Global Banking & Finance Review Issue 34 - Business & Finance Magazine

Issue 34

Oleksii Iatsenko

Chairman of the Management Board

MEGABANK JSC, Ukraine

Megabank's Chairman on Digital Banking Innovations, SME Business, and Strategy

www.globalbankingandfinance.com

EDITORS LETTER

FROM THE

editor

Chairman and CEO Varun Sash Editor Wanda Rich email: wrich@gbafmag.com

Dear Readers’

Head of Distribution & Production Robert Mathew

I am pleased to present Issue 34 of Global Banking & Finance Review. For those of you that are reading us for the first time, welcome.

Project Managers Megan Sash, Amanda Walker Video Production and Journalist Phil Fothergill Graphic Designer Jessica Weisman-Pitts Client & Accounts Manager Chanel Roberts Business Consultants Rick Saikia, Monika Umakanth, Stefy Abraham,

This issue is filled with exclusive insights from industry leaders across the globe.

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Featured on the front cover is Oleksii Iatsenko, Chairman of the Management Board at MEGABANK JSC, Ukraine. Megabank has been operating in Ukraine for over 30 years and is one of the oldest and largest commercial banks in the country. During his years of work in the top management of Megabank, it has entered the top twenty most reliable banks in Ukraine according to various rating agencies. When I spoke with Oleksii, he explained that the shareholders have been involved at each stage of Megabank’s strategy, which he cites as key to the bank’s development. Turn to page 22 to read the full interview and where we discuss the bank’s strategy, digital innovations, and SME Business.

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Don’t miss my interview with Hamit Kütük, KT Asset Management’s Chief Executive Officer where we discuss how the organisation continues to develop its competitive edge, some of the elements to be considered in Islamic investment, and the importance of getting started early when it comes to investing. (Page 34)

Global Banking & Finance Review is the trading name of GBAF Publications LTD Company Registration Number: 7403411 VAT Number: GB 112 5966 21 ISSN 2396-717X.

We strive to capture the breaking news about the world's economy, financial events, and banking game changers from prominent leaders in the industry and public viewpoints with an intention to serve a holistic outlook. We have gone that extra mile to ensure we give you the best from the world of finance.

Business Analysts Samuel Joseph, Dave D’Costa

The information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources the publishers believe to be correct. The publisher wishes to stress that the information contained herein may be subject to varying international, federal, state and/or local laws or regulations.

The purchaser or reader of this publication assumes all responsibility for the use of these materials and information. However, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions, or contrary interpretations of the subject matter contained herein no legal liability can be accepted for any errors. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the prior consent of the publisher

Send me your thoughts on how I can continue to improve and what you’d like to see in the future.

Enjoy!

Wanda Rich Editor

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Issue 34 | 03

CONTENTS

BUSINESS eCommerce in 2022: Four Trends for Sellers to Thrive in The New Year.

42

Kenny Tsang Managing Director PingPong Payments

44

MARK ELWARD, CCO OF HUBOO, DISCUSSES ECOMMERCE AND MARKETING TRENDS IN 2022…

AND BEYOND Mark Elward CCO Huboo

BANKING The shift from banking apps to super-apps Gijsbert Pols Lead Product Strategist Adjust

40 May the best bank win: How to

deliver seamless digital experiences to drive a competitive edge Jerome Bugnet Director, Solution Engineering MuleSoft

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12

CONTENTS

TECHNOLOGY Real Estate Predictions with Web Scraping

08

Julius Černiauskas CEO Oxylabs.io

14 2022: The year of AI in B2B John Bruno Vice President, Strategy PROS

16 The Fintech Digital Revolution Will Continue in 2022

Julian Ostertag, Managing Partner and Co-Founder Drake Star

30 ReImagining Operational Risk

Management through RegTech Gita Srinivasan BFSI Risk and Compliance consultant Tata Consultancy Services Ajay Katara Domain Consultant in Banking Risk Management area Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)

Don’t Get Lost in the Cloud!

Bence Jendruszak COO SEON

46

Issue 34 | 05

CONTENTS

TRADE FINANCE Nigeria prepares to play a central role as it embraces intra-African trade

18

David Oberheim, Director for Anglophone Africa at British Arab Commercial Bank (BACB)

PAYMENTS Open Banking - The New Renaissance of Digital Payments

28

Eline Blomme, Head of Product Management Digital Commerce at Worldline

INVESTING How to delight shareholders in 2022 Kerry Leighton-Bailey Director of Shareholder Engagement Lumi

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38

CONTENTS

...Interviews 22

MEGABANK'S CHAIRMAN ON DIGITAL BANKING INNOVATIONS, SME BUSINESS, AND STRATEGY Oleksii Iatsenko Chairman of the Management Board MEGABANK JSC, Ukraine

KT ASSET MANAGEMENT: TURKEY’S FIRST ISLAMIC ASSET MANAGEMENT COMPANY

34

Hamit Kütük Chief Executive Officer KT Asset Management

Issue 34 | 07

TECHNOLOGY

08 | Issue 34

TECHNOLOGY

Real Estate Predictions with Web Scraping

Real estate, while a relatively stable investment, has to be evaluated based on numerous external and internal factors. Some of them might have an immediately obvious impact on pricing - such as construction or last renovation date. They are also relatively easy to find.

There are factors, however, that may have a significant impact on the value of a property but are either harder to calculate or difficult to acquire. Crime rates, for example, have a propensity to affect the desirability of properties by a large margin. Getting accurate data, however, can be challenging in many countries.

On the other hand, data such as the density of nearby businesses might be easier to collect. Yet, it’s not always clear how these factors might affect property valuations. It’s obvious that it somehow matters, but it isn’t exactly as clear how much.

Web scraping can attenuate these issues by some margin. Automated data collection online can deliver fairly accurate data on most external factors or provide a window into how these factors might affect properties over time.

Web scraping without the technical fluff The process can be loosely defined as automated online data collection from publicly available sources. At first glance, it seems as if there are so many limitations placed on public web scraping that it can rarely be useful. Most of what seems interesting or valuable should be hidden behind a login screen.

Surprisingly, while the statement is true, there’s still lots of valuable information remaining. Real estate is one of the few industries where there’s little data hidden behind logins. Scraping can be remarkably useful to anyone who wants to support traditional analysis methods.

To better imagine how automated online data collection works, think of a browser that does all the actions without any user input. Instead of, however, simply displaying data, it downloads the entire page into local storage.

Such a process repeats itself until some desired amount of URLs has been traveled through. After that, usually, some search and parse function is initiated to extract the desired data from the content.

Finally, all the valuable information is exported to an easy to parse file format (e.g., CSV, JSON) and the rest is either sent to a database or completely scrapped.

Data is then, usually, used by analysts to develop actionable insights for the business. In the case of the real estate industry, a team would be able to predict how impactful some factors might be on property valuations.

What should we look for?

Now, a slightly different issue that reveals itself. There is so much data available that it can be hard to choose what seems valuable. After all, whatever is found on the internet is likely indirectly related to property value. In other words, it won’t be immediately apparent which data sources indicate what.

Frequently, businesses opt for the first idea that comes to mind. These are usually competitor data or comments and feedback left online by customers. Both options aren’t entirely bad ideas, but they’re not as valuable to real estate.

One of the easiest ways to get started with scraping in real estate is to start collecting crime data, assuming it is not available officially. Data about crime rates is available from numerous sources. The best one will always be the one your lawyer tells you is okay to scrape.

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TECHNOLOGY

Over time there should be enough data collected to get an accurate weekly, monthly, and yearly crime rate gauge in cities or even parts of them.

Crime rates will have a clear negative impact on property value. Such data, however, would be inaccessible to any competitors, which would make more accurate predictions possible.

Another route is to scrape data about all businesses within a specific distance from a property of interest.

Most importantly, anonymized reviews could be scraped as an indicator of the quality of that region.

Businesses that have a high rating, regardless of their type, will usually be located in more upscale neighborhoods. Types of businesses and industries can also be considered as impactful. Banks, for example, usually nest in financial districts, which would indicate a better property value.

Additionally, web scraping can be used to evaluate the future of specific regions more accurately. Job growth, for example, is a good indicator of prosperity, which, in turn, increases property prices. Other factors, such

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as investments in infrastructure or number of active permits, can be used to prop up calculations as well.

Finally, a lot of the classic scraping methods are available. Property listings, competitor monitoring, foreclosures, and many more data points can be collected. The only differentiating factor for web scraping is whether the data acquired is useful.

If there is some potential it can be, there’s no reason to avoid scraping.

Conclusion Real estate businesses have an incredible opportunity to get involved with web scraping. Such data can be immensely beneficial in various ways, but, primarily, for improving the accuracy of property valuations. In other words, scraping improves the ROI of real estate investments.

Additionally, secondary signals that may be important to a real estate company can be extracted. Web scraping lends itself perfectly to market trends analysis, real estate economics, and other deeper research topics. It can provide all the necessary information. All it takes is drive and willingness to use it.

Julius Černiauskas CEO Oxylabs.io

The AEVI Platform is open to all devices – letting you take back control of your payments without any integration nightmares.

We manage all your transactions and data, all on one secure, flexible platform. It’s time to own your payment infrastructure.

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AEVI.com

BANKING

The shift from banking apps to super-apps Super-apps are set to transform the landscape of personal banking, as developers continue to innovate mobile finance by transitioning away from banking apps to more lifestyle-focused financial apps with multiple functionalities.

These apps aim to address the wider financial needs of consumers beyond simply banking as 53% of finance app users who abandoned apps because they no longer needed them said that other apps covered their finance needs.

This provides opportunities for banks to play a much larger role in the dayto-day activities of their customers by owning many different segments of a consumer’s financial planning outside of their regular banking.

Super-apps have been a defining feature of the modern economy in China and Southeast Asia for some time, disrupting the traditional finance industry and providing a template for vibrant mobile economies which are set to grow throughout 2022 in the rest of the world.

What are super-apps?

Super-apps cover multiple verticals and act as a single point of entry for multiple consumer functions. While the options of additional services can differ, payments are the defining feature of the super-app — the payment functionality is what ties the rest of the offerings together.

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The unique selling point of a superapp that centralises so many functions is that users can complete multiple tasks or actions in one place. Super-apps remove the need to switch between programs or providers, meaning fewer registrations, fewer incidences of providing payment details, and an overall reduction of friction.

Many of the most popular Asian super-apps started out with a single purpose to entice uptake and mass usage before branching out to cover a mix of daily activities within a single tool — creating a super-app that offers users a range of different services within one app.

We C h a t i s t h e m o s t o b v i o u s example of this. Initially launched as a communication app in a similar vein to WhatsApp, it has since developed into an integrated platform for social networking, r i d e - h a i l i n g , f o o d d e l i v e r y, restaurant bookings, payments, and gaming – and has established itself as the archetypal super-app.

There are numerous stand-out super apps in Southeast Asia, such as Gojek and Grab, which have evolved from ride-hailing apps into all-in-one services that allow you to manage everything from housekeeping to insurance.

The rise of super-apps With Google, Facebook and Amazon being less dominant in Asia, and completely absent in China, superapp developers were and are certainly better positioned to emerge as market leaders. Asian markets are also typically mobile-first, meaning superapps hardly have to compete with existing desktop applications.

However, COVID-19 has accelerated the movement toward super-apps in the rest of the world. The pandemic has seen a sudden rise in the usage and adoption of non-touch payment modes.

Banking apps provide not only a more hygienic way to manage finances, but also more convenient alternatives to cash payments —and super- apps advance this even further by unifying multiple services into a single platform.

Established digital players,such as PayPal, in the West have indicated their intentions to develop into the super-app space. Mark Zuckerberg has stated that he wants Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp to function as an interconnected platform for private services. Uber has been straightforward about its ambition to become a super-app, confirmed by the $3.1 billion acquisition of Careem – a company striving to become the super-app of the Middle-East. Amazon and Airbnb have also expressed their interest in going down a similar path.

BANKING

The future of banking apps If the Western markets continue to take steps towards centralised, friction-reducing app models, digital banking could be reshaped entirely.

The traditional banking apps we know today will be left behind as consumers look to super-apps for a better, faster and easier experience of financial planning and management, along with a range of other services.

With an expected decline of singlepurpose banking apps, there are exciting opportunities within the mobile finance industry. As super-apps provide a more sophisticated, multi-functional experience, they give banks greater ownership over segments of a customer’s lifestyle. There are greater opportunities for personalisation and targeting, as well as partnerships with companies in other verticals.

WeChat, AliPay and Paytm all allow third parties to offer mini-programs within their apps, with brands such as L’Oréal and Nike using these programs to market their products directly to the vast super-app user bases.

The traditional banking app model is no longer viable as the expectations and opportunities for mobile finance continue to expand. Super-apps which make it easy to transfer across any system, perform various lifestyle tasks and get services and information from any organisation are the future of digital banking as the industry expands into lifestyle management and beyond.

Gijsbert Pols Lead Product Strategist Adjust

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TECHNOLOGY

2022: The year of AI in B2B

The past two years have seen a steep acceleration of digital selling, amongst almost all industries, as a result of stay at home guidance and mandates. The shift to e-Commerce in the consumer space was somewhat inevitable. However, there has also been a notable move to the digital arena amongst business-to-business (B2B) sales, as companies and salespeople have been forced to abandon the traditionally in-person orientation of the sales field.

While many companies scrambled during the last two years to repair and keep up with changing circumstances, 2022 will see business leaders investing time and resources in building a robust and optimised sales structure, which meets buyers’ evolving needs and preferences. To do so, B2B sellers will increasingly embrace Artificial Intelligence (AI) in order to facilitate this necessary advancement.

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B2B buyers of today Up until recently, B2B buyers and sellers alike have mainly relied on traditional systems of in-person meetings, client friendships and handshakes. This, combined with gut-feeling and instinct, have conventionally driven the completion of sales and the closing of deals.

The age demographic of B2B buyers today is now late20s to mid-40s. As such, the expectations of these buyers are different from those of older generations that came before them. The millennials who dominate this age bracket expect the buying experience that they enjoy when purchasing consumer products: personalised offers, seamless processes and a concierge level of service throughout the buying journey. This trend has been accelerated by the shift to B2C2B, in which B2B brands are increasingly supplying directly to savvy consumers.

TECHNOLOGY

In order to meet buyers where they are, the secret lies in adopting innovative technologies; namely, AI. Leaders must create a culture where AI is accessible across the company, and meaningful at the B2B customer’s point of research and sale.

The helping hand of AI By leveraging AI, B2B businesses can place each salesperson within the digital selling journey and empower them to deliver seamless service through AI-based configurable selling tools. This technology can leverage key data points from a vast array of available data sets across a business. For example, AI can offer real-time insights into customer preferences, transforming these large amounts of data into a genuinely meaningful resource.

AI can feed information more quickly and accurately to sales teams, empowering them to dynamically respond to prospective buyers in real-time, with offers that sufficiently meet customer preferences. AIenabled deep insights into customer activity guide sellers to provide highly personalised offers, suggesting the right products at the right time at the perfect price.

Driven by real-time immediate insights, businesses are able to act more quickly and with more agility and flexibility when it comes to decisionmaking. In turn, sales teams are empowered to strike the key balance in pricing: finding a price point which customers are willing to pay, but which still protects revenue margins.

Market volatility Further than just understanding customer preferences, businesses must also have a strong grasp on market behaviour and trends.

From supply chain issues to rising inflation (the headline rate of inflation rose to 5.1% in the UK in December 2021 – the highest rate in a decade), external market factors have a considerable impact on revenue margins and pricing.

Customers, however, do not want to feel market uncertainty in the form of dramatically varied pricing.

As they head into 2022, smart businesses can leverage AI to help solve this. AI technology can identify real-time market data that allows businesses to better understand an unpredictable economic climate and solve for volatility earlier in the value chain.

Rather than completely eliminating volatility, which is not possible, this can mitigate the effects of volatility on the end customer.

AI empowers businesses to identify and collate all types of data and insights from both micro movements and macro trends in the markets, to create commercial strategies to stabilise uncertainty for customers.

By enriching market data with intelligent insights, as well as having access to customer information such as buying history, AI will help businesses to set prices that not only shield customers from pricing volatility, but also protect their margins, and ultimately, revenue.

John Bruno Vice President, Strategy PROS

How to guard against the only certainty: uncertainty Going into 2022, it’s safe to say that the only certainty is uncertainty.

The best way for B2B companies, and sales teams in particular, to stay resilient against any upcoming turbulence, is to establish the foundations for personalised and dynamic digital selling.

By providing offers that are personalised and customised to each customer, modern B2B buyers will find their needs and preferences met, as part of a responsive and seamless journey. Furthermore, AI-driven strategies empower businesses to have the flexibility to quickly and dynamically pivot, in order to respond to fast-changing market and customer conditions.

The last two years have proved that this agility is crucial in order for B2B organisations to survive and thrive, even amidst the most adverse conditions. By implementing AI, businesses empower everyone involved in the value chain in a seamless and accessible way.

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TECHNOLOGY

The Fintech Digital Revolution Will Continue in 2022 2021 was a banner year for Fintech investments, with long-term trends and short-term pressures combining to accelerate the digital transformation of the financial services industry. One BIS study estimated that fintech has attracted a trillion dollars over 35,000 equity deals since 2010, and grown from 1% to 5% of deals globally.

and digital insurance solutions.

The simple truth here is the ageold adage: If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, or in many cases integrate ‘em.

Incumbents will need to partner with complementary Fintech companies to fend off threats from others.

2022 will most likely see this trend continue and perhaps even accelerate - but only if institutional players in the industry can stay ahead of the curve, something they have struggled to do in recent years. So what can we expect for Fintechs in 2022?

The idea behind decentralized finance is to replace the traditional intermediaries like banks, brokers and insurances with peer-to-peer relationships offering the entire world of financial services. The core components are blockchain, cryptocurrency and smart contracts (and like always - data). It's clear that blockchain-based services will be a major part of any financial institution in the next 5-10 years, perhaps replacing centralized banking altogether for a generation raised on the tech. The goal is to offer more accessible, transparent, efficient and cheaper financial services.

Fintechs are here to stay - if you can’t beat’em, join’em The top 100 Fintechs already account for a value of $2.7trn, while the top 100 banks achieve a value of $7.1trn.

There is no denying that challenger banks, insurance, wealth managers, payment companies as well as B2B Fintech solution providers have established themselves and they are here to stay. Laser-focused on the slowest-moving incumbents and the tech-savvy, demanding 20-40 demographic, these new services have siphoned off millions of customers with their convenient, web- and mobile-first approaches.

Basic mobile banking has become commonplace, and challengers are leading the charge, and while the establishment has been playing catch-up the fast-moving startups have moved on to wealth management

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Decentralising finance - blockchain, cryptocurrency and smart contracts

Venture capital has supercharged the development of these new categories and most traditional financial services companies are still at the starting line. However, even the best-funded startups need the reach of established incumbents, and perhaps even more importantly, their data.

AI in the archives - data will change customer experience for good Deep reserves of data are the crown jewels of incumbent banks and insurances. But decades of records

are as much a liability as an asset if one doesn't know how to access the insights inside them. The next phase of innovation and investment in Fintech will be data-driven applications that cater to and engage with individuals - an unexpected and valuable business proposition in an industry defined by regulation (and highly regulated) services.

Accessing the insights in this data will necessitate the use of AI and machine learning. These technologies may sound like buzzwords when shoehorned into pitches and product ideas, but they're a perfect match for anyone trying to make sense of huge piles of semi-structured data.

Here again startups will lead the way, offering services that can securely and safely access and analyze billions of bytes of financial records to improve customer experience.

Diversify and conquer - the rise of embedded financial services Equipped with highly specific and data-derived trends and perspectives, a financial organization will be able to offer improved and faster risk assessment, customerproduct matching, personalized recommendations, and better security and customer services. Happy customers are the best bulwark against hungry and trendy Fintechs.

Equipped with data, non-bank entities like Amazon and other tech giants are now offering financial services like buy-now-pay-later and other loanadjacent products, since consumer

TECHNOLOGY

investment in one platform makes it far more likely they'll use its other offerings as well. Convenience is key, but trust is also hard to come by when large sums are in play - an advantage incumbents have against startups that have yet to become household names.

Embedded finance therefore also gives incumbents the opportunity to integrate other financial products into their offering.

Values on display - ESG can no longer be ignored It's important to note that with the rise in visibility of matters like climate change, systemic racism, political disinformation, and other key issues, ESG values will be more important than ever going forward. Not only do consumers care, but regulations, board decisions, and business logic are tending towards favoring socially responsible investments and products.

This is one area where institutions may be able to lead, as it is rarely a surprise when a small startup claims carbon neutrality or offers progressive benefits - but it definitely is when a major bank or 50,000-strong corporation does so.

Value-driven business decisions aren't just smart in this market, they're the mark of forward-thinking leadership that believes we can build an economic system that benefits both people and the planet they live on.

Ignoring ESG is no longer an option.

About Drake Star Drake Star Partners is a global investment banking firm serving the technology, media and communications sectors (TMC) with offices in New York, London, Paris, Munich, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Berlin, Geneva, Singapore* and Dubai*. The firm focuses on M&A and corporate finance for its clients worldwide. Drake Star Partners completed over 400 transactions since 2004, 70% of which are cross-border.

Drake Star Partners is the marketing name for the global investment bank Drake Star Partners Limited and its subsidiaries and affiliates. In the USA, all securities are transacted through Drake Star Securities LLC. In the USA, Drake Star Securities LLC is regulated by FINRA and is a member of SIPC. Drake Star UK Limited (FRN 942020) is an appointed representative of Kession Capital Ltd (FRN582160) which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. © 2016 Drake Star Partners Limited. www.drakestar.com

Julian Ostertag Managing Partner and Co-Founder Drake Star Julian Ostertag is Managing Partner & Co-Founder of Drake Star Partners. Julian is passionate about entrepreneurs and technology innovations. He is a seasoned investment banker whose experience spans both domestic and cross-border M&A, private equity and debt transactions, fundraisings, and IPOs across the US, Europe and Asia.

Julian began his career as an M&A and Equity Capital Markets banker with Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt and London focusing on IPOs, secondary offerings, convertibles, structuring and executing M&A transactions for international corporations.

Prior to co-founding Drake Star Partners, Julian was Vice President with marketing responsibility in the Technology Team of the successor of the SG Cowen operations in Germany.

Julian is a regular speaker and panelist at industry events. He holds a business degree from Heinrich-Heine Universität Düsseldorf and studied at Universidad de Salamanca and Universidad de Alicante (ERASMUS scholarship).

Issue 34 | 17

TRADE FINANCE

Nigeria prepares to play a central role as it embraces intra-African trade David Oberheim, Director for Anglophone Africa at British Arab Commercial Bank (BACB), discusses the current state of Nigerian trade, and explores what Nigerian businesses stand to gain from further intra-African integration.

Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, has long looked beyond the continent for trade partners. Indeed, trade flows between African nations have historically been low across the board, accounting for less than 17% of overall trade volumes – a figure dwarfed by the proportion of intra-continental trade found in Europe or Asia. In 2020, just 19% of Nigeria’s exports went to other African markets, while 8% of imports came from the continent.

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But the country is now placing a renewed focus on deepening links with its neighbours. Greater regional trade integration within Africa has been an important policy priority for years. Intra-African trade is regarded as a powerful stimulant of economic growth, with the added benefit of bolstering African economic resilience by reducing exposure to global price fluctuations. For Nigeria, an increase in trade with African partners would represent an opportunity for local industries to achieve scale, and for the economy to reduce reliance on the currently dominant oil sector.

TRADE FINANCE

A catalyst for growth

Challenges remain

The African Continental Free Trade Agreement, signed in 2018, brought together 44 nations in an effort to create what would be the world’s largest free trade area by number of countries.

The resulting African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is the culmination of a drive towards intra-African integration that dates back as far as 1963.

While its economic heft leaves Nigeria wellpositioned to lead the way with respect to AfCFTA, the country faces a number of significant obstacles. While it has registered strong economic growth in recent years, relatively high unemployment and poverty rates have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, while inequality continues to pose social issues.

Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who chairs an advisory council on intraAfrican trade, declared at the recent Intra African Trade Fair that AfCFTA could increase total intra-continental trade flows by over 65%. And the benefits go beyond Africa’s borders – enhanced integration would also help international businesses looking to invest in Africa, providing a harmonised regulatory framework and reduced barriers to expand into different countries. This is increasingly relevant in the context of supply chainvolatility, which has prompted some corporates to consider relocating manufacturing capabilities from further afield.

In recent years, doubts have been raised over the dedication of Nigerian policymakers to free trade after bans were imposed on fish and rice, both major imports. The restrictions were largely perceived to be ineffective, and the country’s large informal sector was capable of importing these goods in an irregular manner – borders were subsequently reopened in 2020.

Proponents of African trade integration have so far focused on the establishment of a network of overlapping Regional Economic Communities (RECs), which serve as stepping stones to the more ambitious goal. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), within which Nigeria falls, is one such REC. A longstanding champion of regional integration, ECOWAS has previously grabbed headlines with ambitious plans to create a common currency for its 15 members. Nigeria accounts for half of the region’s population and 70% of its GDP, making the country’s participation central to any meaningful progress towards further integration.

The foremost issue impeding Nigeria’s progress is, however, the poor state of its infrastructure.

At its essence, physical infrastructure ties the continent together – roads, railways and bridges facilitate the movement of goods and people.

Nigeria reflects an archetype seen across several African markets in that, for historical reasons, its infrastructure promotes trade with Europe, Asia and the Middle East rather than with closer geographical neighbours.

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TRADE FINANCE

Existing infrastructure is poorly maintained and unfinished ventures, such as the ambitious Eko Atlantic real estate project – once dubbed the ‘Dubai of Africa’ – are common.

Even Lagos, a large city and major regional hub, is surrounded by poor infrastructure that impedes the transportation of goods. Products imported into Nigeria from its African neighbours are also often regarded with distrust, as manufactured goods from further afield are considered to be of higher quality.

And a lack of investment in physical infrastructure has wider implications. Nigeria is home to some of the world’s largest oil reserves, yet refineries are often poorly maintained. Therefore, Africa’s biggest crude oil exporter is generally unable to reach optimum refining levels. The importance of the oil sector to the Nigerian economy cannot be overstated, and if the country is to sustain its ambitions for economic growth it will need to improve its existing refineries while also expanding its downstream capabilities.

Strong progress is being made But concrete efforts are already underway to address many of these challenges. The Dangote Oil Refinery, a project with planned estimated capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, is a promising infrastructure project with the potential to improve Nigeria’s homegrown refining capabilities. When completed, the Dangote refinery would become Africa’s largest oil refinery and the world’s biggest single-train facility.

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Signs of improvement can also be seen in the country’s transportation network. The Lagos Rail Mass Transit System, a US$1.2 billion rail project, plans to connect over 17 million people over multiple major cities. The project has even been domestically funded in its entirety. Such landmark infrastructural investments will be key to realising the immense latent potential for development across the African continent.

Indeed, the country used to be one of the region’s largest exporters of cocoa before focusing on hydrocarbons, and access to neighbouring markets could help this sector to flourish. Businesses in the telecoms, manufacturing and wholesale retail sectors would also have opportunities to expand as Nigeria broadens its commercial horizons.

Nigerian banks, for instance, have already made notable inroads into the wider African market.

Intra-African trade can also serve as a catalyst for change in Nigeria by enabling the country to diversify into other economic sectors, reducing its reliance on crude oil. As Nigerian governments have consistently prioritised the lucrative oil industry, the country’s manufacturing and agricultural sectors have received less investment and are now consequently underdeveloped. Eliminating tariffs across Africa could help these sectors to thrive by scaling up their operations and building the necessary resilience to succeed without state support.

The agricultural sector is another potential area for growth, as the AfCFTA aims to limit expenditure on food imports from outside the continent by increasing trade in agricultural products by up to 30%. Nigeria is home to highly arable land and nutrient-rich soils which, with the necessary attention and investment, could provide for more of the continent’s food needs. Further regional integration would boost farmer income, increasing their capacity to invest in modernising their operations.

TRADE FINANCE

Looking ahead

Disclaimer:

Nigeria’s young population is growing fast – it is expected that in 20 years, one in every four Africans will be Nigerian. This supports the vision of an ambitious, entrepreneurial nation at the heart of an interconnected African economy – a vision that can be achieved if the country is willing to carry out meaningful structural changes.

The material and information contained in this Article are provided for general information only and should not be used as a basis for making business or investment decisions. The Article displays information obtained from sources believed by BACB to be reliable, but BACB does not represent or warrant, nor accepts responsibility, as to its completeness or accuracy. If you are to rely on the information you are strongly recommended to take your own independent advice. The information may change at any time however BACB is under no obligation to update it.

The AfCFTA is certainly a powerful force for development, but the success of the intra-African trade project is also contingent on outside investment and strong financial links between African markets.

Specialist trade finance providers, that understand the region well, will doubtlessly continue to be a crucial resource for African and international businesses alike, as pan-African potential is converted into reality.

David Oberheim Director Anglophone Africa at British Arab Commercial Bank (BACB)

Issue 34 | 21

INTERVIEW

Megabank's Chairman on Digital Banking Innovations, SME Business, and Strategy Megabank has been operating in Ukraine for over 30 years and is one of the oldest and largest commercial banks in the country. Oleksii Iatsenko has been working in the banking sector and at Megabank JSC, in particular, since 2003. He began his career as an economist and has held various positions in the bank since then, and is currently the chairman of the management board. During his years of work in the top management of Megabank, it has entered the top twenty most reliable banks in Ukraine according to various rating agencies. The shareholders of Megabank are the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the German State Bank (KfW) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

When Global Banking & Finance Review editor Wanda Rich spoke with Oleksii, he explained that the shareholders have been involved at each stage of Megabank’s strategy, which he cites as key to the bank’s development. “In the late 90s, a timely decision was made to open branches in the territory of Ukraine, and in 2005 it was decided to implement corporate governance, which was based on best European practices,” he said.

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“As a result, since 2006, Megabank has been cooperating with international financial institutions such as the World Bank, the EBRD and the IFC. One of the most important stages in the activities and development of the bank was the inclusion of international organisations in the shareholders' structure. Thus, since 2009, the shareholders of Megabank are the EBRD (11.29%), the German State Bank KfW (11.29%) and the IFC (4.53%).”

He believes that the bank’s universality has played a positive role in its development. “For many years, the main focus of our activities has been small and medium-sized businesses. This allows us to ensure good diversification of the bank's assets.”

He also discussed how product development is steered heavily by the increased need for technological innovation and the convenience it brings to clients.

“One of the unique products of Megabank, which also influenced the development of the bank, was the Integral Clearing Centre (ICC) to pay for housing and utilities services,” Oleksii said.

INTERVIEW

He explained that this integral payment system was created primarily to facilitate customer convenience when paying for multiple services.

“Instead of five to six payment documents, consumers began to receive a single bill.

Gradually, the bank began to transform its services into digital channels. This process was also applied to users of the Integral Clearing Centre.

“As a result, today this information service allows consumers to pay for utilities services both offline and online, using convenient payment methods and saving time and money,” he continued. “With regards to savings, this applies to the commission that banks usually charge customers for transactions. Using the ICC channels, a person has the opportunity to not pay a commission.”

Digitalisation has also been developed in Megabank’s other banking services. “In 2019, we launched the digital bank todobank,” he said. “It was the second neobank in the country.

The unique difference of this platform to others is that it remains open to absolutely all clients. To start using the bank’s service, a person only needs to install a mobile application on his phone - it is not necessary to have a card issued by Megabank. Since the launch of todobank in Ukraine, the application has been downloaded by more than 300,000 users to their phones. We also provide users with the opportunity to conveniently pay for utilities services. It is possible to pay all utility suppliers in todobank at once, as well as on the ICC website, with one payment and without paying any commission.”

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INTERVIEW

They are continuing to develop the mobile application today, supplementing it with new services.

“In 2022, it is planned to launch an updated version, todobank 2.0, where Megabank intends to please its clients with a large number of new features. These will be the most modern services available on the Ukrainian market.”

Megabank’s improved digital offering has had a positive effect on both its customer service level and its profits.

“We understand that clients want to solve their financial problems today and now,” Oleksii acknowledged. “At the same time, they want to use the devices they have at hand and perform banking transactions from anywhere in the world and at any time. The availability of digital banking makes it possible to meet client demand, and market requirements in general.”

In terms of profit, he noted that the transfer of most services from branches to digital channels has allowed Megabank to significantly reduce its costs. “It is important that the bank has the opportunity to

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maintain and increase the volume of banking transactions and, accordingly, increase profits.”

One of the areas where Megabank excels is the full range of services it provides to small and medium-sized businesses, and how it addresses the way their needs differ to those of corporate clients. “One of the bank's competitive advantages is that we offer all services that are available to the corporate segment to small and medium-sized businesses,” Oleksii said. “At the same time, Megabank is trying to find an individual approach for each client, which would be able to solve their issues as profitably and effectively as possible.

“Short-term and unsecured loans in the form of a credit limit on the current account, classic lending, lending for investment purposes, lending under government support programmes related to the COVID-19 pandemic, sectoral economy – all are available to small and medium-sized business clients,” he went on. “Representatives of SMEs also have access to the full

range of documentary transactions, letters of credit, avalisation of bills, servicing of foreign trade agreements and more.

“In addition, for the micro-client and private entrepreneur segment, Megabank plans to allow remote account opening in todobank version 2.0. Therefore, we will be able to serve this segment through the application later this year.”

Oleksii describes banks as the “blood system” of any country’s economy. For this reason, he believes that Megabank has a role to play in supporting the social and economic development of Ukraine.

“Financial institutions are always the first ones to feel the effects of any crises and difficulties clients have,” he observed. “That is why financial institutions should also be the first to provide the foundation for the economic growth and social development of a country. The objective of banks in this process is to provide financing and lending to enterprises of all sizes and forms of ownership for their development.”

INTERVIEW

Finally, Oleksii outlined the bank’s five-year strategic plan and the areas of development that it will be focusing on. “The target indicators of Megabank JSC’s strategy were updated in April 2021,” he confirmed. “The strategy envisages an increase in return on assets of up to 2.5% and an increase in return on capital of up to 15% by the end of 2025.

Capitalisation forecast to increase by 70% due to increased profitability of the bank.

“The bank plans to achieve such results by means of the development of lending to SME and microbusiness segments, as well as retail lending products such as todobank and consumer and mortgage loans. One of the key segments in terms of economic sectors for Megabank is the development of agricultural products, as agriculture itself is the driver for the economic development of Ukraine. We’ll continue working in this direction and are currently fully implementing the strategy of the bank.”

Oleksii Iatsenko Chairman of the Management Board MEGABANK JSC, Ukraine

Issue 34 | 25

Call For Entries INVITING BANKS

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Submit your nomination today to awards@gbafmag.com OR Submit Online at GlobalBankingAndFinance.com

2022

PAYMENTS

Open Banking The New Renaissance of Digital Payments Almost four years since the introduction of the EU’s Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2), this article examines Open Banking’s progress, at what is an exciting time for digital payments amidst great economic change.

Open Banking is a result of a series of reforms around financial information and payments designed to make banking more competitive and create a new and innovate wave of services. To achieve this, new industry standards such as PSD2 have been put in place to help consumers share their data with the new services in a secure way. The aim is to provide third-party providers with access to their consumers’ personal, banking and financial data through the use of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) - information which, until now, has been restricted solely to banks.

As we find ourselves in a world of recovery, resilience and renaissance, this banking and finance revolution spans regulation, technology, and the very form in which banking is consumed. Just as the Italian Renaissance emerged from the darkness of the Bubonic Plague, a new and exciting global era for the industry is underway. And the opportunity to transform this critical industry, one that shapes the economy, is now part of the main agenda for many countries across the globe.

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The global pandemic has helped to further emphasise the many benefits of digital payments, including just how easy they are to adopt, as we look to the future providing users with new and efficient capabilities.

But Open Banking isn’t just about new capabilities. Improving existing services and processes, lowering costs, and delivering enhanced experiences are equally important in order to drive growth and see return on investment.

Until now, outdated banking technologies have inhibited digital progress with the maintenance of legacy systems often accounting for a vast portion of a bank’s IT budget.

Meanwhile, much research to date has suggested that many bankers feel their core processes are not built to adapt quickly to change.

And while much headway has been made in the industry, in terms of the implementation of new platforms and technologies, there are still challenges when it comes to the widespread application of Open Banking. For example, data is most securely shared in open finance applications via APIs that pass data using encrypted tokens - but we are yet to find solutions to the vulnerabilities that hackers present as part of this process.

Despite the few challenges it presents, the benefits of Open Banking are many and include:

• Allowing customers to pay instantly - Open Banking provides online businesses access to Instant Payments infrastructure, meaning that funds can be immediately remitted to an account from the payee.

• Eliminating chargebacks - Chargeback fraud, often called ‘friendly fraud’ is a major source of lost revenue and lost goodwill to online retailers. PSD2 does not support chargebacks, allowing for a much fairer and more efficient dispute resolution service.

• Building customer loyalty – All businesses can create a branded payment solution, integrating ideas such as loyalty schemes or delayed payments. Businesses in turn can analyse banking data to target more relevant offers and discounts based on consumer data.

• Integrating customer data at the checkout - E-commerce companies can embed bank account information into online store checkouts, displaying the shopper’s account balance and transaction history, maintaining engagement visits for longer periods.

Fundamentally, Open Banking is only just at the point of inception. Future applications could include AI-enabled ‘predictive banking’ that anticipates customer demand ahead of time, and intelligent personalised Direct

PAYMENTS

Debits that consider the customer’s behaviours. There is huge potential for this technology and a clear case for it being of public interest. Regulation such as PSD2 helps to create a single payment market, allowing for greater levels of innovation and the crosspollination of ideas. At the centre of this is the issue of banks opening their APIs to other companies, mainly ‘Third Party Payment Services Providers’ (TPPs).

Open Banking is a new frontier for the industry, empowering consumers to equip TPPs with their financial data with a view to developing new products and services that ultimately improve daily life. In the end, businesses and consumers

are looking for simple payment solutions that save on time and costs whilst increasing efficiencies – all checkpoints which Open Banking seeks to address. Leading the charge in this revolution are the industry’s FinTechs and solution providers who have helped to shift the world away from in-branch banking, towards mobile, and now to Open Banking in just a few short years.

Now is truly an exciting time for the banking, finance and payments industries as we have a prime opportunity to provide pioneering products and services that will significantly transform the banking experience forever.

Eline Blomme Head of Product Management Digital Commerce Worldline

Issue 34 | 29

TECHNOLOGY

Re-Imagining Operational Risk Management

through RegTech The Global Banking industry has undergone a metamorphosis of sorts in the last decade rising to the challenges thrown by various events from financial crisis to the most recent pandemic. Time and again the resiliency of the banking industry has been tested which has made it to adopt and innovate. It is no surprise that recent years have seen increased global demand and interest in Regulatory Technology or Reg Tech (as it is popularly known) space by banking and financial institutions. RegTech solutions employ innovation in technology to ensure effective and efficient fulfillment on Regulatory obligations.

Over the last few years, the cost of non-compliance has had a financial bearing on many Banking and Financial institutions through penalties and fines. A huge proportion of these relate to operational risk.

Over the last decade many Banks and Financial Institutions have focused more on Credit and Market Risk Management, however in the recent past there has been increased buzz in the Operational Risk area too and with the onset of pandemic growing instances of risks relating to Conduct, Data security and cyber security has bought the spotlight back on operational risk management.

In order to move ahead of the curve organizations are endeavoring to augment their operational resilience and embrace and adopt digital transformation in their regulatory compliance journey. As organizations

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are embracing RegTech solutions to combat regulatory pressures, they are surmounted with challenges galore. Below are some of the challenges that are currently plaguing the existing Operational Risk Management set up in adopting RegTech Solutions effectively.

1. Legacy Systems – Most Organizations use legacy architecture and infrastructure which is not conducive to latest technology and most often require migration to new platform. This time-consuming process makes the organization defer reg tech adoption 2. Investment in Infrastructure and Technology – Although organizations are investing in disruptive technologies, budget limitations on Regtech spends, cumbersome procurement process and customized solution delay investment and implementation.

3. Data Requirements and cyber threats – Regtech solutions host sensitive data in their applications which requires the organization to exercise utmost care and best practices to protect their data against cyber-attacks. Sharing such sensitive data sets with reg tech solution providers can also be an inhibitor in reg tech adoption. Also, organizations have to upgrade their data infrastructure to provide for multi-faceted data points in different formats and standards required by the reg tech solutions.

4. Regulatory reporting and compliance – Constantly changing regulations, guidelines and compliance timelines call for frequent updates to existing systems and solutions and creates a barrier for reg tech adoption. Multiple standards and regulatory templates prescribed by different supervisors at a global level, is perceived as an obstacle to scale up across different geographies.

In terms of RegTech Adoption in Operational Risk Management, listed below are some of the Key areas which are seeing increased traction 1. Monitoring Emerging risks New risks like risks arising out of Climate change, Cyber threats, natural calamities, political riots, etc have increased the operational risk of institutions. Climate risk has a direct impact on the Operational risk of an organization. For example, extreme weather conditions like snowstorm or hurricane can impact the functioning of physical workplaces or damage critical infrastructure like data centers.

Similarly cyber risk is an operational risk to the IT assets of an organization. Outdated surveillance systems and inadequate monitoring of IT infrastructure can lead to data and information security incidents thereby causing business disruption and reputational risk.

This has necessitated the need for organizations to have more stringent vigilance systems and solutions to proactively predict and detect risks.

TECHNOLOGY

The Covid outbreak itself is a classic example. Firms have to be watchful and identify potential risks emerging in a particular market or geography and scale up to monitor and avoid or mitigate those risks before it spreads or causes damage to other markets.

Reg Tech Solutions that use biometric technologies can augment an organization’s security solutions and help prevent cyber-attacks by facilitating automated authentication and verification process. Similarly intuitive and cognitive solutions, using predictive analytics can detect both physical and transitional climate risks by issuing early warning signals and help the banks in controlling their concentration risk by reducing their exposure to sectors that are vulnerable to climate risks.

2. Vulnerability Assessment: Vulnerability assessment includes infrastructure Risk assessment, information/network security assessment, and assessment of business-critical IT assets. Reg Tech solutions facilitate in determining key risk indicators and early warning signals to detect vulnerabilities, assigning severity levels to those vulnerabilities and recommending mitigation plan for remediation.

Global Stability Assessments triggered by the pandemic situation, called for a detailed oversight and vigilance of both financial and nonfinancial stability of organizations.

The Covid outbreak, which caused a phenomenal impact on the financial system of all the countries, became a real-time stress test scenario for regulators to assess the resilience of financial institutions, markets, and other participants and agencies therein. Organizations have to increase their investments in exploring all stress scenarios and proactively detecting their nonfinancial vulnerabilities in order to avoid any threat to their stability and continuity of their operations.

Regulatory reporting and compliance in the context of RegTech adoption, refers to solutions that help a bank to gather regulatory intelligence, automate policy mapping and sharing of reporting data back with the supervisors. This involves regulatory inventory management, automated alert management, content parsing, predictive regulatory interpretation, policy mapping and impact classification, etc.

Many RegTech Stress Testing solutions provide a comprehensive stress testing suite to meet regulatory expectations.

For example, the Audit Management RegTech solution, provides features like intuitive dashboards, alerts and notifications to guide auditors and senior management on action planning and decision making.

Solutions that use Blockchain technologies can speed up the transaction lifecycle by enabling transaction verification on a network without any supervisory intervention and at the same time without losing the audit trail required for regulatory compliance purpose.

3. Regulatory Reporting and Audit Management Both supervisory reporting and a firm’s audit management department rely heavily on the organizations’ s data infrastructure. This makes it imperative for the firms to adopt cognitive automation and intelligent solutions that will provide reports and dashboards in regulator prescribed formats.

Reg tech solutions also help in enhancing the data and audit management capabilities. They focus on automating data sharing and reporting through the use of API, cloud computing, big data analytics, etc.

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TECHNOLOGY

Legacy Systems • Issues in integrating legacy architecture having slioed applications with latest technology • Replacement of legacy systems is costly, risky and time consuming Investment in Infrastructure and Technology • Investment in new reg tech solutions seen as huge capital expenditure and software training as recurring revenue expenditure • Requirement for frequent upgrades due to software updates and customization proves expensive Data Requirements and related threats • Data Quality, data security, and availability of data in formats required by new gen solutions • Expsoure to cyber threats that is likely to arise due to sharing of sensitive data Demand for skilled workforce • Resistance from existing employees and users to learn and get trained in new technology due to conventional and risk averse mindset • Lack of workforce with specialized skill sets like data scientists and data engineers Regulatory Reporting and Compliance • Complex and continuously evolving regulatory landscape ,pressure from regulators to comply within situpated timelines, penalties for non compliance • Absence of a standarized and harmonized set of regulatory requirements across geographies and supervisors

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4. Vendor Risk Management Vendor Risk Management or ThirdParty Risk Management is another area which is rising as a critical risk for organizations which are heavily dependent on external thirdparty contractors and suppliers for their products and services. There are numerous regulations to be complied with when dealing with third party suppliers to protect the interest of customers, employees and other stakeholders. Conducting appropriate due diligence while evaluating and employing third party contractors, and having strong internal controls, can help to avoid data breaches and resultant penalties, legal action, and reputational damage to the organization Many Vendor Governance RegTech solutions enable to automate and streamline vendor due diligence, relationship management and compliance monitoring.

5. Identity Management and Fraud Control Identity and Access management is the key to digital identity management and is a crucial element of operational risk, which if not managed effectively, leads to frauds and causes reputational damage to the organization. It involves identity validation through customer due diligence/KYC at the time of onboarding, and identity controls as an ongoing process through user access management, transaction monitoring and data security management.

Phishing, vishing, credit card scams, etc are some newer forms of online/ digital frauds that have emanated with the growth of disruptive technologies. A sound Identity and access management framework that facilitates use of technology (biometrics, user data analytics) for user access and control, and fraud management is the need of the hour.

TECHNOLOGY

RegTech solutions that use biometric technologies can support identity control and prevent identify theft and related frauds through fingerprint scanning and facial recognition.

Intelligent solutions with Machine learning capabilities can be developed around existing customer database to preempt and detect fraudsters based on behavioral or transactional patterns.

Effective operational risk management approaches enable organizations to be more resilient and emerge from a crisis with success and grace. The global pandemic situation has awakened the need for organizations to enhance their crisis management practices and vigilance measures by leveraging digital technology to the maximum extent possible for seamless business operations. Notwithstanding the crisis, Risk management, as a second line of defense, is responsible to not only support and monitor compliance, but also to challenge the business on risk related matters on a regular basis.

This can be achieved by implementing efficient and robust RegTech solutions in business-critical processes and functions. The last few years has seen advent of many RegTech solutions which have been a result of emerging and increasing regulatory complexities, while these solutions are driven by disruptive technologies, most of them are point based solutions solving specific problems. Given the Regulatory complexities, stringent timelines and existing legacy systems, financial institutions must rely on multiple RegTech solutions. Hence it becomes very essential that they formulate RegTech Adoption frameworks which enable them to leverage RegTech as a digital transformation lever, helping them mitigate existing challenges and achieve faster and a cost-effective compliance to Regulatory obligations.

Gita Srinivasan BFSI Risk and Compliance consultant Tata Consultancy Services Gita Srinivasan is a BFSI Risk and Compliance consultant at Tata Consultancy Services. She has over 20 years of experience as a functional consultant in Business Analysis & Consulting, Risk and Regulatory Compliance, Data Management, and Audit & Reporting. She has managed and delivered large transformation programmes for global clients across Credit Risk, GRC, and Basel Regulatory Reporting domains.

Ajay Katara Domain Consultant in Banking Risk Management area Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Ajay Katara is a Domain Consultant in Banking Risk Management area at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). He has extensive experience of more than 15 years in Consulting & Solution design space cutting across CCAR Consulting, AML, Basel II implementation and Credit risk, and has worked with several financial enterprises across geographies. He has significantly contributed to the conceptualization of strategic offerings in the risk management space and has been instrumental in successfully driving various consulting engagements.

He has also authored many editorials, details of which can be found in his linked in Profile. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ ajaykatara/)

The views and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the authors and do not represent those of the authors’ employer organization.

Issue 34 | 33

INTERVIEW

KT Asset Management: Turkey’s First Islamic Asset Management Company

KT Asset Management is a fullyfledged Sharia-compliant asset management company in Turkey providing mutual, hedge and pension funds management, along with discretionary portfolio management and investment advisory services. KT Asset Management is the industry leader and a wholly owned subsidiary of Kuveyt Türk Participation Bank, whose majority is owned by Kuwait Finance House.

Wanda Rich, editor of Global Banking & Finance Review, recently interviewed Hamit Kütük, KT Asset Management’s Chief Executive Officer. Hamit began his banking career at Kuveyt Türk Participation Bank in 1997, and has been a member of the Board of Directors and CEO of KT Asset Management since April 2019.

The topics he discussed with Wanda include how the organisation continues to develop its competitive edge, some of the elements to be considered in Islamic investment, and the importance of getting started early when it comes to investing.

Congratulations on your awardwinning success. Can you tell us about KT Asset Management and the competitive advantage you offer?

Thank you very much. KT Asset Management is a leading Shariacompliant firm aiming at creating high risk-adjusted alpha for its clients in Turkey. Additionally, one

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of our missions is to provide various numbers of Sharia-compliant investment vehicles to enhance the clients’ options and returns. In my opinion, our innovative attitude and enthusiasm for maintaining and improving our professional competence are our main competitive advantages.

As the first Islamic asset management company in Turkey, how have you impacted the industry?

As the first Islamic asset management company, we have had significant impact on the development of the industry. At the very beginning, clients who prefer Sharia-compliant investments were only investing in deposit accounts and precious metals due to the lack of Sharia-compliant fixed-income products. At first, we persuaded several firms to issue sukuk products. With our efforts, now there is a liquid Islamic fixedincome market in Turkey.

offers mutual and pension funds that invest in not only domestic but also foreign sukuk and equity instruments, along with precious metals and money market products.

Thanks to ours and the government’s efforts, the market share of Islamic asset management surpassed 10% in 5 years, despite the fact that the share of Islamic banking in Turkey is still under 8%.

What are the benefits to Islamic investment?

Islamic investments must be Shariacompliant. We ensure this by having a Sharia board. All our products and services are confirmed by the Sharia board before the launch date.

Additionally, we do not invest in assets unless they are approved by our Sharia board.

After solving the fixed-income issue, we launched an Islamic equity fund. Following that, we launched an Islamic money market fund, the first in Turkey. Clients with low risk tolerance are taking advantage of this product.

As per Islamic investment principles, we are not allowed to invest in companies that produce products such as alcoholic beverages and tobacco. Additionally, if the products are harmful to the environment and society, we are not allowed to invest in them. Thus, Islamic investment principles include several aspects of sustainable and ESG investing.

For the time being, investors who prefer Sharia-compliant investments have several options other than deposit accounts. KT Asset Management

Apart from this clearance, Islamic principles allow us only to invest in less indebted stocks, hence our stock universe consists of safer stocks.

INTERVIEW

How are your investment advisors helping to guide investors during this challenging time?

Our advisory process starts with independent and diligent research. The output of the research is challenged in our investment committee meetings, in which each member has the right to express his or her opinion. These meetings are held twice a week, and the asset allocation and security selection decisions are used as guidance for advisors.

The COVID-19 era has created volatile market conditions, and investment advisory has become more challenging. During this period we have held investment committee meetings more frequently, and have increased the number of market signals that we follow in order to make more qualified and effective investment decisions.

We provide investment advisory services based on investor goals and their risk tolerances.

This goal-based investing method also considers behavioural biases of clients and the importance of each goal. Under our model, we advise low-risk investments for the most crucial goals, and apply higher risk to goals that can be described as desires. Using layers helps the investor to understand the investment process better.

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INTERVIEW

Can you tell us about some of the innovative products and solutions you offer to help individuals achieve their investment objectives?

We have offered several innovative products since the beginning. We launched a gold mutual fund which shares 50% of its management fee income with the Turkish Crescent. With this social responsibility product, clients are aware of this fee sharing and that they are helping society while they are investing. We also work on launching new types of investment funds in which the management fee income will be shared with charity organisations.

ELUs (a type of electronic commodity document that proves the asset ownership) are now able to trade by asset management companies, thanks to our efforts. This is a huge step for clients who prefer Islamic asset management because they were not able to take commodity exposure previously. In general, futures are used for commodity exposures, and futures are not permitted in Islamic asset management.

We launched three Sharia-compliant private equity investment funds. Two of them act as venture capital funds and support startups. The remaining one invests in small and medium-sized enterprises.

Can you tell us about your KSR fund?

KSR is a Sharia-compliant fund with a sustainability mandate. This fund invests in domestic and foreign stocks and sukuk products with ESG and sustainability scores. It is the first Sharia-compliant fund which provides international equity and sustainability exposures.

Will you be launching any new products or services this year?

We are about to unveil two products that will help clients to save more and increase their investment returns. The first one, an automatic savings account which automatically purchases mutual funds each month, will be effective shortly. Secondly, we will launch a robo advisor product in 2022. This robo advisor will suggest asset allocations to our clients while considering customers’ risk tolerance and the market expectations.

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How do you ensure clients are receiving the best customer experience available?

The best customer experience is related to whether you are exceeding the expectations of customers. I think it starts with the onboarding of customers. In the onboarding process - let’s call it ‘phase one’ - we do our best to understand a customer’s risk ability, willingness to take risks, investment objectives, net economic worth, liquidity needs and investment horizon.

Successfully determining these investment parameters help us to satisfy our customers.

The second phase is determining the asset allocation weights and convenient benchmark, in line with the objectives, risk tolerance and other parameters of the customer. I believe that these two phases are quite important in the customer experience. Of course, proper rebalancing and effective active trading would enhance the returns, yet when these two phases are conducted effectively, the best customer experience is almost ensured.

Wh a t in ves t m en t s t ra t eg y d o yo u rec o mm e nd t o yo u n g p eo p le en t erin g t h e wo rkfo rc e and lo o kin g t o s t a r t in ves t in g ?

It’s ‘the sooner the better’ in investing, due to compounding in returns. Young people should start saving and investing as soon as possible and improve their financial literacy. People start their career with high human capital and low financial capital. The question is how to improve the financial capital when the human capital decreases each year. The best answer is starting to invest early and making sound investments using proper financial literacy.

What does the year ahead look like?

Observing client insights is vital in every industry. In the COVID-19 era, investors have become more concerned about their savings, hence the importance of savings and effective asset management has increased.

I expect stronger fund inflows to the asset management industry in 2022.

Apart from the insight regarding savings, investors would gravitate towards mutual f u n d s m a n a g e d b y p r o fe s s i o n a l s a m i d a high inflation environment and uncertain monetary policies.

INTERVIEW

Hamit Kütük Chief Executive Officer KT Asset Management

Issue 34 | 37

INVESTING

How to delight shareholders in 2022

Throughout 2021, shareholders continued to make their voices heard pushing topics like ESG investing and renumeration packages high on the agenda. From the outset of 2022, organisations must continue to monitor the trends that are shaping the investment landscape as a key step to meeting the needs of their investors.

But with fierce competition and many organisations still rebounding from the initial shock of the pandemic, how can businesses go the extra mile to impress and delight and retain shareholders?

One of the obvious ways to delight shareholders is through dividend payments. In fact, we’ve seen Royal Mail and B&M deliver recent packages to investors when both companies announced dividend payments worth over £200million.

However, this is clearly not an option for all businesses. Organisations should prioritise good governance to impress investors, allowing the shareholder voice to remain important for 2022.

Opening the virtual and hybrid door to investors In the UK and US, all public and trades companies are required to hold an Annual General Meeting (AGM) and it is a legal requirement for businesses to provide shareholders

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with this opportunity to interact with key executives, vote on key issues, and help shape the future of a business. A clear long-term strategy to empowering and impressing shareholders is through holding engaging, flexible and accessible company meetings and AGMs that provide investors with a voice regardless of their location.

Traditionally, AGMs have taken place as in-person events, but the pandemic resulted in a rapid shift to virtual and hybrid meetings. Before, virtual was seen by some as a way of avoiding shareholders but this idea has been disproven and disregarded.

In fact, Lumi has seen record levels of attendance and engagement from shareholders at virtual or hybrid meetings over the past 18 months.

Marks and Spencer have already seen this trend in the virtual and hybrid meetings they delivered throughout 2021, and are reluctant to go back to the old way of doing things. Their new virtual meetings have even seen a 200 per cent increase in shareholder involvement. They reported that just 562 shareholders made the trip to Wembley Stadium in 2019, but at 2021’s digital AGM, 1,650 voted, asked questions or viewed live and there were over 2,500 replays afterwards.

With such fantastic engagement levels on offer, the entire industry needs to rise to the challenge to

delight shareholders and ensure that wherever people attend a meeting from – virtual, hybrid or in-person, they are represented, engaged, and given the opportunity to have their voices heard.

Making accessibility and simplicity a top priority Whilst the hybrid and virtual format is helping to open up AGMs and the world of investor relations, the vast majority of shareholders still do not realise they can easily, and have the right to, attend AGMs. This year, we need to see greater and more proactive strides from businesses to increase communication and let shareholders know when an AGM is happening and how they can attend.

Making information easily accessible can be instrumental to impressing a more informed and educated shareholder base, capable of discussing business matters in a meaningful way during the course of the AGM. Communicating with shareholders post AGM is also key for ensuring investors feel integrated within your organisations.

Without increased channels of communication, shareholders will begin to feel closed off from their own shares and locked out from the chance to have a say on topical issues. We’ve seen improvement this year with more companies providing

INVESTING

flexible, hybrid AGM and investment meetings – but there is still significant work needed to simplify the chains of complexity that stand between the underlying owner and the holding company.

Preparing for ESG as a key issue in 2022 Prioritising and preparing for key topics shareholders care about most will be one of the top ways businesses can keep investors on side. The rise of ESG is undeniably here to stay and 77% plan to stop buying non-ESG funds completely by 2022, showing the urgent need for companies to bring ESG to the top of the corporate agenda.

critical. Hybrid meetings will be key to supporting this in 2022, as instead of putting board members on the spot on the day, shareholders are able to ask questions in advance, giving the board crucial time to prepare a considered response.

The onus now falls on businesses to ensure they provide shareholders with a seat at the table, listen to the issues and topics that matter most to them and deliver digital solutions that empower them from wherever they are in the world. Retail shareholders will continue to have their say in 2022 and now is a watershed moment for companies to rethink how all investors can be included in important decision making.

Kerry Leighton-Bailey Director of Shareholder Engagement Lumi

This topic will no doubt be an issue on the table at upcoming AGMs in 2022 and businesses need to be prepared if they want to impress shareholders. Q&A sessions have become such an important aspect of AGMs in recent years (partly driven by digitisation) that managing incoming questions, adding structure to the process and making sure the meeting serves its purpose is now

Issue 34 | 39

BANKING

May the best bank win: How to deliver seamless digital experiences to drive a competitive edge The battle to capture customer hearts and minds is never-ending within the financial services industry, as banks constantly look to increase their market share. According to the Digital Banking Report, improving the customer experience has become a top priority for banks, as they continue to realise its importance to their future success. To compete in this new battleground, there’s a greater need than ever for banks to accelerate their transformation and improve their ability to deliver more seamless digital experiences. However, this is often difficult for banks that rely heavily on legacy IT environments, and calls for a fundamental rethink of how their operating models work.

AI-enabled chatbots, banks can enable greater accessibility and convenience in the way customers interact with financial service providers.

Devising a battle plan

Leading the charge

Banks must first draw up a strategy that will enable a ‘digital-ready culture,’ defined by a willingness to invest in new service delivery models to meet the evolving needs of their customers. This should include a big focus on automation, to make customer experience as frictionless as possible. With innovations such as straight-through loans processing and

Realising these ambitions is a significant challenge for more established banks. The reality is their IT operating models aren’t typically geared towards customer experience innovation or third-party collaboration.

Data resides across multiple silos, making it difficult to access and share freely to improve customer journeys and collaborate with other

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The principles of open banking are also becoming more important, as organisations increasingly see the value in embracing platform-based business models. These models allow banks to collaborate more freely with other service providers to deliver more seamless digital experiences. For instance, they could enable customers to access a mortgage capability directly through a property platform’s app or website when buying a house, rather than needing to approach the bank separately.

service providers. Banks’ ability to connect these data silos, along with third party information, and make it more accessible, is key to better understanding and meeting the needs of their customers, both directly, and in partnership with others.

To overcome these barriers, banks should make themselves more composable, by embracing APIled integration to expose data and digital capabilities for others to consume and deliver as part of their own service. With this approach, organisations replace rigid custom code with a flexible integration layer that seamlessly connects together all devices, data sources, and applications. By placing an API in front of systems and data sources, it is much easier to use those capabilities in future integration projects. Becoming a composable business also helps banks accelerate customer experience innovation, by allowing them to see their digital assets as a network of reusable business capabilities. This means both experienced developers and business technologists – employees outside of the IT department – can

BANKING

Jerome Bugnet Director, Solution Engineering MuleSoft

use existing capabilities to build new digital banking services, without having to start from scratch or write any code. It also makes it easier for third parties to quickly add the bank’s capabilities to their own products by plugging in the relevant API. This uncovers new opportunities for banks to increase their revenue, by joining new value chains.

its fintech partners and handle a greater number of transactions. It’s since gone from being able to process 1,500 transactions a day to 50,000, increasing its payment processing capacity by more than 3,000%.

In the race to drive a stronger competitive edge, we’ll soon see many other banks following in the footsteps of Crown Agents Bank and embracing Pushing the advantage a composable enterprise strategy, fuelled by API-led integration. This By taking an API-led approach, not approach will be key to enabling the only can banks create more seamless seamless digital banking experiences customer experiences, but they can that customers expect. To enable this, defend themselves from intensifying banks need to make APIs a strategic competition by unlocking new revenue focus, to drive greater agility, streams and scaling their services improved customer interactions, into new markets. Crown Agents and a digital-ready mindset. It’s this Bank, a UK based provider of foreign approach that will set banks ahead of exchange and cross-border payment their rivals and ensure they win in the services, has seen these benefits customer experience battle. first-hand, having embraced an APIled integration strategy to support a rapidly growing customer base. The bank previously relied on custom code connections between its front-end services and core banking systems, but found these too rigid and unable to scale. Crown Agents Bank adopted APIs to become more composable, so it could seamlessly connect with

Issue 34 | 41

BUSINESS

eCommerce in 2022:

Four Trends for Sellers to Thrive in The New Year

The pandemic saw an unprecedented boom in eCommerce, with sales worldwide amounting to 4.28 trillion U.S. dollars in 2020 and e-retail revenues projected to grow to 5.4 trillion U.S. dollars in 2022. This boom has brought with it an array of new opportunities and technological advancements that have changed the way people shop forever.

While the boost in online sales is here to stay, sellers can expect the unpredictability of the supply chain and fiercer competition to continue bringing challenges in 2022. As we settle into the New Year, retailers wanting to thrive must plan for the increasingly digitalized post-pandemic world.

To do so, here are five trends that will define success in 2022: Omnichannel If buyers are being more demanding in terms of content, they are also demanding in how they make purchases.

The omnichannel journey has long been a part of a seller's strategy. In 2022, omnichannel marketing will need to be amplified as part of every business' strategy to remain more competitive than ever.

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When retailers opt for an omnichannel approach to sales, they can provide a seamless customer experience no matter what platform the buyer uses. This is because omnichannel operations focus on the entire customer experience—not the customer's individual experiences on different channels. In the coming years, brands will need to continue investing in technology solutions as they link customer data across digital and in-store transactions and interactions.

Cross-borders sales Selling products internationally is now easier than ever, and cross-border eCommerce has become an excellent opportunity for sellers to boost sales. In 2022, cross-border eCommerce is projected to account for 22% of all eCommerce shipments. This means sellers looking to maximize sales profits should be exploring international markets.

However, this is no easy task as sellers must side-step disrupted supply chains and dreaded stock shortages at critical moments. To do so, they will need to understand the key trends disrupting the market and have the right network of partners in place ahead of time. For example, partnering with the right cross-border payment company

BUSINESS

Kenny Tsang Managing Director PingPong Payments

specializing in convenient quick money transfers can help merchants instantly move money to all corners of the world.

Diversifying Supply Chains Overlooking potential supply chain disruptions is one of the biggest mistakes sellers often make. In 2021, disruptions cost sellers worldwide an average of 184 million U.S. dollars, and this year like won't be any different.

Amid renewed Covid-19 outbreaks around the world, diversifying avenues to access sales across international borders will become an essential strategy in 2022 for sellers wanting to future-proof their businesses.

With an abundance of cross-border services, such as parcel consolidation, global fulfilment, and payment providers, sellers should be exploring international markets in the New Year.

Live streaming or "live commerce" Live streaming is becoming a worldwide trend, with more and more retailers welcoming live stream commerce teams (as they have with influencer partnerships in recent years). In addition, online shoppers have become more accustomed to watching merchants sell products through live videos during the Covid-19 pandemic, and marketplaces like Amazon now have live platforms where celebrities and influencers curate their must-have products and top deals.

Live commerce has become a way to interact with consumers in realtime, facilitating the instant purchase of a product, together with viewer participation through reaction buttons and chat functions. In 2022, sellers will have to introduce live streaming to stay competitive and relevant in the future of eCommerce.

Social media marketplaces Social media has effortlessly adapted to evolving consumer trends and will continue to do so in the upcoming years. For example, a recent Accenture report shows that people will use social media to buy $1.2 trillion worth of goods worldwide in three short years.

With platforms such as Instagram combining traditional social media with marketplaces, social commerce is becoming a business driver at a time when traditional commerce is constantly challenged. From selling on one integrated platform to creating a more interactive experience, the benefits for sellers are plentiful, making both large businesses and smaller brands jump on the trend. In 2022, social commerce will become a tool for brands to build loyalty and drive repeat purchases.

Issue 34 | 43

BUSINESS

MARK ELWARD, CCO OF HUBOO, DISCUSSES ECOMMERCE AND MARKETING TRENDS IN 2022… AND BEYOND There are very few shoppers in the developed world who have failed to notice the gigantic shift towards eCommerce and its acceleration due to the Covid 19 pandemic. According to the Office for National Statistics, UK online sales rose to a record high of 33.9% as a share of all retail spending in 2020 compared with 2019.

and reinforced trust gained from direct personal experience.

The disruption of the past two years has forced us to nurture our online shopping tendencies as we’ve endured lockdowns and high street temporary closures. Almost three quarters of consumers admit to developing a greater dependence on online shopping since the start of the pandemic. Before March 2020, Brits completed around five (5.13) shops per month online, but this rose to 6.35 trips per month between May and June 2021 – an eCommerce increase of 24%. During the same period, instore shopping decreased by 15 per cent, further evidence of a tangible gear change in habits.

Trend #1: Mobile-first market From a marketing perspective, mobile-enabled shopping is going to continue to be heavily encouraged by brands who want to close sales in fewer steps. They can send customers an email, nudge or notification that allows them to make a purchase at the touch of a screen, incentivised with a discount or sale and reinforced via targeted paid ads. Soon, voiceactivated searches will be fully operational across mobile devices, creating a further opportunity for marketers to extend their presence, and encouraging shoppers to make even more purchases from their phones.

Consumer access to mobile technology is helping to catapult this shift. Mobile devices now account for the majority of consumer sales.

A staggering 84% of people across the globe own a smartphone, and are increasingly willing to use it as a trusted channel for making purchases. Further, people who would not have considered buying online pre-pandemic are now regularly doing so - largely baby boomers and older audiences - and are planning on sticking with it due to the convenience

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So let’s look ahead to 2022 and beyond, and consider the key trends most likely to impact the eCommerce world - and how retail marketers will look to exploit them to drive online sales.

Trend #2: A need for speed Successful, often larger, eCommerce retailers understand that, such is the extent of availability and choice in the online arena, the key to sealing the sale is often speed. Research has shown that 39% of shoppers want next day delivery while 31% demand same day. In 2022, we’ll see heightened competition from brands desperate to use speed as their unique selling proposition. And as more of the big retailers embrace speedier fulfillment,

the smaller firms may feel they have little choice than to follow suit, often at their own expense.

Size and scale often puts retailers at an advantage when it comes to creating slick and speedy logistics and delivery propositions. Fortunately for smaller eCommerce players, however, new fulfillment technology providers are out there to support their growth and ensure a level playing field on which they can compete with the retail giants.

Trend #3: A need for even more speed As we’ve seen across both high street retail and hospitality in the past two years, so-called dark stores and kitchens have proved an effective Covid-related business pivot, and will increase in popularity in the year ahead. We’re going to see fulfilment centres adapting to this concept to offer yet more speed in the race to support these new clients. Two hour or even 60-minute deliveries will be enabled so that customers can order and receive popular items in core urban locations. We’re seeing this take off in several European markets, such as Madrid and Barcelona, and we’re also expecting a surge in last-mile delivery companies that can offer these services in additional locations where there are ordering hot-spots.

Trend #4: Tech-powered shopping experiences This year, further change on the high street is inevitable, and we’re expecting major retailers to follow

BUSINESS

in the footsteps of stalwarts such as Next, who have weathered the storm admirably. As one of only a few retailers still opening new stores, albeit largely on out of town retail parks, Next utilises its facilities as showrooms, giving customers the tactile experience of buying furniture, clothes and soft furnishings. What we’ll see increasingly in 2022 is an extension to the showroom concept, with retailers marrying up their in-store and online offerings more closely. Click and collect is performing well for many retailers, but we also expect to see technology incorporated into the shopping experience in store, for example, helping customers visualise furniture, white goods and other items in their own homes.

Behind-the-scenes improvements will drive the next eCommerce surge The eCommerce revolution is alive and kicking and we’re likely to be set for another record breaking year of growth, both in the UK and across mainland Europe. In fact, at the current growth rates, the biggest barrier to eCommerce dominance will be operational shortcomings behind-thescenes - where retailers are over-relying on legacy IT systems, or they’re locked into contracts with lumbering and slow traditional fulfilment providers.

Mark Elward CCO Huboo

However, these problems are not insurmountable. Many firms in this space are investing heavily in technology and human expertise to resolve any outstanding issues and meet the growing consumer demand. Ultimately, the message for all retailers in 2022 is clear. The businesses that embrace eCommerce, and understand what is required operationally to satisfy evolving consumer needs will be the ones to flourish in 2022, while those clinging on to times gone by are likely to endure another bumpy ride.

Issue 34 | 45

TECHNOLOGY

Don’t Get Lost in the Cloud!

Nowadays, most businesses are connected to the cloud in one way or another. Unfortunately, in the race to migrate systems, some companies overlook the importance of implementing effective cybersecurity protocols. Here, Bence Jendruszak, COO at SEON explains why this is so risky.

Whether you’re a small ecommerce retailer, or a giant legacy bank, there are several benefits that accompany moving more information to the cloud.

From supporting with data storage, to providing additional processing power for essential business tasks, cloud migration enables companies to leverage the power of modern applications and advanced analytics within their everyday operations. As such, the decision can help to create time and cost efficiencies across a wide range of important processes.

However, cloud migration can come with its own set of distinct risks, especially if the practice is not supported with effective cybersecurity protocols. Unfortunately, a widescale shift to modern data platforms has created new opportunities for cybercriminals to exploit. As criminals become more accustomed to breaching this type of system, the risk for businesses continues to rise.

More than ever, businesses must be cognisant of the threats they face and aware of preventative measures that can help to protect them.

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STRIKING A BALANCE As such, many companies now find themselves asking how they can best bolster cybersecurity measures in the cloud. There is a myriad of appropriate answers, with some being more effective than others. Whilst looking to properly protect cloud-based solutions, businesses must also try to strike a balance between security and user-friendliness. If not, companies risk forfeiting many of the time and cost efficiencies, which they initially adopted this form of system in order to generate.

Therefore, the first task for many businesses undertaking the cloud migration process is to evaluate the potential risks they may face.

Next, companies must assess what represents the most unobtrusive security solution in helping to overcome this challenge. Assessing the first part of that equation is often dictated by the scale and nature of the business in question. To this end, the cybersecurity risks of migrating more data online aren’t always uniform between businesses of different sizes.

KNOWING THE RISKS It’s concerning to learn that 83% of companies admit to storing sensitive information in the cloud, particularly in light of other research, which suggests that 97% of businesses currently use these services in one way or another. There is a plethora of risks associated with this approach.

TECHNOLOGY

Issue 34 | 47

TECHNOLOGY

Most notably, systems are at risk of being compromised by hackers.

If this is to happen, it’s highly likely that valuable information and sensitive data will also be stolen from the system and used to extort the business in question.

More recently, there’s also been a wave of cyberhackers using compromised accounts and systems in the cloud to mine cryptocurrencies.

This form of hack can severely diminish the computing resources of cloud solutions, and prevent systems from performing at an optimal level.

Likewise, ransomware attacks in the cloud are on the rise and increasingly used to render entire cloud-based systems inaccessible. Regardless of their form, cyberattacks in the cloud often incapacitate businesses and can cost a lot to fix.

TRUST NOBODY One of the most effective techniques on offer to those looking to implement effective cybersecurity measures in the cloud is known as the ‘Zero Trust’ model. The model flips conventional cybersecurity on its head, assuming that the system in question has been compromised and challenging users to prove that they are not the infiltrators.

This approach may seem harsh at first, but it can dramatically reduce the risk of hacks, or data losses within cloud storage systems.

With this model in place, businesses are able to respond more quickly to emerging threats and quell issues before they get out of hand. By continually requiring verification from users, ‘Zero Trust’ systems offer a proactive approach to cybersecurity and allow organisations to stay ahead of potential threats and bad actors.

However, to best ensure the approach doesn’t adversely affect productivity levels, businesses must implement verification measures that can also be completed quickly by trusted parties.

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TAKING A HOLISTIC APPROACH Establishing a ‘Zero Trust’ model is an effective way to guarantee effective security within cloud-based applications and storage. However, the need to protect businesses from online crime and fraud extends far beyond this alone. Personally, I would advise most businesses to take a holistic approach to cybersecurity, implementing different methods and techniques to contend with a number of specific, separate challenges. One such challenge is online fraud, which is now more prevalent than ever.

Fortunately, by partnering with a genuine expert, like SEON, businesses are able to reduce the risks of online fraud as effectively as they can reduce security issues in the cloud with a ‘Zero Trust’ model. Powered by an AIdriven system, our modular solution offers quick and reliable results, which helps businesses to identify potential fraudsters. Our intuitive technologies can be integrated into existing workflow systems in a frictionless manner to deliver a return on investment in just a matter of days.

Bence Jendruszak COO SEON

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