Senior executives and heads discussed how banks and financial institutions redefine business models to be more inclusive, innovative, and resilient to volatile market conditions for SMEs. They also highlighted the opportunities and challenges of utilizing a composable design to succeed in the market.

Aswin phlaphongphanich of DeeMoney, Edu Trinidad of UBX, Frankie Wai of Temenos, Prashant Chauhan of Tata Capital, Sokha ROS of SBI LY HOUR Bank, and Srinivasan Shanmuganathan ( Shan ) of Standard Chartered shared their perspective on how can the composable design enable financial institutions to better address the needs of SMEs. Composable designs through interconnected components of microservices which can be assembled and reassembled quickly to go live fast are going to be the future. They also discussed how traditional banks have to evolve to compete with new market entries amid technological disruption and regulatory changes. To serve smaller-sized MSMEs a change of the game is needed in distribution and infrastructure.

Wai discussed that new players keep raising the bar for customer experience. Whenever there is a new positive experience regardless of industry, customers expect the same standards. Sokha pointed out that most incumbents only look at the top SMEs which leaves MSMEs behind. Aswin revealed that the pandemic brought to the fore pain points on the payments side where MSMEs were unable to reach their banks for remitting fund transfers within and across borders, and were facing huge forex volatility impacting the cash flow and liquidity of MSMEs. Trinidad commented that embedded finance allows the ability to provide quick and specific solutions right to the customers.

Shanmuganathan noted that infrastructure is more about accessibility not about technology enablement and how to gain access and speed to market that is critical. API connectivity and fintech collaboration are critical in building a self-service model for MSMEs to empower them to pick and choose what they need. He also highlighted that the biggest challenge with open banking is that there are many regulatory market restrictions, including how to utilize data that have not yet been addressed. To create service and product flexibility at the front end, Prashant shared that for agile capabilities one needs to build a layer on top of legacy systems, an open network of APIs for various functions. But to succeed in this, the most important part is to change the process, the policies and the digital mindset of the company accordingly. In the future, there is no brand loyalty only service loyalty and those FIs that serve the best and provide the best rates in the shortest time will win the race

Key discussion points:

• How can the composable banking approach address the needs of SMEs and promote financial inclusion?
• How can traditional banks evolve to compete with challenger banks amid technological disruption and regulatory changes in digital payments and lending?
• How do organisations build and redefine business models to be more inclusive and resilient to volatile market conditions?
• How organisations are balancing corporate responsibility and profitability to achieve greater stakeholder satisfaction and engagement?

Guests include:

Srinivasan Shanmuganathan

Executive Director-Head API Ecosystem & Marketplace (Enterprise Technology),
Standard Chartered.

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Aswin Phlaphongphanich

CEO, DeeMoney

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Ros Sokha

Digital Transformation Executive
SBI Ly Hour Bank

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Edu Trinidad

Product Owner,
Banking Services, UBX

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Prashant Chauhan

Head Customer Onboarding ,
Supply Chain and MSME Digital Lending - Implementation Tata Capital

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Frankie Wai

Business Solution Director APAC, Temenos

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Michael Christopher C. Cruz

Vice President, Usage and Strategic Businesses Head, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC)

Michael Cruz is the vice president for Usage and Strategic Businesses of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), reporting under the Digital Enterprise and Innovations Group. He previously served as special assistant to RCBC president Eugene Acevedo from 2019 to 2022.

In his role, Cruz works to advance and communicate the president’s agenda by spearheading new initiatives, organising cross functional projects, and enforcing plans and performance standards to advance the bank’s transformation. In 2022, he became one of the youngest vice presidents in RCBC’s history at 29.

Cruz started as a management trainee at the Union Bank of the Philippines in 2013. He served in a senior corporate planning role for UnionBank’s subsidiary City Savings Bank, executing merger and acquisitions (M&A) deals and performing business development aimed at diversifying the bank’s loan portfolio.

 

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Frankie Wai

Business Solution Director APAC, Temenos

Frankie Wai is the business solution director for Asia Pacific in Temenos, one of the leading banking software companies globally. As a solution-oriented person with strategic thinking and strong interpersonal skills, he defines the region's solution strategy, advises the bank on technologically advanced solutions, and executes decisions to facilitate organisational growth.

Wai has been actively investigating emerging technologies and formulating software solutions that help banks deliver innovative banking services. He developed the brand-new digital banking architecture for first batch of the virtual bank in Hong Kong. He continues constructing the solution for subsequent digital bank licences across the Asia Pacific region.

Wai discusses in seminars how technology enables banks to transform, including virtual banking, open banking, cloud computing, and buy now, pay later (BNPL). He co-authored the articles Virtual Banks will Compel Hong Kong to Embrace the Mobile Banking Era and Open Banking in Taiwan.

 

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Kaiwan Turel

Head of Payment Advisory, Global Payments Solutions, HSBC Asia Pacific

Kaiwan heads the Payment Advisory function of HSBC’s Global Payments and Cash Management business in Asia Pacific. His key responsibilities include providing innovative solutions and addressing HSBC’s corporate and institutional customers’ cash management needs. Kaiwan is passionate about emerging technologies within the payments area and leveraging their capabilities to create unique customer journeys as well as aim to drive meaningful change in the industry to positively impact communities. Kaiwan has 18 years of international transaction banking experience having worked in India, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom. He served in senior roles including sales and client management across wealth, cash, core trade, and supply chain businesses.

 

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Christian Kapfer

Research Director, The Asian Banker

Christian Kapfer is research director at The Asian Banker, leading research and consulting engagement with top-tier financial institutions in benchmarking business and strategic capabilities across leadership, commercial, retail and transaction finance, financial markets, risk management, financial technology, and wealth management. Kapfer joined The Asian Banker in 2014 and was responsible for starting many of the company's research programmes, such as Excellence in Retail Financial Services, AB 500 Strongest Banks Ranking and Working Groups.

 

Session Host:

Christian Kapfer

Research Director,
The Asian Banker

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About The Asian Banker RadioFinance:

The Asian Banker RadioFinance aims to enhance understanding of the finance industry globally by bringing together thought leaders, industry experts, practitioners and futurists to examine current, critical issues through discussions facilitated by visual and web-based platforms. Through the use of interactive technology, participants do not have to take time out from their busy schedules or leave the comfort of their own desks.