The future of banking discussed at Temenos forum

As customer demands evolve, banks need to stay ahead of the competition to become the preferred bank of the modern age. At the 2023 Temenos Regional Forum on August 24, Frankie Wai, Business Solutions director, Asia-Pacific, Temenos, shared his view on lifestyle banking and the need to cater to customer requirements by creating a customer-centric environment.

“To meet the needs of today's consumers, banks must play an increasingly important role as advisors, value aggregators, and facilitators,” Wai said.

Wai explained how the ongoing digital transformation is creating a customer-centric world in banking, with day-to-day financial and non-financial services, e-commerce, and the need for instantaneous banking services at the touch of a button, anywhere, anytime, and on any device, through seamless omnichannel digital banking. “The banking app will become a kind of 'super app', the most essential app for everyone,” he said.

Temenos claims to have upgraded and installed the most cutting-edge technology on every one of its banking platforms, with insiders stating that the new technology is the backbone of the bank and the advantages of this new technology said to include improved efficiency and an enhanced customer experience.

Zennon Kapron, founder and director of fintech consultancy Kapronasia, pointed out the five trends, from digital assets to AI, of the rapidly evolving banking landscape that will shape the future of finance in Asia.

“One such trend is 'programmable money' that can be programmed to comply with specific regulations or policies, helping to ensure compliance and reduce the risk of fines and legal penalties, and save time and costs usually associated with traditional financial transactions,” Kapron said.

Kapron went on to discuss how sharing data across an open banking framework can help financial institutions and other ecosystem players provide a more customer-centric product at lower cost. “This will improve operational efficiency, enhance transparency, facilitate better-informed decision-making, and boost overall operational effectiveness,” he added.

Technology will drive financial inclusion by fostering competition, leading to more affordable and tailored products, and facilitate credit and lending by bridging the gap for the financially excluded. Interoperability will lead to the consolidation of all banking data into a single app, enabling customers to view, edit, and control all of their accounts with a single login.

Duong Quoc Tu, deputy head of Digital Division, SHB said, “The financial sector is one of the main drivers of digital transformation in Vietnam, with 47 per cent of banks having already implemented related strategies. However, investment in digital transformation in the banking industry is still quite modest, especially when compared globally,” Tu said.

SHB has identified digital transformation as one of the strategic pillars on which to build its corporate culture, investing in state-of-the-art IT systems and applying AI solutions, while working closely with the world’s top fintech enterprises like Temenos.

This is the first time that Vietnam has hosted the Temenos Regional Forum, affirming the country's reputation as a stable business environment amid the current uncertainties of the global economy.

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