Banking & Financial Services - Page 2

Hong Leong Bank Cards Amongst One of the First in Malaysia that Can Now be Added to Google Wallet

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DigitalCFO Newsroom | 15 November 2022

With Google Wallet, close to 65% of HLB customers who are Android users will enjoy simple, secure and seamless contactless payment experience.

Hong Leong Bank and Hong Leong Islamic Bank cardholders can enjoy a simple, secure and seamless contactless payment experience with Google Wallet starting today.

Google Wallet is a mobile app that offers a simple way to make contactless payments with Android phones or Wear OS devices. The move to enable HLB credit and debit cards and HLISB debit cards (collectively known as HLB Cards) customers to add their payment cards to the Android platform is part of the Bank’s efforts to implement another convenient way to enable mobile payments.

Domenic Fuda, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of HLB said, “Aligning with our Bank’s “Digital at the Core” ethos, we are very excited to be one of the first banks in the market to support Google Wallet for our cards. With the rapid adoption of DuitNow QR codes, mobile banking apps and mobile wallets, mobile payments have seamlessly integrated into the digital lifestyles of Malaysians and are one of the preferred transaction methods today. Working together with Google is part of our continuous efforts to offer simple and frictionless payment services to our customers.”

With Google Wallet, HLB cardholders are able to make contactless payments leveraging on near-field-communication (“NFC”) via supported Android devices by adding their HLB Cards to the Google Wallet app. Cardholders can then tap to pay wherever contactless payments are accepted.

According to Andrew Jong, Managing Director of HLB Personal Financial Services, “As Malaysians increasingly embrace a digital, mobile-led lifestyle, we remain agile in meeting the ever-changing customer needs. Smartphone penetration in Malaysia is close to 95% and many daily activities are already facilitated digitally. With Google Wallet as a new feature, close to 65% of our customers who are on the Android platform will enjoy an easy, safe and secure usage and payment experience.”

Similar to contactless transactions performed using the physical card, payments through Google Wallet also share the same daily maximum amount for contactless transactions. Transactions amounting up to RM250 do not require PIN verification.


Mobilewalla’s Latest Launch To Improve Financial Inclusion In Emerging Markets

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DigitalCFO Newsroom | 3 November 2022

LendBetter is an Innovative Solution Helping Fintechs Maximize Loan Approval at Lower Default Risk.

Mobilewalla, a global leader in consumer intelligence solutions, is pleased to announce the launch of its newest offering for digital lenders, LendBetter, at the Singapore Fintech Festival 2022. 

Leveraging the industry’s most comprehensive repository of global consumer information, LendBetter is uniquely positioned to provide digital lenders with high-quality, AI driven predictive data and features at scale, helping them improve their credit assessment and customer acquisition process. LendBetter also offers financial institutions easy to integrate risk scores powered by sophisticated machine learning, which are highly predictive of creditworthiness for new-to-credit borrowers. This enables digital lenders to extend loans to thin-file consumers, significantly increasing access-to-credit and positively impacting financial inclusion in emerging markets. 

Working closely with various financial technology companies in Southeast and South Asia during the past year, LendBetter has generated positive outcomes for these early customers improving acquisition quality with the usage of AI driven features as part of the credit assessment process.

“LendBetter’s deep insights into consumer behaviour have helped us improve our quality of acquisition by reducing fraud, allowing us extend credit with more confidence” said, Paramananda Setyawan, Chief Data Office with FinAccel, a leading financial technology company focused on reinventing financial services in Southeast Asia. “Our partnership with Mobilewalla complements our growth ambitions. We are very pleased to work with them to help more people get easier access to credit.”

“With our industry first offering LendBetter, Mobilewalla is excited to work with digital lenders across emerging markets to enable financial inclusion for the new-to-credit” said Anindya Datta, CEO and Founder of Mobilewalla. “Lendbetter provides access to AI driven, privacy compliant consumer data at scale, enabling them to approve more credit at a reduced default risk. Our partners find our future-proof features and scores to be highly predictive of consumer behavior, and easily integrable for a variety of use cases spanning customer acquisition, risk management, and fraud prevention.” 


Airwallex Enables Buy Now Pay Later Payment Option Through Partnership With Atome

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DigitalCFO Newsroom | 2 November 2022

BNPL is becoming a more common payment choice, and is expected to grow by 52.6% to reach US$733.9 million by the end of this year in Singapore alone.

Leading global fintech platform Airwallex today announced a Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) functionality in partnership with Atome, Asia’s leading BNPL brand. Announced at this year’s Singapore Fintech Festival, the collaboration will enable Airwallex merchants[1] to offer BNPL as a payment option to shoppers across Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

The partnership is Airwallex’s first tie-up with a BNPL provider, giving merchants an opportunity to increase their revenues while allowing them to diversify their payment options through flexible deferred payment options. In addition to BNPL, Airwallex also offers its merchants multi-currency card-based payment solutions with Visa, Mastercard and UnionPay, as well as over 20+ local payment methods across Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

“We are pleased to be partnering with Atome as we continue to find ways to better support businesses across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong,” said Arnold Chan, General Manager, Southeast Asia and Hong Kong, Airwallex. “We want to give businesses access to all the benefits of BNPL, which will not only help them increase revenues, but also create a more seamless customer experience for the longer term that will enable them to unlock new market opportunities.”

“BNPL is becoming an increasingly popular payment choice among shoppers today, particularly among the fast-growing Gen Z and millennial customer segment. With this partnership, millions of customers across the region can now shop and pay through flexible deferred payments at Airwallex merchants. This will help Airwallex merchants grow conversion rates and basket sizes, while increasing customer payment choice and flexibility,” said Jeremy Wong, Head of Strategic Partnerships, Atome.

Airwallex will expand its collaboration with Atome and soon enable its merchants1 to offer BNPL as a payment option to shoppers in Japan, the Philippines, and Thailand. This partnership follows Airwallex’s official launch in Singapore earlier in January and subsequent roll out of key offerings in its global payments suite. The company also raised US$100 million in its recent Series E2 fundraising round, and will continue to scale its reach and product offering globally.

AICPA & CIMA Announce Launch of Its Inaugural SEA Regional Engagement Group

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DigitalCFO Newsroom | 31 October 2022

Nor Adni Ismail, ACMA, CGMA, Chair of the Southeast Asia Regional Engagement Group at the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, representing AICPA & CIMA

The Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (the Association), representing nearly 700,000 members and students of the American Institute of CPAs and The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (AICPA & CIMA), has announced the appointment of 10 members to its inaugural South East Asia (SE Asia) Regional Engagement Group (REG).

The REG has been set up to provide a regional voice and strategic input to the world’s most influential body of accounting professionals which serves the Association’s governing board and CIMA Council in the region. 

The 10 Regional Engagement Group members are:

  • Chair: Nor Adni Ismail, ACMA, CGMA, Vice President – Finance and Business Ventures, Multimedia University (MMU)
  • Vice-Chairman: Syed Ahmad Taufik Albar, FCMA, CGMA, Managing Director,

Group Wholesale Banking, RHB Bank Berhad

Group members:

  • Ong Peng Yong, ACMA, CGMA, Costing Manager, Finance, Beyonics Pte Ltd
  • Ruby Panjaitan, ACMA, CGMA, Director of Finance and CFO, PT Media Nusantara Citra Tbk (MNC Media)
  • Katreena Aleda Samonte, ACMA, CGMA, Operations Manager – Credit Management, Shell Shared Services Asia 
  • Phan The Vu, ACMA, CGMA, Director – Finance, Hanesbrands Inc.
  • Elsa Ariany Setyadi, ACMA, CGMA, Head of Strategy and Business Implementation, HSBC Indonesia
  • Annette Foo, ACMA, CGMA, Adjunct Associate Professor, National University of Singapore
  • Rick Yvanovich, FCMA, CGMA, Association’s Southeast Asia Area Committee Representative and Founder and CEO, TRG International 
  • Khairun Nisa Md Khuzaimah, Asst General Manager, Telekom Malaysia Berhad

Nor Adni Ismail, ACMA, CGMA, Chair of the South East Asia Regional Engagement Group, said, “We are honoured to be entrusted with representing members in the region and support he Association to bringing innovative ideas and recommendations to uphold the high standards of the profession. We look forward to working closely with the Regional Vice President – Asia Pacific to help members, their organisations and society as a whole adapt and thrive in a challenging environment.”

Venkkat Ramanan, FCMA, CGMA, Regional Vice President – Asia Pacific at the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, representing AICPA & CIMA, said, “I am pleased to welcome vibrant professionals as the inaugural members of this group. I am certain that they will contribute immensely to help the accounting and finance profession address key business and economic issues such as digital transformation, productivity, and environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) challenges in Southeast Asia during their twelve-month tenure.”

Appointments to the REG are made for a 12-month duration and responsibilities will include identifying key trends in the local markets impacting members, stakeholders, and the profession; representing, engaging, and advocating for the Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) designation; and providing perspective into the development of the Association’s global strategic plan as it relates to both public and management accounting.


Financial Services Firms Operating Under False Sense of Security

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DigitalCFO Newsroom | 27 October 2022

Trend Micro research finds most are over-confident about ability to withstand ransomware.

 Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), a global cybersecurity leader, today revealed that financial services firms are more confident they’re protected from ransomware than any other sector. Yet at the same time, they’re exposed by supply chain risk and sub-par detection capabilities. 

Trend Micro commissioned Sapio Research to poll over 355 financial services IT and business leaders across the globe, as part of a wider cross-industry report into ransomware. It found that 75% believe they’re adequately protected from ransomware, far higher than the average of 63% across all sectors.

This confidence is partly justified: 99% say they regularly patch servers, 92% secure remote desktop protocol (RDP) endpoints, and 94% have rules in place to mitigate risks from email attachments. However, 72% of respondents admitted their organisation has been compromised by ransomware in the past, and 79% see their sector as a more attractive target for threat actors than others. 

This awareness of current threat levels in the financial services sector does not always translate into action. Around two-fifths do not use network detection and response (40%) or endpoint detection and response tools (39%), and half (49%) don’t have extended detection and response (XDR) in place.  This may account for poor detection rates for activity connected with ransomware. Only a third (33%) say they can accurately spot lateral movement, and 44% initial access. 

Trend Micro also uncovered significant third-party cyber risk for financial services organisations:

  • 56% have had supplier compromised by ransomware, mostly partners (56%) and subsidiaries (29%)
  • 54% believe their suppliers make them a more attractive target
  • 52% say a significant number of their suppliers are SMBs, who may have less resource to spend on security

“Greater collaboration and information sharing with third parties could help to improve the security posture of the overall supply chain,” said Bharat Mistry, Technical Director at Trend Micro. “However, without adequate detection and response capabilities, they may not have the intelligence to hand in the first place. Financial services leaders recognise they’re a top target for ransomware actors. It’s time to turn that awareness into action.” 

A quarter (24%) of financial services firms don’t share any threat information with their partners, 38% do not do so with suppliers, and even more (42%) don’t engage with the broader ecosystem, according to the research.


A Story of Pessimism with a Few Bright Spots Amid Volatile Business Environment, Fears Over Inflation

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DigitalCFO Newsroom | 27 October 2022

North American confidence recovers slightly in Q3, but still second weakest in survey’s history.

The latest edition of the Global Economic Conditions Survey (GECS) from ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and IMA® (Institute of Management Accountants) found confidence in the economic outlook remaining well below the median reading over the past decade due to fears over inflation and a slump in business.

The Q3 2022 GECS, the largest regular economic survey of accountants around the world, can be accessed here or at https://www.imanet.org/insights-and-trends/global-economic-conditions-survey. The survey took place between September 2 and 14, 2022 and gathered 905 responses.

Globally, the survey found that nearly three-quarters of businesses are wrestling with increased costs, with the highest proportion of respondents reporting increased cost pressures for the last decade and over one in three worried about decreased income, with a similar proportion highlighting foreign exchange volatility as uncertainty and glimpses of recession dominate the latest economic outlook. 

Two developments underlined the precarious nature of the commercial environment. First, an increase in the number of respondents reporting “problems securing prompt payment,” which has risen to the highest level in four years. This could be the first sign of an increase in the number of organizations that may be experiencing cash-flow difficulties. Additionally, the survey found that there has been a noticeable rise in the numbers reporting “problems accessing finance,” with the most aggressive tightening of monetary policy in 40 years likely to hit corporate liquidity. 

The data further notes confidence in the economic outlook remaining well below the median reading over the past decade, while the other three indicators that are more closely related to economic activity – new orders, capital expenditure, and employment – all show a further deterioration. Taken as a whole, the series is consistent with slower global growth for the remainder of the year, coupled with inflationary pressures rising. 

 “Growing concern of increased interest rates in response to higher inflation and the result in tightening policy lies the risk where the global economy could slow more than businesses expect in 2023,” said Dr Josh Heniro, senior director of Southeast Asia at IMA. Commenting on the outlook for the Asia Pacific, he added, “The silver lining in the Asia Pacific market is that monetary policy has remained accommodative where the surge in inflation is within acceptable parameters in comparison with other regions, which could be the reason why we are seeing a recovery of confidence among our respondents.”

The survey also notes the growing divergence in confidence levels across the regions, with low levels in North America and Western Europe contrasting with the more upbeat perspective among the survey’s Middle Eastern and South Asian respondents. 

The findings in North America illustrate the impact of rising inflation and the global economy. After collapsing to a record low in Q2, North American confidence recovered slightly in Q3, but it is still the second weakest reading in the survey’s history. Even more worrying is that new orders, capital spending, and employment all deteriorated in Q3.

“Our latest Global Economic Conditions survey points to obvious ongoing challenges in the global economy, a reflection of the continued economic fallout from the Russian invasion in Ukraine, a further tightening of monetary policy in key jurisdictions, and a cost-of-living crisis,” Jamie Lyon, head of skills, sectors and technology at ACCA said. “One of the key risks will be how much and how quickly central banks will seek to further tighten monetary policy in the months ahead to tame inflationary pressures, and whether or not the global economy could slow more than business leaders expect in 2023.”


Australia’s Medibank Estimates About $22 Million Hit From Data Breach

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DigitalCFO Newsroom | 26 October 2022

Personal and significant amounts of health claims data of all its customers was compromised in the breach.

Medibank Private Ltd, Australia’s biggest health insurer, warned of a A$25 million to A$35 million ($16 million to $22.3 million) hit to first-half earnings from costs related to a data breach that compromised data of all its customers.

It said on Wednesday that personal and significant amounts of health claims data of all its customers was compromised in the breach reported earlier this month, a day after it warned the number of customers affected would grow. Medibank, which covers one-sixth of Australians, said the estimated cost did not include further potential remediation or regulatory expenses.

The company reiterated that its IT systems had not been encrypted by ransomware to date and that it would continue to monitor for any further suspicious activity. Medibank, which also withdrew its fiscal 2023 policyholder growth forecast, reported an after-tax profit of about A$394 million for fiscal 2022 in August.

Source: Reuters


Global Economy Approaching A Recession

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DigitalCFO Newsroom | 26 October 2022

One bright spot is that most major economies already in a recession or heading into one are starting with relatively low unemployment compared with previous downturns.

The global economy is approaching a recession as economists polled by Reuters once again cut growth forecasts for key economies while central banks keep raising interest rates to bring down persistently-high inflation.

One bright spot is that most major economies already in a recession or heading into one are starting with relatively low unemployment compared with previous downturns. Indeed the latest poll expects the smallest gap between growth rates and joblessness in at least four decades. But while that might deaden the intensity of recessions – most respondents say it will be short and shallow in key economies – that may also keep inflation elevated for longer than most currently expect.

A majority of the top global central banks are over two-thirds of the way to the expected terminal interest rate, but with inflation still much higher than their mandates, the risk is those rate expectations are too low. After being late to call the inflation problem, global central banks have spent most of this year frontloading rate hikes to catch up. Most economists and central banks are of the view there will be little work left to do next year.

Michael Every, global strategist at Rabobank, said “risk of a global recession” is what everyone’s talking about and has become mainstream in forecasts. “I think that’s pretty much a no-brainer when you look at the trend in all the key economies.”

Looking at the low jobless rate is problematic, Every said, because it is a lagging indicator and “the longer it stays stronger the more central banks will feel that they can continue to hike rates.”

Of the 22 central banks polled this time, only six were expected to hit their inflation targets by the end of next year. That was a downgrade from July surveys, where two-thirds of 18 were expected to hit their respective targets by then.

Analysts at Deutsche Bank wrote: “…history never repeats exactly, but since inflation forecasting has generally been so poor over the last 18 months, it’s worth us asking what normally happens when inflation breaches these thresholds. The answer is that it’s normally quite sticky.”

In the meantime global equity and bond markets are in disarray while the U.S. dollar is at a multi-decade peak in foreign exchange markets based on U.S. rate expectations. A strong 70% majority of economists, 179 of 257, said chances of a sharp rise in unemployment over the coming year were low to very low, underscoring how widespread the view is among forecasters that it won’t be a devastating recession.

Global growth is forecast to slow to 2.3% in 2023 from an expected 2.9% this year, followed by a rebound to 3.0% in 2024, according to Reuters polls of economists covering 47 key economies taken Sept. 26-Oct. 25. Those were all downgrades from polls taken in July.

Over 70% of economists, 173 of 242, said the cost of living crisis in the economies they cover would worsen over the next six months. The remaining 64 expected it to improve. While the inflation cycle is global in nature, made worse by a sudden surge in energy prices after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, much will depend on how far the U.S. Federal Reserve was likely to push rates higher.

The Fed is expected to go for a fourth consecutive 75 basis points interest rate hike on Nov. 2, and economists say it shouldn’t pause until inflation falls to around half its current level. China, the world’s second largest economy, was expected to grow 3.2% in 2022, far below the official target of around 5.5% and also well below pre-pandemic growth rates.

Excluding the meagre 2.2% expansion after the initial COVID-19 hit in 2020, that would be the worst performance since 1976. India’s economy was also forecast to grow well below its potential over the next two years with medians showing 6.9% growth in the 2022-23 fiscal year and 6.1% next year. The euro zone economy was expected to grow 3.0% this year but flatline in 2023 before expanding 1.5% in 2024.

Source: Reuters


Australia Inflation Races To 32-year High

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DigitalCFO Newsroom | 26 October 2022

Australia’s annual headline inflation accelerated to a 32-year high in the third quarter, validating the Reserve Bank’s rapid policy tightening and sending government bond yields higher.

The consumer price index advanced 7.3% in the three months through September from a year earlier, compared with a median estimate of 7%, Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed Wednesday. That was the highest reading since the third quarter of 1990 when the RBA hiked so aggressively it tipped the economy into recession.

Three-year government bonds sold off, sending yields about 10 basis points higher and longer dated notes responded similarly, rising above 4% before retracing some of those gains.

The most significant contributors on a quarterly basis were new dwellings, up 3.7%, gas 10.9% and furniture, 6.6% higher, the ABS said.

“Labor shortages in the house construction industry, leading to rises in labor costs, contributed to the rise in new dwellings,” Michelle Marquardt, head of Prices Statistics at the ABS, said in a statement. “The continuation of material shortages added further price pressure.”

The RBA expects inflation will peak at just under 8% in the current quarter, suggesting today’s strong figures may not be a surprise. The result supports the central bank’s rapid tightening cycle that has lifted the cash rate to 2.6% this month from 0.1% in May in an effort to get control of inflation.

It has signaled further hikes are likely and financial markets and economists are currently predicting two more quarter-point moves this year to 3.1%.

“This is a very strong inflation print,” said Sean Langcake, head of macroeconomic forecasting for BIS Oxford Economics.

“Nevertheless, it is broadly in line with the RBA’s expectations,” he said. “Inflation remains uncomfortably high for the RBA, but they have already tightened conditions materially which will temper demand-driven inflation in 2023.”

Core inflation, a measure preferred by the RBA, accelerated to 6.1% last quarter from a year earlier, exceeding economists’ forecast of 5.5%. That reading of the trimmed-mean measure was the strongest since the series began in 2003.

Australia is far from alone in struggling with escalating consumer prices, but is fortunate that wage growth has so far remained contained. That allowed it to break ranks with global counterparts this month and downshift to a quarter percentage-point hike as policy makers elsewhere stick with outsized moves.

The Federal Reserve is expected to raise rates by 75 basis points again next month as it looks to cool inflation pressure. Central banks from the UK to New Zealand are also tightening sharply to rein in prices fueled by pandemic-era stimulus and later supply-chain disruptions.

Coles Group Ltd., Australia’s second-largest supermarket, predicts inflation will accelerate further as some of the nation’s prime east coast farmland is inundated by flooding.

“We do expect cost price inflation to increase given suppliers are still seeking further increase to cover their costs and obviously there’ll be some further disruption from the flooding,” Steven Cain, chief executive officer at Coles, said in an earnings call Wednesday.

He also highlighted mounting labor costs, saying “wage increases this year have been higher than they’ve been for quite some time.”

Today’s report also showed:

  • The annual increase in the price of goods, up 9.6%, was the highest since 1983 and continued to outpace services, which gained 4.1%
  • The third straight quarter of rent increases in Sydney and Melbourne
  • Tradables prices, which are typically impacted by the currency and global factors, rose 8.7% from a year earlier. The Australian currency fell more than 7% against the dollar last quarter
  • Non-tradable prices, which are largely affected by domestic variables like utilities and rents, advanced 6.5% on the year

Source: Bloomberg


Risks And Opportunities In A Time Of Global Change And Historic Headwinds

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DigitalCFO Newsroom | 25 October 2022

The report explores topics related to some of 2022’s greatest challenges.

Manulife Investment Management today released its latest Global Intelligence report, highlighting new research from the firm’s investment teams across public and private markets. Titled “Historic Headwinds”, the report explores topics related to some of 2022’s greatest challenges, from the Russia-Ukraine conflict and spiking inflation to rural banking deserts and pandemic-related structural shifts. Key themes include global food security, political instability, carbon offsets, climate solutions in the face of the global energy crisis and the broader impact on sovereign bond markets, and the role that both governments and asset managers can play to help bridge Asia’s widening gender pension income gap.

“Financial markets are facing a confluence of headwinds this year not seen in a generation,” said Paul Lorentz, CEO, Manulife Investment Management. “While we’ll continue to seek out opportunities to build resilient portfolios for our clients, we’re pleased to also share our investment research, which seeks to explore the potential longer-term impacts of today’s events.”

Global Intelligence topics include:

  • Food scarcity, energy insecurity: assessing sovereign ESG risks from the Russia-Ukraine conflictThis article examines the sovereign ESG risks—including second-order economic and sociopolitical events—triggered by the Russia-Ukraine situation.
  • Carbon credit use is reshaping timberland investmentsGlobal timberland specialists explain how the accelerating evolution of carbon markets and subsequent need for the incorporation of carbon values are changing the traditional calculus for timberland owners.
  • Food price inflation: 10 implications—We examine the impact of food price inflation on economies across the world. The article makes the case for why food security must be recognized as a major investment risk with far-reaching economic, social, and geopolitical implications. For example, these effects include the rising inequality of wealth and intensified geopolitical tensions between developed and emerging nations.
  • Building community: a new look at the role of U.S. regional banks—We assess the gap between the reputation of regional U.S. banks and the needs they fill and detail how the services these institutions provide improve conditions for consumers and society by facilitating small business financing, serving as an oasis in banking deserts in largely rural areas, and filling a critical need in traditionally underserved areas of banking.
  • Observing Asia’s gender pension disparities—This article explores the gender-related challenges and opportunities found within Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Malaysia that drive gender inequality at retirement, concluding that structural imbalances at every stage of women’s lives are responsible for financial challenges in later life.

More information and the full report are available here.


HSBC Partners with Oracle to Accelerate Technology Transformation

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DigitalCFO Newsroom | 20 October 2022

HSBC will upgrade and migrate select database systems to Oracle Exadata Cloud@Customer.

Oracle and HSBC, one of the world’s largest financial services organizations, today announced a strategic collaboration to accelerate the bank’s digital transformation.

Under the multi-year agreement, HSBC will upgrade and migrate select database systems to Oracle Exadata Cloud@Customer, a cloud platform delivered as a managed infrastructure service in HSBC’s own data centers. The deployment will help support and scale the bank’s mission-critical systems and services.

Oracle Exadata Cloud@Customer is an Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) service that provides a secure, highly-available cloud platform that enables HSBC to continue to use Oracle databases in support of its critical systems while retaining control of its data governance, thereby meeting data locality and security regulations. The Oracle platform will also enable HSBC to more easily bring cloud automation to manage legacy applications, and easily scale services according to customer and local-market demands.

The collaboration contributes to HSBC’s multi-year initiative to transform its technology infrastructure to speed up the development, delivery and scaling of new products and services; make its products more secure and available; and build digital capabilities and skills across its workforce.

“Our strategy is to digitize the bank at scale, so that we can innovate faster for customers, and our collaboration with Oracle is important in advancing this transformation agenda,” said Frank McGrath, Chief Technology Officer, HSBC. “We chose Exadata Cloud@Customer primarily for its ability to offer well known databases, with the benefit of a database-as-a-service platform, giving us the performance and operational agility we need as we continue to grow and diversify our business.”

“As Financial organizations adopt new technologies and transform themselves to tap into new market opportunities while meeting demanding data residency and security requirements,” said Garrett Ilg, President Japan and Asia Pacific, Oracle, “We are working closely with HSBC to achieve this balance, enabling it to consolidate critical systems on a secure, scalable on-premises cloud platform and develop cloud-based services faster. We look forward to deepening our collaboration with HSBC as we help deliver the next generation of financial services.”


Affin Bank Berhad in Malaysia Partners with Aspire Systems to Accelerate Their Digital Banking Journey

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DigitalCFO Newsroom | 12 October 2022

With the rapid adoption of digital banking services accelerated by the pandemic, consumers across all ages are looking for seamless anywhere and anytime banking as well as personalized experience.

Affin Bank Berhad (AFFIN BANK), one of the leading banks in Malaysia, has partnered with Aspire Systems, a Global Technology Services firm, to lead its digital transformation journey. 

With rapid adoption of digital banking services accelerated by the pandemic, consumers across all ages are looking for a seamless anywhere and anytime banking as well as personalised experience. AFFIN BANK digital transformation program will help to meet the changing expectations of their digital-savvy customers. Aspire Systems, with its vast experience in managing digital banking transformation programs, will help AFFIN to achieve digital maturity quickly and become a truly digital bank.

The bank chose the Temenos Infinity Digital Banking Experience platform (Infinity), which will provide the bank with most features that are available “out of the box”. Aspire Systems, the preferred global digital partner for temenos digital banking solutions, became AFFIN BANK’s partner of choice. 

“AFFIN BANK’s partnership with Aspire Systems is a continuation of our extensive growth strategy to morph into a forward-looking, tech-enabled and customer-centric organization. It will reinforce and complement the innovative products and services that we now have in place, as AFFIN BANK continues to meet the rapidly changing market’s needs and expectations as well as make the banking experience more convenient for our customers.” – Datuk Wan Razly Abdullah, President and Group Chief Executive Officer of AFFIN BANK.

“AFFIN BANK has conveyed a strong vision to use technology innovations to strengthen their business growth by reimagining the way they engage with their customers. Leveraging the combined engineering expertise and an award-winning implementation center of excellence for Temenos Products at Aspire, AFFIN BANK will be able to build a dynamic and engaging mobile banking experience. We are honoured and excited to be part of this journey.” – Suresh Ranganathan, Global Head of Banking & Financial Services, Aspire Systems.

“This is a critical initiative for Affin Bank, which will help make significant progress on their Omnichannel journey. We’re delighted and proud to be working with one of the leading and fast-growing banks in Malaysia. This engagement also marks an important milestone in Aspire’s success in the APAC region.” Suresh Bhat, Vice President & Head APAC, Aspire Systems