett-Packard 450 Alexandra Road Singapore 119960 Website: www.hp-enterprisesolutions.com

Contact: Jim Williscroft, Chief Innovation & Development Officer Phone: +61 2 9647 4600 Email: info@tasol.com.au Twitter: @tasfsi LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/tas-managed-services Website: www.tasol.com.au WHO ’ S W HO O F FS I

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MOBILITY

PAYMENTS

MobileIron

MerchantSuite

The leader in security and management for mobile apps, documents, and devices, MobileIron’s mission is to enable organisations around the world to embrace mobility as their primary IT platform in order to transform their businesses and increase their competitiveness.

More than 5,000 companies rely on MobileIron’s scalable architecture, rapid innovation, and best practices for their mobile initiatives.

Global companies, including 8 of the top 10 automotive manufacturers, 7 of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies, 5 of the top 10 banks, 5 of the top 10 law firms, and 4 of the top 10 retailers, rely on MobileIron for their Mobile First initiatives.

MerchantSuite makes accepting secure payments simple. Much more than a programmer’s toolkit, we also provide instant online and mobile solutions that allow customers to pay how they want, when they want.

Our solutions are designed to make PCI DSS compliance quick and simple by removing the need to capture, transmit and store card details.

For your peace of mind, MerchantSuite has been externally audited and certified to PCI DSS Level 1, ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 protocols.

More than just a payment gateway We provide user friendly tools that allow your customers more ways to pay: • Pay by phone (IVR), tablet and mobile • ‘Remember me’ – one click check out • Set and forget – recurring reminders • SMS and email messaging • eInvoice presentment • Multiple currencies and time zones

Improve operations Optimised for global multi user environments such as call centres, BPOs and multinational organisations. We can provide savings in relation to managing complex group structures, data flows, fraud, reporting, recurring payment management and reconciliation.

Rapid co-label and white label opportunities MobileIron Level 42, Suntec Tower Three, 8 Temasek Boulevard Singapore 038988 Contact: Jojo Ye, Senior Sales Representative Phone: Singapore +65 6829 2186; Australia +61 2 9238 1907; HK +852 3750 7464 Email: jjye@mobileiron.com Twitter: @mobileiron LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/mobileiron Website: www.mobileiron.com

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We can provide an instant payment product set and revenue stream for banks, financial institutions, app developers and financial software providers seeking to offer payment services to businesses.

MerchantSuite Pty Ltd Level 16, 501 Swanston Street Melbourne VIC 3000 Australia Phone: +61 3 86 777 888 Email: sales@MerchantSuite.com Website: www.MerchantSuite.com

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SECURITY

SECURITY

Authentify

BAE Systems Applied Intelligence

Authentify, Inc. is the leading provider of global telephone based, out-of-band authentication services. These multi-factor authentication services enable organisations that need strong security to quickly and cost-effectively add two-factor or multifactor authentication layers to user logons, transaction verifications, as well as critical and high risk changes such as changing administration rights or money transfer authorisations.

Operating in more than 150 countries, Authentify provides user authentication, transaction confirmation, transaction authentication services, voice biometrics and other authentication functions for many of the world’s leading banks and financial services organisations.

Authentify lets users authenticate and gain access from anywhere, anytime, and from any device. Our multi layered authentication suite and patented technology employs a service-oriented message architecture and XML API to seamlessly integrate into existing security processes to help address these questions: • Who are you interacting with right now?

• What device is it and is it safe?

• Is the user holding the device?

Authentify prides itself on offering security and certainty, making sure its users are always secure on the go. Using the same device for connectivity and for authentication can be vulnerable to exploit.

Authentify is pioneering the use of digital certificates and public key infrastructure (PKI) technologies to protect both the security of the communications in mobile environments as well as indicating when a device has been compromised. The combination of PKI and biometrics will defeat MITM, SIM card swaps and clones, call forward attacks and other attack forms.

BAE Systems Applied Intelligence creates and delivers solutions which help protect and enhance our clients’ critical assets in the connected world.

We enable organisations to be more agile, increase trust and operate more confidently. Our solutions enable enterprises to manage their business risks, optimise their operations and comply with regulatory obligations.

We operate in three key domains of expertise: • Cyber Security – helping our clients across the complete cyber security risk lifecycle • Financial Crime – identifying, combating and preventing financial threats, risk, loss or penalties • Communications Intelligence – providing sophisticated network intelligence, protection and controls We help leading enterprises and government departments to manage multiple threats from digital criminality – whether your goal is to manage cyber security risk, reduce losses from banking or insurance fraud, protect mobile banking, uncover unauthorised trading, prevent tax or healthcare fraud or ensure regulatory compliance.

Our expertise in advanced data acquisition, network analytics, threat intelligence and operations management gives you the ability to derive intelligence from IT network, communications and transactions data to: • access more, better quality data from multiple sources • identify harmful activity from sophisticated external and insider threats • improve your risk view through continuous monitoring • improve the efficiency and effectiveness of investigations, analysis and remediation Our solutions are delivered securely through multiple deployment options, enabling your organisation to successfully deliver its core mission at lower risk.

Learn more at www.baesystems.com/ai

Authentify Ltd. Suite 1303, Capitol Centre, Tower II 28 Jardine’s Crescent Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Contact: Robert Soden, Managing Director Phone: +852 9304 6699 Email: robert.soden@authentify.com Website: www.authentify.com

BAE Systems Applied Intelligence Level 12, 20 Bridge Street Sydney NSW 2000 Australia Phone: +61 1300 027 001 Website: www.baesystems.com/ai WHO ’ S W HO O F FS I

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SECURITY

SECURITY

Check Point Software Technologies

FireMon

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (www.checkpoint.com), is the largest pure-play security vendor globally, provides industryleading solutions, and protects customers from cyber-attacks with an unmatched catch rate of malware and other types of attacks.

Check Point Software Technologies offers a complete security architecture defending enterprises’ networks to mobile devices, in addition to the most comprehensive and intuitive security management.

Check Point Software Technologies protects more than 100,000 organisations of all sizes. At Check Point, we secure the future.

FireMon is the global leader in Proactive Enterprise Security Management. Anchored by our flagship product Security Manager and enhanced by the Policy Planner, Policy Optimiser and Risk Analyser modules, our Security Intelligence Platform delivers an all-in-one software suite to fully manage your network security devices.

Check Point Software Technologies 61 Robinson Road #17-01 Singapore 068893 Phone: +65 6435 1318 Twitter: @CheckPoint_SA Website: www.checkpoint.com 158

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The FireMon Suite Today’s finance and banking organisations face among the most challenging network security conditions, with highly complex infrastructure, numerous compliance considerations and a never-ending onslaught of threats. FireMon Security Intelligence Platform solutions currently help many of the world’s leading financial institutions grapple with these realities in improving their overall network security posture, while automating strategic elements of compliance (including PCI DSS). In addition to aiding in the management of network firewall configuration, policy workflow and related IT risks, FireMon solutions offer advanced automation that has allowed financial sector customers to optimise resources and garner higher ROI on their security investments.

FireMon finance and banking customers derive benefit from a wide range of highly differentiated FireMon solutions capabilities including: • Automated firewall policy rules recertification (PCI DSS) • Real-time visibility into network security device infrastructure • End-to-end network security policy change workflow • Customisable and ad-hoc compliance assessment and reporting • Access-based prioritisation of existing network vulnerabilities

FireMon Suite 801, 454 Collins Street Melbourne VIC 3000 Australia Contact: Mick Stephens Phone: +61 3 8319 4068 Email: mick.stephens@firemon.com Twitter: @FireMon LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/firemon Website: www.firemon.com

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SECURITY

THIN CLIENT SOFTWARE & HARDWARE

SafeNet

IGEL Technology

SafeNet is the market leader in financial data security for the world’s largest financial institutions – including Citigroup, Banamex, Bank of America and NH Bank – providing: • Protection for 80 per cent of global fund transfers • Transaction security for five of the world’s largest central banks • Security for most ATM transactions in Europe, Middle East and Asia

IGEL is a German vendor, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of thin and zero clients. Thin clients are a cost-efficient and energy-saving alternative to PCs. Data is stored in a central location, making a thin client cheaper to buy and run, as well as providing benefits such as improved security, lower environmental impact and better reliability.

Thin clients are a rapidly growing alternative to PCs as server-based computing and virtualisation become industry standards.

Trusted and Innovative For nearly 30 years, SafeNet has been trusted to protect the world’s most sensitive data, with achievements including: • Positioned as a Leader in the Gartner 2012 Magic Quadrant for User Authentication • Award-winning security solutions for financial services – including the industry’s first secure, web-based PIN issuance solution • Market leader in safeguarding PKI for USB smartcard tokens and award-winning hardware security modules • An optical signing and strong authentication token securing eBanking from Man-in-the-Browser and Man-in-the-Middle attacks • Most crypto experts in the industry – 550 encryption engineers developing cutting-edge technologies and patents complete

Complete Protection for Financial Services SafeNet provides complete, data-centric protection for the most critical financial services, including: • Secure eBanking services • Secure Paper to Digital Process initiatives • Secure Credit Card/PIN Issuance and Processing • Secure Payments and Mobile Payments • Meeting Regulatory Compliance Demands

More reliable than PCs Since thin clients are manufactured without fans or rotating hard drives, they tend to be much more reliable than PCs. Fewer moving parts means less equipment that is prone to falling apart. Therefore, thin clients increase the overall availability of IT.

Eco-friendly No internal moving parts, no fans and no on-board storage means thin clients have lower energy consumption, which helps to reduce running costs as well as CO2 emissions.

Increased security Thin clients increase data security and compliance with laws and regulations like HIPPA, as sensitive data is not stored locally and the use of USB-ports can be managed remotely by the administrator.

Management and administration IGEL produces a remote management suite which comes standard with all IGEL devices. Thin clients reduce the complexity of an operating environment, which reduces the TCO as well as freeing up time and resources to focus on other areas of a business.

SafeNet Australia Pty Ltd Level 40, 100 Miller Street North Sydney NSW 2060

IGEL Technology Level 32, 101 Miller Street North Sydney NSW 2060 Australia

Contact: Vince Lee Phone: +61 2 9906 2988 Email: info.au@safenet-inc.com Website: www.safenet-inc.com

Contact: Marc Doehnert Phone: +61 432 103 599 Email: doehnert@igel.com Website: www.igel.com W HO ’ S W HO O F FS I

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UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS

VIRTUALISATION

Pure Storage

VCE

Pure Storage, the market’s leading independent solid-state array vendor, enables the broad deployment of flash in the data centre.

The company’s all-flash enterprise arrays offer significant performance and efficiency gains over mechanical disk, at a lower price point per gigabyte stored.

Pure Storage FlashArrays are ideal for performance-intensive applications, including server virtualisation and consolidation, VDI, OLTP database, real-time analytics and cloud computing.

To learn more, visit: www.purestorage.com.

VCE provides converged solutions that accelerate the adoption of cloud-based computing models for enterprises and service providers globally. Based on VCE’s industry-leading converged infrastructure, VCE converged solutions dramatically simplify IT, enabling customers to focus on business innovation instead of integrating, validating and managing IT infrastructure. Our pre-integrated, pre-tested and pre-validated converged infrastructures for cloud environments enable transformative data center agility, simplicity and economics to enterprises and service providers. The VCE Experience includes Vblock Solutions that are delivered and supported by VCE as a single product, with seamless component-level updates, lifecycle management and end-to-end vendor accountability.

VCE ‘Vblock Systems’ deliver faster time-to-market, the performance and availability customers need, and insights that drive heightened business agility – all at lower cost and with lower risk to the business.

A recent study from IDC documented that with ‘Vblock Systems,’ customers experienced a deployment five times faster than other systems, at half the price, and with 96 per cent less downtime.

VCE is the clear leader in integrated infrastructure systems according to Gartner and IDC. In 2014, VCE was positioned as a leader in the Gartner, Inc. Magic Quadrant for Integrated Systems, based on an evaluation of VCE’s completeness of vision and ability to execute.

The company surpassed a two billion dollars annualised demand run-rate for Vblock and Vblock-related products and services exiting Q3 2014, its sixth consecutive quarter of greater than 50 per cent yearover-year demand growth.

Pure Storage Level 4, 95 Pitt Street Sydney NSW 2000 Australia Email: sales@purestorage.com Phone: +61 2 8249 8211 Twitter: @PureStorage LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/pure-storage Blog: www.purestorage.com/blog Website: www.purestorage.com 160

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VCE Technologies Pty Ltd Level 20, 321 Kent Street Sydney NSW 2000 Australia Email: moreinfo@vce.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/VCE/205724442779547 Twitter: twitter.com/VCE G+: plus.google.com/+VceCorp/posts Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/vcecomputing LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/vce Website: www.vce.com