outbreak

Mar 30 2021

Digital Banking: Reserve Bank in the Philippines Is working on Virtual Bank Framework to Enable Greater Financial Inclusion

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, is reportedly looking into adopting a virtual banking framework so that it may be leveraged to enable greater financial inclusion.

The new digital banking guidelines are being developed to support a regulatory environment that promotes responsible innovation. The new rules will also aim to support cyber or online resilience while enabling the ongoing digital transformation of the financial services industry.

Introduced in December 2020, BSP’s “Guidelines on Establishment of Digital Banks” states that a virtual bank is a financial organization or entity that may be categorized as a bank, providing financial products that are delivered end-to-end via an all-digital platform with no physical branch locations.

Digital banking platforms are expected or required to maintain proper digital governance while offering secure, robust, and resilient tech infrastructure, according to the announcement. Proper data management strategies and related best practices are also expected of these new financial services providers.

Digital banks must also adhere to the same set of applicable requirements as other banking solution providers. These guidelines include maintaining proper corporate governance structures, appropriate risk management policies, compliance, internal control and audit procedures, and reporting governance practices.

During his speech at the recently-held SAP Virtual Roundtable discussion, Benjamin E. Diokno, Governor of BSP, said that for the Philippines, “digital banking or digital finance in general as a strategy is not so much about being ahead of the curve.” Instead, it’s “more about capitalizing on its gains to bring about a more inclusive financial ecosystem.” he added.

It’s worth noting that other Asian countries like Pakistan are working on their own digital banking regulatory guidelines. In a manner that’s somewhat similar to the Philippines, Pakistan is also looking to leverage virtual banking solutions in order to enable financial inclusion and bring more people into the formal economy.

The Southeast Asia region, in general, has been increasingly adopting digital banking and modern Fintech solutions, which is a trend that has really accelerated following the COVID-19 outbreak.

Countries throughout Southeast Asia such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Vietnam are investing considerable resources into their financial services sector.

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Mar 24 2021

Fintech Firms in Pakistan Continue to Receive In-Principle Approval from State Bank to Offer Digital Financial Services

Supported by an upcoming generation of talented tech professionals, the Fintech industry is evolving rapidly in Pakistan. Fintechs could begin to make major contributions to the Asian country’s nearly $400 billion GDP.

Professionals leading the country’s finance ministry and its reserve bank (the State Bank of Pakistan or SBP) are planning to introduce initiatives that will improve the Pakistani economy.

New companies or businesses now operating in the country’s Fintech space such as SadaPay aim to enable greater financial inclusion while offering innovative and user-friendly digital financial services.

As reported by the Business Times, Mutaher Khan, an IT worker who’s been following the growth of the Fintech sector, revealed that they’ve seen over a dozen firms obtaining in-principle approval from the SBP in order to provide different types of financial services. These include establishing digital commerce gateways and bill payments facilities.

Khan claims that payments, bills and money transfers are some of the key areas where there’s considerable activity, along with a shift towards mobile and Internet banking – which may have accelerated following the COVID-19 outbreak.

Khan, who’s working on a directory for the Pakistani technology industry, called DataDarbaar.com, where you can obtain all the information on domestic startups and new technologies, noted that a lot of the growth on this front is being driven and supported by telco-backed Fintech apps, such as JazzCash and Easypaisa.

Khan confirmed that these apps have acquired a significant user base via their agent-based network that has now penetrated some of the most remote areas in Pakistan. He explained that the same over-the-counter or OTC transactions have now been digitized. Meanwhile, there are traditional Pakistan banks that are also developing a strong online presence so that they can remain competitive in this fast-evolving Fintech space, Khan revealed.

In another update from the Business Times, the news outlet reported that there might be some scope for Pakistan and Singapore to work on Fintech projects and the broader tech industry as well. Singapore is now home to a major Fintech sector so there could be a lot that Pakistan might be able to learn from these initiatives.

An industry professional suggested that these collaborations might be as simple as knowledge exchange programs, which has become quite popular due to events like the Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF) where people are able to participate in masterclasses conducted by experienced business owners.

According to industry professionals, there could be a major investment opportunity for investors looking to establish some type of operation in Pakistan. Golden Gate Ventures and Stripe Asean are working on some projects, however, there’s still a lot of room for more growth and development.

It’s worth noting that Pakistan still faces many socioeconomic challenges with the vast majority of the nation’s population not having access to modern banking services, quality education, or decent job opportunities.

Pakistan has suffered from many decades of corruption and was also dragged into the lengthy issues and problems in neighboring Afghanistan after 9/11.

Most mainstream business and global financial services offered by platforms such as Amazon and PayPal (among many others) are still not available in Pakistan because the nation’s regulators have failed to implement a proper framework so that businesses can operate smoothly.

Despite these issues, Pakistan is home to one of the largest freelancer communities in the world and the country is on track to potentially become a leading or more prominent world economy by 2030. Pakistan is also considered a “middle-power” (so not completely a third-world country) which could be, in large part, due it being a nuclear power.

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Mar 06 2021

Banking Execs are Now Saying it’s Necessary for Employees to Return to Physical Office, Work from Home Isn’t Ideal Solution

The COVID-19 outbreak may have served as proof for many banking institutions that working fully remotely is quite possible when the need arises. However, it may also have its downside or disadvantages.

Some senior banking professionals are now saying that it’s become necessary for workers to come back to the physical office in order to maintain company culture, promote or encourage good behavior and conduct, and also to ensure the overall quality or standard of work.

Although some big tech firms such as Microsoft Corp., Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. and Fintech challengers like Revolut anticipate or foresee large numbers of professionals working from home on a permanent basis, some things appear quite different in the world of banking and finance.

During the week of February 22, 2021, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon had rejected the suggestion that working from home would be the “new normal,” adding that having workers at their (physical) offices was a key element of the institution’s innovative, collaborative “apprenticeship culture.”

Pricewaterhousecoopers’ (PwC) December 2020 Remote Work Survey revealed that 70% of financial services workers and managers think that employees should be at their (physical) desks at least 3 days each week in order to maintain a “distinctive” culture.

Meanwhile, just 20% or 1 in 5 employees responding to the survey said they actually wanted to return to the physical office for 3 or more days per week. This indicates that there’s somewhat of a mismatch in overall expectations that could become a “big management challenge” for banking institutions, according to Bhushan Sethi, a global leader of PwC’s people and organization practice who mainly focuses on the financial services sector.

Although the survey was performed in the United States, Sethi clarified that financial institutions in the City of London are quite likely to face the same type of resistance and related issues.

Sethi added:

“In some institutions, the leaders are saying they want to consolidate their office footprint and become a hybrid workplace. But some of those leaders are also privately telling us: ‘We have such a transformational change agenda; we need people in the office so that we can actually build that camaraderie and get it done.’”

When it comes to dealing with compliance and related risk functions, bank managers are worried about the overall (negative) toll that the new remote working environment is taking on culture and people’s behavior.

ING Groep‘s behavioral risk management department, which aims to assess habits and cultures that might pose a serious risk for the company, has reported that there’s been a significant increase in the number of requests to investigate work-from-home-related behavioral issues and patterns during the past year.

It has uncovered many new trends like screen fatigue, increased work pressure or stress, communication problems and the overall lack of “personal connectivity,” which may hamper the effectiveness and engagement of workers and this could lead to compliance risks, according to Mirea Raaijmakers, who leads the team.

Raaijmakers pointed out that the Coronavirus crisis has created numerous opportunities for far more flexible and remote work, however, it has also come with its limitations.

Raaijmakers added:

“We shouldn’t fool ourselves by thinking that we can do this completely remote[ly],”

She expressed concerns over the loss of that “connective tissue” between company workers. This is key to any banking institution’s overall performance, innovation and compliance strategy, however, it’s currently under a lot of pressure, she revealed.

In an update shared with CI, Advanced Recovery Systems, which operates a network of addiction treatment facilities across the United States, noted that they’ve been performing research during the past year regarding the pandemic’s effects on mental health and substance use.

The team at Advanced Recovery also mentioned that the “one thing [they] were interested in understanding is the role employers are taking in providing mental health resources to their employees.”

They added:

“We know there’s a positive impact when businesses invest in mental health, both from a productivity and profitability standpoint, but how seriously are companies taking these commitments, especially during a once-in-a-generation pandemic?”

According to Advanced Recovery Systems’ new survey of 2,000 employed adults in the United States:

75% of employees “reported experiencing adverse mental health symptoms during the pandemic.”
Even though mental health symptoms “were widely reported, 40% – up to 64 million workers – said they would not be comfortable sharing a mental health challenge with their boss or employer.”
Up to 32 million American workers “don’t have access to employer-offered mental health resources.”

(Note: you may check out the complete survey report here.)

Source

Feb 27 2021

Fintech Blend Explains how its Digital Lending Platform Supports Data Connectivity so Borrowers can Connect to Asset, Payroll, Tax Accounts

San Francisco-based Blend, which claims to offer market-leading digital lending technology that makes the process of acquiring a loan simpler, faster, and safer, notes that in the increasingly competitive lending sector, it’s now more important than ever to work with technology that provides your clients the best user experience (UX) possible.

According to Blend, an “obvious” choice may be a “targeted point solution” — they are often marketed as offering services that are “specialized” for the mortgage sector. However, when you are trying to piece together “fragmented” experiences across multiple point solutions, you’re probably failing to offer the “seamless, end-to-end process” that consumers have started to expect from service providers, Blend noted.

Blend recommends that lenders may look for a tool that “goes beyond the basics” — one that is capable of growing with their organization, can offer flexibility, improve continuously, while supporting “long-term agility.” The Blend team writes in a blog post that if you’re looking to “maximize the positive effects of transformative technology for customers now while setting up your organization for a successful future, a unified mortgage lending solution can offer the right capabilities.”

Blend points out that “consistency” and “continuity” are essential to “the success” of a mortgage lending product or solution. They also mentioned that with a more cohesive platform, your team and clients may “rely on a dependable, streamlined journey instead of a disjointed experience across multiple systems.” As noted by Blend, a unified platform “integrates easily across existing technology stacks, offers a holistic view of customer touchpoints, and streamlines document collection into one hub.”

The Blend team added:

“With Blend’s Digital Lending Platform, applicants can complete conditions by connecting their financial accounts, utilizing mobile document upload, and providing signatures through e-sign tools. Through one portal, we provide a sense of stability and security by delivering a seamless experience across the board.”

Blend claims that no matter how “impressive” or “efficient” your mortgage lending platform might be, your actual results will be “hindered by an application experience that fails to meet customer needs — a fantastic back-end won’t have any impact if borrowers don’t complete the application, after all.”

While commenting on how to offer the “best” application experiences, Blend notes that their product specialists recommend the following:

Conversational interfaces with “clear, easy to understand guidance and language”;
Embedded data connections that “provide applicants with easy access to their information, speeding up the application process and minimizing manual data entry”;
User-centered design with “answers to common questions built into the process”;
Intelligent metrics that “gather insights into how consumers interact with the application, so lending teams can focus on continual improvement”;
Rapid document requests “to help accelerate the loan cycle”;
Omnichannel services that “meet consumers where they are and allow loan teams to seamlessly start applications over the phone, in person, or send a link to borrowers to complete on their preferred device”

The Blend team further noted that loan officers, processors, and underwriters may get “weighed down by manual work.” When mortgage lending solutions are able to leverage automation to provide greater efficiency for lending teams, “time opens up to handle more loans and focus on building customer relationships,” Blend explained.

The Fintech firm also mentioned:

“Blend’s Digital Lending Platform features data connectivity, which allows borrowers to connect to their asset, payroll, and tax accounts. When applications are completed, our platform helps identify any potential red flags to surface issues and reduce manual downstream work. Blend’s intelligent automation prompts the borrower with questions for further explanation and can create a gift letter template to quickly review, edit, and sign — all within the same process and portal.”

Blend also mentioned that strong insights are “the foundation for building a strong strategy and positioning your financial institution well for any market condition.” By using analytics and reporting tools, lenders are able to identify “process bottlenecks” and “team inefficiencies” well before they can “negatively impact the bottom line.”

When selecting a reporting tool, Blend suggests looking at the reporting dashboard to quickly check “high-level insights and metrics within a helpful hub.”

They also suggest looking at interactive reports to “track trends over time with pre-built data visualizations.” Additionally, you may check out generated reports “when you need a finer-tuned analysis with tailored information incorporated, this feature allows you to create and download customizable reports.”

You may also view the reporting API to “achieve even deeper customization with an API that enables your team to securely import data into your tool of choice.”

Blend concludes:

“Our full Mortgage Suite can help you deliver a seamless digital mortgage experience through a single platform — powered by automated verification and workflows, a seamless application experience, and the reporting tools your organization needs to thrive.”

As covered, Blend has also explained how relationship banking can be “reframed” for an “increasingly digital” environment following the COVID outbreak.

Source

Feb 24 2021

MC Payment Ltd becomes First Digital Payments Company to be Listed on Singapore Exchange’s (SGX) Catalist

MC Payment Limited has revealed that it’s now listed on the Singapore Exchange’s (SGX) Catalist. The company claims that it’s the first digital payments platform to be listed on Catalist.

With a market cap of around S$139 million (appr. $105.4 million), the listing of MC Payment Limited brings the total number of firms listed on Catalist to 218, with a total market cap of about S$11 billion ($8.34 billion).

Based in Singapore, MC Payment Ltd is a Fintech firm that offers merchant payment services and e-commerce enabling solutions, with a special focus on servicing clients who are merchants in the retail, transportation and food and beverage sectors.

MC Payment Ltd maintains a business presence in several different Southeast Asian countries including Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

Anthony Koh, CEO at MC Payment Limited, stated:

“As the first digital payments company to be listed on SGX, today marks an exciting start to MC Payment’s new growth chapter. Our listing comes at an opportune time, with digital payments in the region surging amidst the rise in online transactions, following safe-distancing measures imposed by the Covid-19 outbreak.”

Mohamed Nasser Ismail, Global Head of Equity Capital Markets, SGX, noted that they are pleased to welcome the listing of MC Payment Limited on SGX Catalist and will be supporting the “growth ambitions” of Singapore’s homegrown tech firm.

Ismail added that as a payment processing platform with properly developed infrastructure and the appropriate licenses across Southeast Asia, MC Payment is “well-positioned to tap on SGX’s fundraising platforms and Singapore’s technology hub status as a launchpad into the region.”

Founded in 2005, MC Payment Pte Ltd is an e-payment solution provider with headquarters in Singapore.

The company mainly works with acquiring banks and solution providers to provide merchants a “secure” and “compliant” processing platform.

MC Payment says it aims to solve all our payment problems. The company processes payments locally and globally with its wide range of payment methods, cross-border processing services and international payment network.

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