FinTech Magazine – October 2019

CREATING A CULTURE OF INNOVATION THROUGH COLLABORATION www.fintechmagazine.com

OCTOBER 2019

Revitalising financial health through innovation

Using procurement practices to drive change

BECOMING ONE GLOBAL ENTITY Group CIO Nicki Doble on the tech transformation behind global growth and seamless customer experience

WOMEN IN FINTECH

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FOREWORD

W

elcome to October’s edition

of FinTech magazine.

lutely make this a national agenda”.

Prema Varadhan, Chief Architect and

There has been a notable increase

Head of AI at Temenos, discusses

in the number of women working

the future digitalisation of banking,

in, and disrupting, the fintech

particularly with regards to the

sector in recent years. However,

potential of AI-related innovations,

there are few that would disagree

while we also take a closer look at

that more action is needed to

the Top 10 women in fintech. The

encourage greater diversity.

latter includes several inspirational

In this issue we celebrate those women innovators, entrepreneurs and business leaders in the sector. In our lead feature we hear from Neha Mehta, founder of FemTech Partners, who spoke to us at this

business leaders such as CEO of YouTube, Susan Wojcicki, and Abigail Johnson, CEO of Fidelity Investments and the most powerful woman in finance, according to American Banker and Boston magazines.

year’s Money 20/20 Asia event.

We also feature a closer look at a host

Mehta, who has worked in the sec-

of globally renowned businesses,

tor for some time, founded FemTech

including Cover-More Group, Bank of

Partners in order to promote and

New Zealand and Zurich Insurance.

encourage women in the fintech space. She tells us that, while the growing fintech market is providing new and greater opportunities, there is more to be done, adding that “without a doubt, we should abso-

Do you have a story to share?

If so, please get in touch at matthew.high@bizclikmedia.com Enjoy the read!

Matt High w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

03

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MATT HIGH CREATIVE DIRECTORS

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CONTENTS

12

digitally transforming into a truly global brand

30 38 BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS OCTOBER 2019

FINTECH HAS A BIGGER GENDER PROBLEM THAN IT REALISES

AU TO MA TIC

48

E L P O E P E H T R FO

58 CONTIS ON THE RISE OF CHALLENGER BANKS AND THE FALL OF THE HIGH STREET

70

WOMEN IN FINTECH

88 Events w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

CONTENTS

94 Bank of New Zealand

110 Zurich Insurance

OCTOBER 2019

126 Patelco Credit Union

140 Manulife

w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

12

digitally transforming into a truly global brand OCTOBER 2019

13

WRITTEN BY

AMBER DONOVAN-STEVENS PRODUCED BY

ANDREW STUBBINGS

w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

COVER-MORE INSURANCE GROUP

Nicki Doble and the members of Cover-More’s executive technology leadership team share insight into how the company is strengthening its global presence though its tech transformation to provide a seamless customer experience icki Doble (GAICD) is the Group CIO of CoverMore, a subsidiary travel insurance and assistance company of Zurich, which operates across 22 countries. Doble specialises in the implementa14

tion of digital transformations across businesses, and raises companies’ awareness of cybersecurity and data governance risks, as well as maintaining cost control of IT. With more than 25 years experience in IT, Doble was approached by Cover-More to assist with global strategy and alignment of their technical areas, and has been working from the company’s headquarters in Sydney, Australia since March 2019. Doble considers working with CoverMore to be one of her greatest opportunities over the last few years. “It is wonderful to work with a team that is truly customer-centric, and I have had excellent support from the executive leadership team, who are all on board with the transformation.”

Not only does Doble work with a great team, but she derives a strong sense of job satisfaction from the role. “When you assist a business which relates OCTOBER 2019

15

w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

COVER-MORE INSURANCE GROUP

“ The core of the business strategy ble for the delivery of the technology that helps to protect people gives you is the unification a nice, warm feeling when you go home of the company at night.” as a single global As [FinTech/ Business Chief ANZ] sits down with Doble, she is in the enterprise” to medical emergencies, knowing that

you have had a part in being responsi-

midst of hosting the first Cover-More

CIO Global Alignment Workshop which spans four days (6-9 August 2019). Cara Morton, the Group Chief Operations Officer based out of 16

Australia has joined several other regional CIOs in attendance to confer on the company’s current roadmap.

Others in attendance include Paras Kothari, IT Director responsible for Cover-More India TrawellTag; Steve Frazen, the CIO of Travelex Insurance Services, who operates from the US Office; Raffaele Loiacono, Director of IT at Universal Assistance SA; Glen Broadhurst, GM of Global Digital and Direct, who looks after digital direct and optimisation from London; Jeremy Clutterbuck, the CTO of EMEA insurance services; and Mark Carnahan, Director of Infrastructure Services, who specialises in digital OCTOBER 2019

— Nicki Doble, Group CIO, Cover-More

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘IT VENDOR MANAGEMENT IS MORE THAN ‘GIVE AND TAKE’ – NICKI DOBLE, GROUP CIO, COVER-MORE 17 and cloud services from the Cover-

including Halo Insurance, Universal As-

More Washington location.

sistance, Travelex Insurance Services, Blue Insurance and Travel Ace As-

BECOMING ONE GLOBAL ENTITY

sistance. The workshop taking place at

“We’ve been operating as different

the Zurich building, London, UK, ena-

businesses in different countries,”

bles Doble and the rest of the team to

begins Doble, “and the core of the

reevaluate the company’s centralised

business strategy is the unification

and regional functions, and ensure that

of the company as a single global

the acquired companies are receiv-

enterprise with consistent products

ing the support needed to standard-

to accelerate technology and remain

ise products. “These companies will

customer-centric, while leveraging

assist with Cover-More obtaining a

the expertise of our parent company,

truly global footprint, as they are digital

Zurich.” Cover-More made a number

and complementary to the traditional

of acquisitions over the last few years,

function of Cover-More,” says Morton. w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

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Streamlining customer and employee experiences As companies focus on the possibilities of digital transformation, many are realising that these efforts must go further than just what is visible to the outside world.

Transformation demands more than just embracing new customer channels or demonstrating new technologies.

Organisations must transform processes – the ways in which customers are served, promises are fulfilled, and operations run.

Robotic process automation (RPA), AI, and intelligent automation is key to this strategy, but must be delivered within a total process framework. Alignment across organisational silos, thinking end to end from a customer’s perspective, and establishing capabilities for rapid development and design thinking are at the core of transformation. Your success depends not just on automation, but also on managing exceptions and optimising human resources.

Combining existing operations with the potential of emerging technologies, like AI and RPA, through advanced workflow will deliver operational transformation results at scale. An automation first approach can’t be focussed solely on cost reduction but is viewed as an integral part of designing and implementing customer and employee experiences that are streamlined and remove friction. This is at the heart of e5 Workflow’s Priority Processing solution.

‘Cover-More is one of the many organisations that have chosen e5 Workflow to reduce complexity, empower employees and deliver customer promises.’

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Wrapping e5’s capabilities around the core organisational technology reduces operational complexity because each journey is directly linked to an end to end process, covering each of the parts that contribute to providing the outcome for the customer. These journeys can be as simple as a straight through travel insurance application, to complex long running commercial claims that span time and include many contributing actors. This brings businesses visible service level control, leading to improved customer and employee experiences while reducing backlog and costs.

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“By coming together, these companies

functions from our two large contact

meet their full potential.” Clutterbuck

centres in Argentina and Colombia,

affirms: “the acquisition of Halo has

providing medical support to travellers

enabled us to implement various initia-

all over the world. As our travellers

tives through the support of Cover-

are largely from South America, we

More. Being part of a bigger business

are complementary to Cover-More,

provides additional leverage, and

which specialises in regions such as

these initiatives are accelerating us

New Zealand, Australia, Singapore

into a global tech space. In turn, Halo

and Malaysia. Together, we can form

complements Cover-More’s product

a great global service.” By drawing

suite, as we are in a niche market that

on considerable experience from

specialises in smaller brands.”

across the regions, knowledge of

Loiacono reiterates this sentiment

law and regulation is shared across

with regard to Universal Assistance,

the partners. Carnahan adds that

which provides telemedicine and

the increase in acquisitions has also

teleassistance: “Universal Assistance

refined the process of standardising

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Nicki Doble Nicki Doble is an IT C-Suite Executive that specialises in global insurance transformation delivery by creating cultures that allow change to f lourish.

Nicki is a Not-For-Profit and Government Board Director who brings unique governance, strategy and financial management acumen to executive delivery roles.

w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

21

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘NICKI DOBLE, GROUP CIO OF COVER-MORE EXPLAINS THE VALUE OF GAICD’ 23 change management for each respec-

and they were responsive and went

tive acquisition, improving the overall

above and beyond to help us get the

speed of the companies’ expansion.

major upgrade across the line without

Doble highlights one particular partner

incident.”

that has been instrumental in assist-

In April 2019, Doble commenced the

ing the company streamline services:

Global Technology Strategy a first of

e5. “We’ve recently completed our e5

its kind for the organisation. A cloud

upgrades which will give us a lot more

first design principal meant that a cor-

functionality in how we process our

nerstone of the project was a global

work. That means that we can design

Infrastructure As Is Discovery, this was

the service from a customer-led point

so a full picture of the size of the trans-

of view. It’s exciting, as it will change

formation could be ascertained. AWS

how we process claims. The team at e5

was instrumental in delivering these

understood how important this was to

insights and Cover-More is now its in

us in shifting our customer experience

planning stage of making use of the w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

$700mn+

Approximate revenue in US dollars

1986

Year founded

2,200

24

Approximate number of employees

OCTOBER 2019

25

w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

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tant that you are working with experts”.

ogy offerings as they commence a sig-

In terms of culture shift and people

nificant cloud transformation. Having

change management, Doble says that

undertaken a number of turnarounds

“this expansion will create room for

and transformations Doble knows

career progression, which is exciting

first-hand the value of a good partner.

for our teams, particularly in regard

“The global data landscape is now very

to cybersecurity and digital, as the

difficult and complex, so I am also very

opportunities are huge.” There are

grateful for the team at Aware Services

currently regional cybersecurity pro-

who have been a trusted adviser and

grams taking place across all of the

their expertise in global data govern-

regions in which Cover-More operates,

ance is exceptional. Being across many

and Carnahan specifies that “the key

different regions with different data

opportunity here is the process of

standards and regulations makes the

coalescing these programs together to

globalisation task difficult so its impor-

create the most robust strategy possiw w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

27

COVER-MORE INSURANCE GROUP

“ The more granular data points that we put into our optimization model, the better we become at providing a seamless customer experience” — Glen Broadhurst, GM of Global Digital and Direct, Cover-More ble.” He believes that this combination of regional expertise on a global level will provide customers with an even higher level of service and security.

Part of this tailored service can be accredited to the optimisation model 28

framework, which is not only focused around reporting tools, but on proprietary technologies built upon a robust methodology, according to Broadhurst, who goes on to say: “we have our own UX testing tools, which allow us to do high level personalisation and segmentation based on aggregate data that we bring into our ecosystem. Then, using the years of experience from across our different companies, we can apply these insights across different partners to provide the most personalised service. The more granular data points that we put into our optimisation model, the better we become at providing a seamless customer experience.”

OCTOBER 2019

LOOKING AHEAD As Cover-More sets out to strengthen their global footprint, Doble says that customers can expect to see regional products become available worldwide, or, as Carnahan put it: “we will become a truly global entity, offering true global value to our customers.” He also shares that they hope to enhance the speed of assistance, so that when an issue arises, they can act preemptively to keep their customers safe when travelling. Frazen says that there will be one question at the centre of the strategy as they move forward: “how can Cover-More provide the right product and the right experience, personalised for an individual traveller, at the time of need, so they get the maximum value out of their experiences, and their opportunities to do business with us?”

As the team finish up their workshop in London, Cover-More is set to take customer service to the next level, and to sharpen the group’s competitive edge on the global stage.

w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

29

LEADERSHIP

30

BREAKING DOWN FEMTECH PARTNERS FOUNDER NEHA MEHTA ON NEVER SAYING NEVER, AND WHY WOMEN IN FINTECH MUST BE A NATIONAL AGENDA OCTOBER 2019

31

BARRIERS WRITTEN BY

MATT HIGH

w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

LEADERSHIP

N

ever say never. Even if you see the smallest opportunity, jump at it and never stop moving forwards,” exclaims

Neha Mehta. Opportunity drives Mehta.

Not her own, but that of other female entrepreneurs and innovators looking to further advance their careers and be successful in the traditionally male-dominated arena of fintech.

Mehta is the founder of FemTech Partners,

32

an organisation she started just over a year ago after her own experiences of life in a Singapore-based fintech set her on an ambitious path. “I’d been in the fintech arena for some time,” she says, “and it was very clear that there was not great participation in general from women across the various sectors, that there weren’t many female founders of fintech companies and that, when there were, achieving the funding to take those businesses or innovations forward was also more challenging for women than it was for their male counterparts. That was really the point at which I thought it time to take the plunge, to go solo, and to really try to do what I felt was right and have a wider impact on women and their opportunities.”

OCTOBER 2019

“FINTECH IS BRINGING OPPORTUNITIES THAT HAD NOT PREVIOUSLY EXISTED IN THE MARKET” Neha Mehta, Founder, FemTech Partners 33

That ‘plunge’ was starting FemTech Partners, an organisation that Mehta runs out of Singapore and Amsterdam – she is based in the former. FemTech Partners’ agenda, she says, is “always look to promote women in the fintech space”. In little more than 12 months she has worked hard at this, with FemTech Partners responsible for working with the state government of India to arrange workshops and hackathons on various subjects such as blockchain, coding and funding. Mehta also takes time to engage with female w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

LEADERSHIP

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘NEHA MEHTA, FOUNDER OF FEMTECH PARTNERS, ON FINTECH IN ASIA AT MONEY 20/20 ASIA’ 34 entrepreneurs in the fintech space

March 2019 Money 20/20 Asia event,

through social media and other chan-

where she was keen to discuss in more

nels, whereby she offers advice and

detail the role of women in the sector,

mentoring; she works more broadly

as well as the broader opportunities

to encourage startups to develop out

emerging. “Fintech is bringing opportu-

of Asia and into European markets.

nities that had not previously existed in

“A real driver for me is to do all I can to

the market,” she explains. “The speed

help the next generation of women,

at which the market is growing, as well

because I don’t want them to have

as the innovative emerging technolo-

similar experiences to those that

gies it creates, is enabling people to

I have had,” she says. “I use all of my

dream bigger, to do better things and

contacts and knowledge of the sec-

so, from my perspective, I’m seeing

tor make sure they can open as many

increasing numbers of female entre-

doors as possible.”

preneurs coming forward with great

FinTech met with Mehta at the OCTOBER 2019

ideas and solving complex problems.

“ I’M SEEING INCREASING NUMBERS OF FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS COMING FORWARD WITH GREAT IDEAS AND SOLVING COMPLEX PROBLEMS” Neha Mehta, Founder, FemTech Partners

35

Previously this hadn’t really been the

Amsterdam and other countries, Mehta

case but now the market, particularly

believes that this way of working is

in terms of growing numbers of smaller

more commonplace in areas such as

startups, has created an environment

Europe, whereas Asia, and Singapore

in which women are able to make more

in particular, need to see further pro-

of an impact.

gress. Here, she says, women still don’t

“Work/life balance is important

have the policies or arrangements that

for everyone, but particularly so for

specifically cater to them. “There’s still

some women,” she states. “Startups

a long way to go,” she states. “When

provide a degree of flexibility that

women want to take time away from

suits the working life of some women

their career, or wish to return after

who wish to balance being a success-

a sabbatical of any kind, there is a lot

ful entrepreneur or innovator with

of pressure on them – regardless of

the responsibilities of motherhood,

whether they are at a junior or senior

for example.” Through her work in

level – to prove themselves more than w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

LEADERSHIP

looking at around 40%, but here in Asia it’s more like 20%. We need a push; we

“ I STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT THE WORLD IS A BETTER PLACE WITH WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE” Neha Mehta, Founder, FemTech Partners

need more action from managers and executive-level people in the sector, who should more actively look to hire female candidates.”

Of the challenges facing those women looking to advance in the sector, Mehta points to two areas: access to the required funding needed to start a business or any entrepreneurial activity, and greater need for education on the prerequisite technology skills.

On the former, she states that a lack of peer support is a key factor: “There are

36

so many more male entrepreneurs and men. This is particularly true in the tech

startup founders,” she adds, “that they

space, which is already a male domi-

can far more easily reach out to exist-

nated arena. From the discussions

ing contacts in the market to discuss

I regularly have with women in the

funding and growth opportunities.”

region, I’m in little doubt that this is still a major challenge.”

Achieving the required technological skillset and learning is a broader chal-

Breaking from this point, Mehta

lenge. “In my opinion, fintech is ‘more

considers the venue in which Money

fin than tech’. We don’t see the same

20/20 Asia is taking place. “Sometimes

levels of female participation because

I’m at events like these, on the panel or

many women are not so comfortable

just attending, and I realise there are

with technology, especially things like

four or five women in an audience of

blockchain, AI or robotics, for example.

500 or more,” she comments. “When

That is purely down to education and

it comes to the numbers of women in

the start that young women receive.

the finance sector, in Europe you’re

Thankfully, there are exceptions. In

OCTOBER 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘NEHA MEHTA, FOUNDER OF FEMTECH PARTNERS, DISCUSSES WOMEN IN FINTECH AT MONEY 20/20 ASIA’ 37 India, for example, a lot of women are

to get support from regulators, from

very good with IT and technology. If

other business and from governments

you look at IT schools and educational

in several countries. Without a doubt,

institutions in India, they are very well

we should absolutely make this

balanced – almost 50/50 – between

a national agenda rather that some-

men and women. That’s very good, and

thing I’m attempting to change solo.

a sign of things to come, but we have

I strongly believe that the world is a

a long way to go.”

better place with women in the work-

Addressing that journey is Mehta’s

place – they bring balance, they bring

focus with FemTech Partners. And

emotional intelligence and skills that

while she continues to work with

aren’t there, and most importantly they

women in the various forums the

deserve to be successful.”

organisation offers, she is keen to push the growth of women in fintech as a wider agenda. “I’m really looking w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

BLOCKCHAIN

38

FINTECH HAS A BIGGER GENDER PROBLEM THAN IT REALISES Louise Brett is Head of FinTech and Financial Services Innovation at Deloitte. Here, she comments on increasing the sector’s competitiveness through addressing gender diversity WRITTEN BY

LOUISE BRETT

OCTOBER 2019

39

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BLOCKCHAIN

40

F

intech has a gender diversity

problem that females are also under-

problem. In fact, it has three sepa-

represented in the fintech user-base.

rate – but connected – problems

with gender diversity.

There’s the basic, commonly-reported problem that too few women work in

It starts to look like an industry founded for men, run by men, making products for men.

No one intended for this outcome,

fintech companies. Then there’s the

and it is no one person’s responsi-

related problem that too few fintech

bility. But here we are, and it was,

companies have female founders, or

arguably, predictable. Fintech brings

even female leaders. Finally, there’s the

together two of the least gender

OCTOBER 2019

41

diverse industries going.

So what? How do we fix this? Do we even need to?

Let’s start with the first gender issue.

A study last year revealed that less

don’t get equal numbers of applications from men and women, and that the people they hire are a reflection of the applicants.

That’s passing the buck a little. As a

than 30% of the UK’s fintech workforce

founder you might wonder why so few

was female.

women want to work for your company.

When I speak to fintech founders

You might spot the problem and try to

about gender diversity in their compa-

over-index on female hires relative to

nies, they nearly always say they simply

applications. Or you might have women w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

BLOCKCHAIN

Louise Brett

42

“ A study last year revealed that less than 30% of the UK’s FinTech workforce was female” Louise Brett, Head of FinTech and Financial Services Innovation, Deloitte

only shortlists as a business-critical imperative, believing that having the best team to innovate of necessity demands diversity.

The second gender imbalance in fintech relates to senior team representation. The same study referenced previously found that whilst 30% of the fintech workforce is female, only 17% of senior fintech roles are held by women. In a recent HBR study it was found that, without diverse leadership, women are 20% less likely than straight white men to win endorsement

OCTOBER 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘FINOVATE PANEL: THE TRAILBLAZING WOMEN IN FINTECH’

for their ideas, which costs their com-

STEM related studies, which can be

panies crucial market opportunities. It

a provider of the skills needed to get

is important to remember that diversity

going in fintech.

of thinking underpins how fintechs and

And then there’s the third gender

incumbents see and understand unmet

imbalance in fintech, the one that is

needs in under-leveraged markets.

too little studied or discussed. That’s

It gets even worse when we look to founders of fintech companies. A quick

the gender inequality in fintech’s user base.

run through of the founders of compa-

The limited data that’s available

nies selected for the fintech 50 reveals

suggests that men are more likely

118 men, and just six women. That’s

to login to mobile apps designed for

just over 5%.

financial management. No large-scale

Part of the problem here comes back to the challenge of getting females into

fintech companies publish figures on the gender split of their user base. w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

43

BLOCKCHAIN

But it is vital to understand more about whether the gender diversity issue in fintech employment and leadership is reflected also in its user base.

Enlightened companies are waking up to the power of the female purse in buying decisions – does fintech need to wake up to this too?

Take cryptocurrency investors, for example. Although exact data on the gender split between male and female cryptocurrency investors is hard to find, I am pretty sure most investors are men.

44

An article in the Financial Times recently revealed that Uphold, a platform for moving, converting and holding cryptocurrencies that carries out background checks on users has noted that 75% of its users are men.

Coin Dance, a company that tracks and provides statistics on bitcoin users, keeps a regular tab on the gender balance of the bitcoin community, noting that females make up a mere 5.7% of investors.

We need to be sure we’re building products and services that advance the ways in which women contribute to and access financial services. Right now, I fear, we’re not.

OCTOBER 2019

“ We need to be sure we’re building products and services that advance the ways in which women contribute to and access financial services” Louise Brett, Head of FinTech and Financial Services Innovation, Deloitte

45

There will be no silver bullet solution to this problem, but by identifying some basic steps we can take to start

descriptions to ensure the language appeals to female applicants.

We need to apply the same principles

levelling out these gender diversity

to solving this problem, as we do with our

issues, we can safeguard the future

product: test and learn. The first step is

of the fintech industry. We’re seeing

to make a conscious effort to rebalance

some innovative solutions emerging

gender inequality in fintech. Then we can

already. One firm is offering double

start to identify what’s working.

finder’s fees to employees that recommend successful female job candidates. Another is reviewing all its job w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

Covering every angle in the digital age The Business Chief platforms offer insight on the trends influencing C and V-level executives, telling the stories that matter

CLICK TO SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE

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M O B I L E PAY M E N T S

48

AU TO MA TIC

E H T R O F

OCTOBER 2019

E

E L P O E P

49

According to Prema Varadhan of Temenos, future digitalisation of banking will be driven by AI technology WRITTEN BY

M AT T HIGH w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

M O B I L E PAY M E N T S

W

e use AI in nearly everything we do now, we just don’t realise it”

Varadhan says. “The technology has

become so prevalent and has proved to have many useful applications across a variety of

different industries, banking and financial services included. If you look more broadly, the commercial advantages of employing AI have been significant – look at Amazon, Uber or Metro, as well as countless other tech companies. They all have AI embedded in 50

their service offering and, as a consequence, the technology has dramatically transformed the consumer experience. This is particularly true in the sense that AI brings personalisation – and now hyper-personalisation – to any number of services, and it’s really important to consumers; if something understands me, my behaviours, tastes and needs, as well as my ways of working and living, then of course I welcome any product that is tailored to that degree.”

Banking and financial services, Varadhan explains, are no different. Financial organisations worldwide are implementing myriad AI solutions as part of wider fintech platforms in order to optimise and enhance both their back and front ends. With regards to OCTOBER 2019

51

“ The next wave of digitalisation in banking will be underpinned

by AI” — Prema Varadhan, Chief Architect and Head of AI, Temenos w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

M O B I L E PAY M E N T S

“When you then apply learning you can improve the services and products on offer significantly. It also improves customer intimacy, results in greater proactive engagement and creates deeper customer journeys that go beyond traditional banking” — Prema Varadhan, Chief Architect and Head of AI, Temenos

52

interaction with customers, Varadhan

to understand the kinds of questions

points to the increased use of intel-

and customer actions they have. When

ligent chatbots and ‘conversational

you then apply learning to those ques-

banking’. Temenos considers conver-

tions and interactions you can improve

sational banking as a bi-directional

the services and products on offer

interface between a bank and a cus-

significantly. It also improves customer

tomer that can be delivered in several

intimacy, results in greater proactive

ways, including chatbots, robots or

engagement and creates deeper cus-

avatars, voice assistants, or SMS text

tomer journeys that go beyond tradi-

and rich communication services.

tional banking.”

“This does two things for banks,”

One challenge that Temenos and

she highlights. “Naturally, it helps them

others in the sector are addressing

to cut costs and be more efficient

around chatbots is related to the

but, more importantly, it helps them

intent of the customer engaging with

OCTOBER 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘ADOPT IT: TRANSFORMING LIVES AND CHANGING FUTURES’ 53

the technology. “Questions are black

technology. If we can improve this

and white – ‘do you want to make the

aspect of AI bot technology then you’re

transfer? What is my account bal-

looking at an environment where you

ance?’” Varadhan notes. “But to be

could completely avoid call centres,

truly interactive a bot must be intel-

waiting for responses and so on – it’s

ligent to understand a sequence of

the breakthrough that’s needed and

questions, to correlate those points

I think we are close.”

and to understand that overarching

Alongside customer-centric solu-

intent of my interaction. That’s where

tions, Varadhan also notes that the

the innovation needs to continue with

use of AI-based platforms is helping

regards to chatbots in banking. We’ve

financial organisations to improve their

been working with chatbot providers,

back-office functions. In particular,

for example, and have created

this can be related to the automating

a banking app that sits on top of that

of processes and functions in order w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

M O B I L E PAY M E N T S

to free up time for employees to carry out more pressing or important tasks.

“Temenos has worked with a number of banks, which has resulted in becoming more efficient operationally,” she states. “They become super-efficient because they have delegated a lot of work to ‘machines’, but those machines are also learning over time and suggesting ways in which processes can be changed or systems can be improved. That would be a massive advantage to have.”

54

As a result of such advantages, Varadhan states that the ‘use case’ for AI in banking is becoming clearer all the time. It is the reason, she says, “that we’re likely going to have a significant uptake – and we at Temenos want to be at the forefront of that drive.” It is

banking: ‘explainability’. “If AI is mak-

this ambition that has seen the com-

ing decisions, then those decisions

pany recently complete the acquisi-

have to be justifiable. The bank needs

tion of Logical Glue, a business that

to be confident in the technology and

focuses on AI and makes credit algo-

the decisions will need to be audited

rithms ‘more human’, which already

and regulated – there is no framework

boasts several customers in the finan-

for this at the moment. It’s quite com-

cial services industry.

mon for us as a business to aim to stay

The acquisition, explains Varadhan,

one step ahead of the regulators, so

was driven in part by one of the chal-

when we saw the solutions that Logical

lenges facing the uptake of AI in

Glue was offering, we knew it would be

OCTOBER 2019

“To be truly interactive, a bot must be intelligent to understand a sequence of questions, to correlate those points and to understand that overarching intent of my interaction” — Prema Varadhan, Chief Architect and Head of AI, Temenos

an important addition in this regard.”

behaviour in order to structure a port-

As part of the acquisition, and more

folio they are likely to take. “We don't

broadly on key areas in which Temenos

see AI as a specific technology or

hopes to strengthen its proposition,

something to provide as an option,” she

Varadhan points to “seven or eight”

says. “We believe it should become

use cases for an AI-driven platform.

a standard capability of our platform

On a wider perspective, she highlights

and, in the near future, we will build

key areas of development for AI in the

more and more of our software with

banking sector as automation, evolu-

AI capabilities.”

tion of how technology can understand customers, and categorising customer w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

55

CYBER SECURITY

58

AN UNLIKELY PARTNERSHIP: CONTIS ON THE RISE OF CHALLENGER BANKS AND THE FALL OF THE HIGH STREET FinTech magazine speaks to Flavia Alzetta, CEO of Contis, to illuminate her company’s research on the relationship of traditional and challenger banks WRITTEN BY

WILLIAM SMITH

OCTOBER 2019

59

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CYBER SECURITY

T

he banking industry is in flux. Long protected from upstart newcomers by virtue of their size and age, the traditional giants are now finding themselves squeezed by

technology-enabled challenger banks. The innovations made by these newcomers, in areas such as currency exchange and data accessibility, are leading customers that demand more from their existing accounts. Indeed, some 68% of UK consumers want parity between the digital services offered by banks both old and new.

That’s according to research conducted by the banking and payments services provider Contis.

60

Surveying 2,000 British consumers, the company made some striking findings regarding the evolving banking sector.

One of the chief resources possessed by traditional banks is trust. Contis’ research found that twice the number of people were willing to put their faith in established banks compared to challengers: 60% versus 30%. It’s not a statistic that flatters the challenger banks. Nevertheless, despite the lack of trust, a quarter of those surveyed predicted the demise of the high street bank in five years.

The matter, however, may not be so cut and dry.

Flavia Alzetta, CEO of Contis, speaks to FinTech magazine about the findings, as well as the nature of the company and her advice to women in the fintech space.

OCTOBER 2019

61

“ B y working together, traditional banks can leverage fintechs’ agility to deliver products that appeal to all sectors of their customer base” — Flavia Alzetta, CEO of Contis

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CYBER SECURITY

“ Traditional banks need to be brave and innovate: if they don’t they will be marginalised” — Flavia Alzetta, CEO of Contis

62

What services does Contis provide?

What gives Contis an edge over

Contis provides companies with a highly

its competitors?

configurable banking and card pay-

We are a one-stop-shop. Clients don’t

ments platform for them to white-label

need to work with different providers

as a total solution, or to use individual

to get access to banking payments,

elements such as card payments. Our

card solutions or licences. Contis pro-

clients could be neo banks who want

vides everything from access to UK

to offer, for example, digital wallets to

and SEPA banking rails to debit and

consumers; financial institutions that

prepaid card issuing and processing

want to offer better banking and card

all under one roof. We have four key

payment alternatives to their clients; or

differentiators over our competitors:

companies who want to use our payment

• Real-time: we are a modern pro-

platform for their own payment needs.

vider with no system legacy. This

OCTOBER 2019

63

is key to the future of payments.

• Speed: as part of our Fast Track

What do you believe high street banks must to do to maintain their

partnership with Visa, we can get

relevance in the finance industry?

clients up and running within four

High street banks already enjoy high

weeks.

levels of trust (60% in the UK), so firstly,

• Configurability: our platform is

they need to maintain this by ensuring

modular, enabling clients to choose

first-class security of customer data

the exact elements they want

and regulatory compliance. The next

to purchase.

thing they must do is deliver truly cus-

• Reliability: Contis’ platform has

tomer-focused products. To do this,

a 99.99% uptime, so clients

they need to listen to the customer and

can trust it to be there for their

deliver products that resonate. They

customers when it is needed.

should also be brave and innovate, if w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

CYBER SECURITY

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘CONTIS: FINTECH MOVES FAST’ 64

they don’t, they will be marginalised and

How can challenger banks gain

unable to meet customer demands and

the same level of trust from

expectations.

customers as high street banks?

Challengers have stolen a march

Challengers need to prove they can

over the last few years, so whether

be trusted to deliver 24/7, that customer

it’s building, buying, partnering or

data is secure and that they can remain

poaching, the legacy banks need

compliant. Not only does this provide

to respond, and fast. They also need

the security required of the customer,

to ensure their legacy infrastructure

but also earns the right to partner with

and natural risk aversion doesn’t slow

traditional financial institutions with

them down. Contis’ research shows

established, conservative and well-

that 50% of banking customers would

trusted brands.

switch, and one of the main drivers is digital innovation.

OCTOBER 2019

How should banks work to form part-

Finally, there is a considerably

nerships with fintechs rather than

lower percentage of women in

seeing them as a threat?

fintech as opposed to men. Do

Banks are inherently trusted by custom-

you have any words of advice to

ers to keep funds safe. Fintechs are

other women looking to progress

expected to provide digital customer-

in the industry?

centric services. By working together,

We live in a very dynamic and rapidly-

traditional banks can leverage fintechs’

evolving industry. There is the necessity

agility to deliver products that appeal

to drive customer focus, to enhance

to all sectors of their customer base.

professionalism in execution and to

“ Challengers need to prove they can be trusted to deliver 24/7, that customer data is secure and that they remain compliant” — Flavia Alzetta, CEO of Contis

develop highly talented and performing organisations. To other women in fintech, my advice is: pursue your passion, live according to your values, and don’t listen to the people that tell you that it is not possible to realise your dreams! readiness and our readiness.”

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65

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T O P 10

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OCTOBER 2019

WOMEN IN FINTECH FinTech magazine takes a look at Forbes’ ‘The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women’ ranking to compile a list of the top 10 women in the fintech sector WRITTEN BY

SHANNON LEWIS

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T O P 10

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10

STACEY CUNNINGHAM [ US ]

The 27th most powerful woman in the world, according to Forbes, Stacey Cunningham historically became the first female president of the New York Stock Exchange in 2018. She worked on the NYSE trading floor for a decade before leaving out of frustration at the lack of technological integration. Her goal on returning was to modernise.

With a degree from Lehigh University in industrial engineering, she helped to roll out the NYSE Pillar, a purpose-built, state-of-the-art trading platform.

OCTOBER 2019

73

09

RUTH PORAT [ UK / US ]

Ruth Porat has been the CFO of Alphabet, a Google holding company that oversees 98,771 employees, since 2015, according to Bloomberg.

Forbes rates her as the 21st most powerful woman in the world.

In a recent investor report, Porat pointed out how the firm’s video platform, YouTube, was the second-biggest contributor towards revenue growth. A socially-conscientious leader, she participated in the Google Walkout for Real Change, a protest against sexual harassment in the workplace.

w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

Building an ecosystem?

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75

08

HO CHING

[ Singapore ]

Ho Ching is the CEO of Temasek Holdings, an investment company owned by the Singaporean government. Rated as the 17th most powerful woman in the world, she has been involved with Temasek for 16 years. According to China Daily, in 2018, half of Temasek’s $21bn investments went into fintech companies such as Policybazaar, Ant Financial, CashShield, and Go-Jek. During her tenure, Ching has helped grow Temasek’s portfolio to over $235bn, according to Forbes.

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T O P 10

07

ADENA FRIEDMAN [ US ]

With a BA in Political Science from Williams College and an MBA from the Owen Graduate School of Management, Adena Freidman is the CEO and president of American stock exchange, Nasdaq.

Forbes ranks her as the 16th most powerful woman in the world. At Nasdaq, Friedman has undertaken several roles, including CFO and COO. Under Friedman, Nasdaq is considering cryptocurrency, with plans to add bitcoin to its platform sometime this year.

OCTOBER 2019

77

06

SAFRA CATZ [ Israel ]

Working at Oracle since 1999, Safra Catz has been the co-CEO of the software firm since 2014. With a net worth of approximately $985.4mn, Catz is the 14th most powerful woman in the world, according to Forbes. Catz has been credited with leading the company’s aggressive acquisition strategy that saw it spend over $60bn on more than 130 buyouts since 2005. Oracle uses cloud technology in its Digital Innovation Platform to provide open-API services to fintechs and banks.

w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

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79

05

ANGELA AHRENDTS [ US ]

Until earlier this year, Angela Ahrendts worked as the Senior Vice President of Retail at Apple, heading the firm’s online and physical stores. Forbes rates her as the 13th most powerful woman in the world. With an unconventional background in fashion, Ahrendts served as the CEO of Burberry for eight years before joining the technology company. Eventually, she became the highest-paid executive at Apple, with a salary of $24.2mn in 2017, according to Business Insider.

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04

SHERYL SANDBERG [ US ]

The 11th most powerful woman in the world, according to Forbes, Sheryl Sandberg has a net worth of $1.7bn. Working as the COO of Facebook since 2008, she helped the company pivot from a $56mn loss to a $22.1bn profit in 2018, according to Forbes reports. Under Sandberg, Facebook now has over 30,000 people dedicated to safety and security and the company’s stock is up. She places 10th on Fortune’s ‘10 Most Powerful Women’ ranking.

OCTOBER 2019

81

03

ANA PATRICIA BOTÍN [ Spain ]

An alumnus of Bryn Mawn College and Harvard University, Spanish Ana Patricia Botín has been chair of Banco Santander since 2014.

Forbes names her the 8th most powerful woman in the world. Fluent in five languages, she has a long history of investing in the power of the internet and fintech, connecting with people such as Ana María Llopis, founder of OpenBank. Santander InnoVentures has set aside $100mn to fund disruptive fintech innovation.

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T O P 10

02

SUSAN WOJCICKI

[ US / Polish ]

Beginning as Google’s 16th employee in 1999, Susan Wojcicki is currently the CEO of Youtube. According to Forbes, she is the 7th most powerful woman in the world. With a bachelor’s 82

degree in Literature and History from Harvard, as well as an MA in economics from UC Santa Cruz and an MBA from UCLA, she was responsible for the $1.65bn purchase of Youtube by Google in 2006.

Forbes places the current value of Youtube at approximately $90bn.

OCTOBER 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘YOUTUBE CEO SUSAN WOJCICKI FULL INTERVIEW – CODE 2019’ 83

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T O P 10

01

ABIGAIL JOHNSON [ US ]

Named as the most powerful woman in finance by American Banker and Boston Magazine, Abigail Johnson is the 5th most powerful woman in the world, according to Forbes. With a 84

net worth of $15.8bn, according to Forbes, she has been the CEO of Fidelity Investments since 2014.

Modern-minded, Johnson turned Fidelity into one of the few American finance firms to engage with cryptocurrencies, launching a platform in 2018 that allows institutional investors to trade bitcoin and ether.

OCTOBER 2019

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CLICK TO WATCH : ‘FIDELITY’S ABIGAIL JOHNSON’S JOURNEY TO CEO’

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EVENTS & A S S O C I AT I O N S

The biggest events and conferences around the world for fintech leaders

4 OCT 2019

Open Innovation in Banking Summit 88

14–16 OCT 2019

Finovate Asia [ MARINA MANDARIN, SINGAPORE ]

[ PARIS, FRANCE ]

Following on from the success of 2018’s

The Open Innovation in Banking

event in Hong Kong as part of the city-

Summit is open to leaders across the

state’s Fintech Week, advance tickets

banking industry and provides net-

are already on sale for Finovate Asia

working and insight into the innovation

2019, which promises 600+ attendees,

needed for banks to meet the growing

20+ firms offering demonstrations

demand for fintech. This year’s event

and 80+ expert speakers for a mix of

will centre around 15 leading speakers,

speeches and panels. Finovate Asia

from banks such as De Nederlandsche

advertises the opportunity for attendees

Bank, Handelsbanken, Oney Bank,

to “meet the fintechs, platform players,

Nordea Bank, and Santander, among

financial institutions, regulators and

many more. The event is expected to

investors who are redefining the future

attract around 100 attendees from

of financial services.” Notable speakers

local and regional banks, as well as

in 2018 attended from Danske Bank,

regulators and chosen fintech firms.

AXA Lab, Accenture, Bank of America and Alipay.

OCTOBER 2019

EDITED BY

AMBER DONOVAN-STEVENS

27–30 OCT 2019

Money20/20 US

4–8 NOV 2019

[ LAS VEGAS ]

Hong Kong FinTech Week

This year’s US iteration of the world’s

[ HONG KONG & SHENZHEN ]

leading fintech event will be held in

The world’s first cross-border fintech

Las Vegas. The event aims to create

event, the week takes place in both

an ecosystem of payments, banking,

Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China. Each

fintech and financial services leaders

year, the week includes more than

and offers networking opportunities,

10,000 senior executives and features

panels, keynotes and a variety of other

over 250 fintech founders, investors,

events. The Las Vegas event promises

regulators and academics. Notable

to welcome over 2,300 C-level

previous speakers have included

executives and over 500 speakers.

Ant Financial CEO Eric Jing, Ping An

Key companies set to attend include

Executive Vice President Jessica Tan

Finastra, Mastercard, IBM and

and Standard Chartered regional CEO,

Marqeta. The event will also include

Benjamin Hung. Last year, the week

the Rise Up programme, which

was sponsored by many big names

supports women wishing to move up

including Standard Chartered Bank,

the career ladder, especially in the

Citi, Tencent, PwC and Finastra.

finance arena.

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EVENTS & A S S O C I AT I O N S

The biggest events and conferences around the world for fintech leaders

11–15 NOV 2019

90

Singapore FinTech Festival

29 NOV 2019

[ SINGAPORE ]

[ MUMBAI, INDIA ]

In 2018, the week-long event was

The India FinTech Forum (IFTA) 2019

attended by 45,000 participants from

is now in its fourth year. Over 500

130 countries – this year, it is only set

attendees are due to gather from 250

to grow. Singapore FinTech Festival is

institutions to network and collaborate

sponsored by the likes of Deloitte,

on future innovations. The event will

Google Cloud, VISA and Amazon

also host the prestigious fintech awards

Web Services. The world’s largest

for innovations from fintech compa-

fintech event, it includes startups,

nies, the winning startup of which, will

policymakers, financial and technology

be invited to be a part of Paris FinTech

industry leaders and more. The festival

Forum 2020. Judges and speakers

is organised by the Monetary Authority

include: Pawan Bakhshi, India country

of Singapore (MAS) in partnership

lead for the Bill & Melinda Gates

with The Association of Banks in

Foundation; Louise Smith, Head of

Singapore, and in collaboration with

Design and Transformation at RBS;

SingEx Holdings. Key highlights of

Yashish Dahiya, CEO & Co-Founder

the festival include the AI in Finance

of PolicyBazaar; among many more.

summit and the FinTech Awards.

OCTOBER 2019

India Fintech Awards

EDITED BY

AMBER DONOVAN-STEVENS

3–4 DEC 2019

Fintech Connect [ LONDON, UK ]

18–19 NOV 2019

Fintech Connect has been described

Fintech World Forum

by Barclays to be “the best place to

[ LONDON, UK ]

learn about the latest trends, concerns

300 delegates are expected to con-

and enhancements in the fintech

gregate in Kensington Town Hall,

space”. The 2019 event will be held at

London, in November for the Fintech

ExCel London, and over 6,000 mem-

World Forum 2019. There are cur-

bers of the fintech community from 80

rently 25 speakers and panelists who

countries will be in attendance to

represent a number of well-known

showcase new products. The goal of

companies including: IBM, Starling

the conference is to provide a net-

Bank, Mastercard, HSBC, Aviva, Tide,

working space to delegates of major

Sky Betting & Gaming, and Citi.

financial firms to enable informed

Keynotes include: Regulatory chal-

buying decisions. With six major con-

lenges in the Fintech Market,

ferences in place, discussions will

Tokenisation and Stablecoins, PSD2

focus around the key components of

and the security of apps, asset and

fintech: digital transformation, pay-

wealth management, global innovation,

ments, financial security, regtech and

and building trust in financial services.

blockchain. There will also be 50 tech demos, showcasing the latest innovations from fintech startups.

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94

Bank of New Zealand: where technology is revitalising customers’ financial health

WRITTEN BY

LAURA MULLAN PRODUCED BY

ANDREW STUBBINGS

OCTOBER 2019

95

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BANK OF NEW ZEALAND (BNZ)

Want to better manage your finances? Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) is showing customers how it’s done

I

f you want to start a new chapter in a faroff country, one of the first logistical hurdles you’ll face is creating a local bank

account. This was exactly the case when Stephen Bowe touched down in Australia just over a decade ago. “Being new to the country, I needed a bank account. I actually tried opening accounts with several different banks, but in each case the whole pro96

cess was awful,” Bowe recalls. “I vividly remember walking through Sydney’s CBD (central business district) thinking to myself, ‘If I ever get the chance to start a bank that’s genuinely focused on the customer, I’ll show them how to do it...’ I suppose the moral of the story is be careful what you wish for.”

Fast-forward a year and Bowe had gotten his wish. He left his career in telecoms and joined a bank, helping the National Australia Bank (NAB) launch a new online bank called UBank. “Ever since then I’ve been super passionate about how to make banking better for customers and specifically how to do that online,” Bowe enthuses. “I think if you look at banks around the world, they all talk about how they’re trying to focus on the customer, but it’s quite clear that in many geographies, they have failed to do that adequately.” Bowe also points out that OCTOBER 2019

97

1861

Year founded

5,000

Approximate number of employees

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BANK OF NEW ZEALAND (BNZ)

“ We can see that we’re making a difference for our customers.

We’ve found that people who use our platform to compartmentalise their money are hitting their goals 98 more frequently.

They’re saving greater amounts of their income” — Stephen Bowe, General Manager, Digital Bank of New Zealand

despite widespread adoption of digital services by customers, it’s important not to equate usage with good service.

“Just because you’ve seen exponential growth in mobile banking usage, it doesn’t mean that your app is any good. The reality is that even if it was rubbish, people would still use it in droves because of the convenience it provides.” Instead, banks need to think much more deeply about how they create value for their customers in their everyday lives.

Today, Bowe is making his mark at NAB subsidiary, Bank of New Zealand (BNZ), as the firm’s GM, Digital & Applications. He and his team have been tasked with delivering state of the art customer experiences to the 155-year-old bank by tapping into the wealth of digital tools at the financial sector’s fingertips. “If you look at most digital banking offerings around the world today, they pretty much all look and feel the same. It’s a one size fits all proposition where customer interactions are largely transactional, and the service is increasingly commoditised.

The whole process is unexceptional… but it doesn’t have to be like that.”

And so, Bowe and his team searched

OCTOBER 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘BANK OF NEW ZEALAND – WHAT ELLA WANTS’ 99 for a different way to help BNZ stand

good with money, so they can do great

out from the crowd. Instead of trying to

things with it. Essentially, we want them

simply improve the current paradigm

to achieve better financial outcomes,

of online banking, they went back to the

however they define those outcomes

drawing board and spent a significant

for themselves,” says Bowe.

amount of effort to decipher what

With this in mind, BNZ created a

customers really want from their bank.

brand new online banking platform

Whether trying to pay off a mortgage or

called YouMoney, that specifically

saving for a wedding, most customers

focused on helping customers man-

are trying to make their bank balances

age their money more effectively.

stretch to meet the needs of their daily

Customers can set up as many

lives. That spurred BNZ to make

accounts or ‘pots’ as they want. They

financial wellness a core mantra for

can then personalise them by adding

the firm. “At BNZ, our whole purpose

photos and goals, as well as moving

is based around helping customers be

money effortlessly using a novel drag w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

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“ We’re aiming to make BNZ the premier place to work in digital in New Zealand” — Stephen Bowe, General Manager, Digital Bank of New Zealand

and drop capability. “It just looks completely different,” enthuses Bowe.

“It’s highly personalised; it doesn’t resemble the traditional ledger of most platforms. Instead we’ve focused on design to add the little details that delight customers. We’ve asked ourselves: ‘How can we make each digital banking experience remarkable? How do we create everyday exceptional experiences?’ We’re working to turn an average experience into an awesome

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

101

Stephen Bowe Originally from the UK, Stephen’s career started in telecommunications, working with clients such as BT, Vodafone and Cable & Wireless. In 2006 Stephen moved to Sydney and shortly after joined NAB as part of the team that originally set up UBank, where he held a variety of roles including Head of User Experience and Digital Media.

In 2012 Stephen made the short trip across the Tasman to join BNZ to lead the bank’s digital team, with accountability for all customer facing online channels.

Whilst at BNZ, Stephen and his team are relentlessly focused on transforming banking for the better, specifically by creating remarkable banking experiences online, which are truly focused on the customer. Overall the team’s aim is to bring to life BNZ’s goal of helping people be good with money, so they can do great things with it.

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BANK OF NEW ZEALAND (BNZ)

102

OCTOBER 2019

“ We think helping customers be good with money is a fantastic challenge to rally in behind.

We can make a material impact for New Zealanders financial wellbeing by helping them be good with money” — Stephen Bowe, General Manager, Digital Bank of New Zealand

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103

Skills a commodity in the new cloud economy How cloud transformation is hindered by a skills gap

Cloud is becoming an increasingly important driver for economies.

A report from Deloitte has found organizations are both thriving and being challenged by the burgeoning prominence of cloud. Key drivers behind adoption of cloud services are delivering better customer service and keeping pace with innovative competitors. But a common challenge, which often hampers progress, is the lack of cloud education – the shortage of institutional cloud knowledge and lack of technical cloud skills within organizations. It’s a challenge for IT, but also for non-technical staff as they grapple business prerogatives in the new cloud paradigm.

Taking up the challenge

Creating the future together

AWS has taken up this challenge, with organisations including NAB and Sportsbet rolling out the AWS Skills Guild partnership program. This large-scale cloud training program helps organizations build cloud skills in-house whilst delivering broad based understanding of cloud thinking. This enables staff to effectively adopt, participate in and lead digital transformation initiatives.

NAB, for example, has created its own Cloud Guild, and incorporated the AWS program, with thousands of staff undergoing foundational training and hundreds more advancing to become AWS Certified – thereby growing a priceless skills base on which to build a more modern organization. NAB is now enjoying the economic benefits of cloud, with adoption continuously accelerating.

Get the insights Download the report today to get perspectives on benefits and challenges from businesses who have already embarked on their cloud transformation journey, including NAB, nib, Finder and Fugro Roames. Get insights into the business use cases for cloud services, their drivers for adopting cloud and the impacts on business operations.

www.awsinsight.com.au/cloudvalue

The economic value of cloud services in Aust ralia AWS 2019

experience.” This digital transforma-

seem a daunting task. To tackle this

tion is already starting to see dividends:

financial challenge, BNZ also launched

BNZ was named Best Consumer

a new feature that allows customers

Digital Bank in New Zealand and Most

to change their mortgage payments

Innovative Digital Bank in Asia-Pacific

online and make micropayments.

at the 2018 Global Finance awards.

“Since it launched, we’ve been able to

Customers are also reaping the

save BNZ customers over NZD$585m

benefits, contends Bowe. “We can see

in future interest payments. We’ve

that we’re making a difference for our

knocked more than 135,000 years off

customers. We’ve found that people

mortgages and the average customer

who use our platform to compart-

has saved over NZD$10,000.” The

mentalise their money are hitting their

most interesting fact up Bowe’s sleeve

goals more frequently. They’re saving

though, is that 67% of people’s changes

greater amounts of their income.” With

have cost less than $50 a fortnight –

many people keen to get on the prop-

that’s the cost of a cup of coffee per day.

erty ladder, repaying a mortgage can

It’s worth noting that BNZ has not

CO M PAN Y FACT S

• Today, Bank of New Zealand employs over 5,000 people in New Zealand • The firm has 153 branches across the country

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105

BANK OF NEW ZEALAND (BNZ)

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SEPTEMBER 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘BANK OF NEW ZEALAND – WAKE UP YOUR KIWISAVER ACCOUNT’ 107 only zeroed in on the customer expe-

a diverse ecosystem of digital firms.

rience, but it’s also been keen to

“We’re working to create an environ-

reimagine the employee experience

ment where digital natives want to

too. As the war for talent heats up and

work,” he adds. “Everything from our

businesses scramble to attract and

customer research rooms to our break

retain top talent, Bank of New Zealand

out areas reflect our digital ethos”

has pushed ahead with cutting-edge

Additionally, in a bid to boost talent

employee initiatives. This is perhaps

retention, the firm has worked hard

best encapsulated by the firm’s digitally-

to upskill its staff, setting its sights on

savvy new premises in Wellington.

the up-and-coming realm of cloud

“We’re aiming to make BNZ the

computing. In fact, Bowe points out

premier place to work in digital in New

how BNZ’s parent firm, NAB, has

Zealand,” explains Bowe, noting how

more AWS-certified engineers than

the firm is not only contending with

any other organisation in the whole

other banks, but also competing with

of Australia, other than Amazon Web w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

THE WORLD’S LEADING SOFTWARE FOR THE WORLD’S LEADING BANKS Over 3000 banks in 150 countries run Temenos

LEARN MORE

WATCH VIDEO

109 Services (AWS) of course. “We’re on

its digital transformation efforts. It’s

course to replicate that here in New

this, says Bowe, which distinguishes

Zealand at BNZ.”

BNZ from the pack. “I feel we have

At the end of the day, most of BNZ’s

a strong sense of purpose,” he reflects.

initiatives revolve around one common

“We think helping customers be good

aim: improving its customers’ financial

with money is a fantastic challenge to

wellbeing. As customers focus on sav-

rally behind. We can make a material

ing – whether managing day-to-day

impact for New Zealanders financial

income and expenses, building up a

wellbeing by helping them be good

rainy-day fund or saving for retirement

with money.”

– banks increasingly are recognising that they have a duty to help customers navigate these challenges and promote better financial health. BNZ has clearly put this ethos into motion with w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

Zurich Insurance 110

HOW PROCUREMENT IS SET UP TO DELIVER BUSINESS OBJECTIVES, TODAY AND TOMORROW Jaime Paiva, Regional Head of Sourcing and Procurement EMEA, shares how Zurich Insurance has transformed its Sourcing and Procurement function from an order taker to a recognised business partner WRITTEN BY

AMBER DONOVAN-STEVENS PRODUCED BY

JUSTIN BRAND

OCTOBER 2019

111

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ZURICH INSURANCE GROUP

I

n many large organisations, the sourcing and procurement function is often overlooked.

At Zurich Insurance, however, sourcing and procurement is becoming a driving force for innovation, customer value and sustainability, while playing a key role in enabling the business to fulfil its strategic objectives.

When Jaime Paiva, Regional Head of Sourcing and Procurement EMEA, first joined Zurich in 2012, the company was 112

in the midst of outsourcing its procurement function. He explains: “The retained procurement organisation was down-sized and predominantly responsible for managing the service delivery from our BPO partner.

The model with the BPO was based on the services being delivered out of hubs and so we lost the proximity to our internal stakeholders.”

However, by the end of 2016, the procurement team at Zurich started a full review of the model. “Zurich was about to start a new strategic cycle and we wanted to ensure we were prepared to support our new objectives,” recalls Paiva. Zurich’s Sourcing and Procurement leadership team decided to enhance the function’s capabilities in order to provide more support to the local business OCTOBER 2019

113

“ Our vision is for our procurement practices to drive positive societal, environmental and ethical outcomes” — Jaime Paiva, Regional Head of Sourcing & Procurement EMEA, Zurich

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ZURICH INSURANCE GROUP

114

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘ZURICH INNOVATION CHAMPIONSHIP 2020’

units as part of the new strategy. “We

internal stakeholders, with people that

did not want to give up the learnings

would understand their needs and be

and successes that the outsourcing

able to provide specialist knowledge,”

model gave us, but we knew from dis-

says Paiva. “Ultimately, we wanted to

cussions with our internal stakeholders

have our own resources focused where

that they were expecting more than

they were needed and give the business

cost-cutting; they wanted improved

the necessary agility to make decisions

capabilities,” says Paiva.

according to their needs.”

To meet these expectations and to position the function more strategically within the organisation, Zurich started to build its sourcing and contracting

THE TRANSITION TO IN-HOUSE PROCUREMENT: “As we started discussing our plans

capabilities internally. “Our goal was

with our business stakeholders,

to offer better services closer to our

we identified recurring ‘pain points’

OCTOBER 2019

regarding the outsourced model.” Paiva

measurement has evolved since early

goes on to list the most frequent ones:

2016, increasing from a score of -22

• The BPO had limited understanding

to +74 in 2019,” says Paiva. From the

of the insurance industry and business

previous operational model, Zurich

needs from Zurich.

kept the Procure-to-Pay (P2P) lifecycle

• Excessive handovers for end-to-end sourcing and contracting lifecycles.

• Lack of dedicated human resources from the BPO.

outsourced. “We contracted Genpact for operational procurement and accounts payable for a slightly-altered, cost effective Procure-to-Pay (P2P)

To measure customer satisfaction,

lifecycle. Zurich also worked on

the Sourcing and Procurement function

improving the relationship with the

also introduced the Net Promoter Score

BPO partner. “The partnership with

methodology (NPS) to gather immedi-

Genpact allows us to focus on strate-

ate and specific feedback from internal

gic or business critical topics instead

stakeholders. “It’s very rewarding to

of having resources burned with oper-

see how our customer satisfaction

ational or tactical aspects of the

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Jaime Paiva Jaime Paiva heads Sourcing and Procurement for the EMEA region at the insurance giant Zurich. Paiva is a seasoned sourcing leader with extensive experience in direct and indirect sourcing, as well as procurement operations. Before joining Zurich Insurance, Paiva held different leadership roles with multinationals such as Siemens and Nokia in Latin America, Europe or globally. Originally from Brazil, he’s been living in Germany since 2007.

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115

Stop avoiding change. Start embracing it.

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Access leading procurement practices already trusted by many organizations around the world.

Change is critical for staying ahead. It is especially so for procurement steeped in old habits that could slow valuable progress.

To transform to a more modern way of working goes beyond technology. It requires a much wider, strategic conversation, recognized at board level. That’s achievable with KPMG Powered Procurement, which is a cloudbased transformation approach designed to go beyond simple cost savings, to help you better manage internal and external ecosystems, as well as the networks and alliances that add value.

Stop planning for today.

Start getting future-ready.

These five steps could help make your procurement transformation a success.

1. Know what success means

Everyone has a different view of success – whether that’s increased efficiency or improved customer experience.

It’s important to have a common vision of the business outcomes that are wanted.

2. Flex to political and business change

Procurement is becoming more complex – thanks to greater regulation, political change, and rising consumer expectations.

The temptation is to avoid change and simply cut costs.

That misses a big opportunity to modernize procurement and use that change to drive business value.

Imagine if your organization could deliver...

99

%

60

%

of invoices received electronically – within two months of go live1

reduction in invoice processing from 20 days to 82

US risk management and insurance services company saw the following results.3

x3 45 57

%

%

tripled spend under management in first two months

of manual invoicing moved to e-invoicing

of users adopted in first month

© 2019 KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. Member firms of the KPMG network of independent firms are affiliated with KPMG International. KPMG International provides no client services. No member firm has any authority to obligate or bind KPMG International or any other member firm vis-à-vis third parties, nor does KPMG International have any such authority to obligate or bind any member firm. All rights reserved. The KPMG name and logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of KPMG International. The information contained herein is of a general nature and is not intended to address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Although we endeavor to provide accurate and timely information, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate as of the date it is received or that it will continue to be accurate in the future. No one should act on such information without appropriate professional advice after a thorough examination of the particular situation.

3. Make the most of the cloud

You’re on the cloud, but that is only a first step. You need to get more from this new platform. So, decide what systems you can migrate to the cloud and how to use them to spin up new services and procedures, rapidly.

4. Bridge the digital talent deficit

Without the necessary digital skill sets it might be difficult for procurement to take advantage of new systems and technologies. Specialists are required. As they are in short supply, consider encouraging existing staff to retrain.

5. Love your data

How good is your data? Unfortunately, problems are often only discovered when it’s too late to do anything. Given the myriad of data sources within a complex supply chain, it’s critical to clean your data before any major change.

Think like your CEO

71

%

95

%

of CEOs want to transform their organization’s operating model radically4

of CEOs see technological disruption as an opportunity not a threat4

Power your way to better procurement…

Get the power of KPMG Powered Procurement – with pre-existing tools and templates blended with leading practice and proven cloud-powered technology – as many enterprises already are.

> 50

%

of CEOs see agility as the new business currency4

…like Zurich.

Global insurer Zurich worked with KPMG member firms to transform its procurement processes. Central to the success of our collaborative approach was a three-day, interactive ‘U-Collaborate’ project launch event. This meeting established core design principles and challenges, so everybody involved was up to speed with the key aims of the program that still steer it today.

1

KPMG Powered Procurement Advisory – Case Study, 2018

2

KPMG unlock-potential-of-procurement.pdf

3

KPMG Point of View Paper ‘Stop holding back. Start tackling five common obstacles.’

4

Global CEO Outlook Survey, KPMG International 2018

5

Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO Survey, KPMG International 2018

80%

of CIOs say their digital strategy is not yet effective enough to manage this5

Discover how you can benefit from KPMG Powered Procurement. kpmg.com/poweredenterprise

Simpler.

Smarter.

Faster.

Run Coupa.

The Cloud Platform for Business Spend Management.

Join us at Europe’s Premier Business Spend Management (BSM) Event Learn more at coupainspire.com

“ U-Collaborate was a tremendous success. It quickly brought everybody involved up to speed and aligned on some principles that still steer the programme today” — Jaime Paiva, Regional Head of Sourcing & Procurement EMEA, Zurich

hindered getting accurate MI on some very basic levels and spend analysis for our category strategies,” says Paiva.

Zurich analysed the marketplace and selected Coupa, predominantly for its user-friendly interface. To compliment this new P2P platform, Zurich also partnered with KPMG to assist with the design and implementation of Coupa in 2017. “It was important for us to have access to best practices from other organisations as well as the technical expertise to help during the multi-year transition to Coupa, and they offered that through KPMG’s Powered Procurement assets and tools,” says Paiva.

Source-to-Pay (S2P) lifecycle in a costefficient way.”

Zurich initially focused on deploying the sourcing and contracting modules, phasing out the P2P and employee

TRANSITION TO A NEW IT PLATFORM:

expenses modules in early 2018.

Zurich were using an outdated P2P

“Moving from an on-premise system

platform. This platform was implemented

to a cloud-based solution required

in eight different countries more than

alignment on some fundamental

a decade previously and was custom-

principles,” recalls Paiva.

ised locally. “In 2017, we ran a bench-

In January 2018, KPMG hosted

mark and the conclusion was the

a 3-day event in London called

maintenance of our P2P platform was

‘U-Collaborate’ designed to increase

very complex and expensive. The

understanding of the platform, share

customisations went so far that they

and agree on core design principles, w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

119

ZURICH INSURANCE GROUP

and to address design and programme

The UK was the first country to

challenges. “U-Collaborate was a tre-

implement Coupa, which went live in

mendous success. It quickly brought

November 2018, followed by Switzerland

everybody involved up to speed and

in May 2019. Spain and Italy are

aligned us on some principles that still

scheduled to migrate to Coupa in

steer the programme today.”

early 2020, along with North America,

Some of the key principles agreed upon at U-Collaborate included:

• The internal customer and employee

Germany and Austria later in that year.

“Coupa is the Group’s standard platform for S2P and employee expenses and

experience is paramount to the design.

we’re expecting the work to continue

• The entirety of the company would

for some time after the original coun-

function under one standardised design.

tries in this rollout are completed.”

• No customisation of technology: 120

‘Adopt not Adapt’.

• The platform must be fit for purpose across all business units.

“The success of U-Collaborate con-

THE CONTINUATION OF THE JOURNEY: “We’ve set the building blocks for the function to play a much more important role in enabling the business to fulfil its

firmed the need for excellent change

strategic objectives, evolving to a place

management and communication

where procurement is recognised

strategies,” says Paiva, “Changing an

internally as a driver of the company

IT platform for indirect spend impacts

agenda.” Evidence of this materialising

the full organisation and our supply

is the role that the procurement team

base. To add to this challenge, our end

plays in relation to Zurich’s sustainabil-

users have been using the same pro-

ity agenda. In April 2019, the company

cesses and tools for over 10 years,

announced its aspiration to be known

and were accustomed to a high degree

as one of the most sustainable busi-

of customisation and functionality. We

nesses in the world. It followed this

appreciate how difficult it is for end users

up in June by becoming the first insurer

to migrate to a SaaS application and the

to sign up to the United Nations’

need to adopt new ways of working.”

business pledge to limit the global

OCTOBER 2019

“ We did not want to give up the learnings and successes that the outsourcing model gave us, but we knew from discussions with our internal stakeholders that they were expecting more than cost-cutting; they wanted improved capabilities”

temperature’s rise to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels. Then, it set a new Operational Sustainability target to drastically reduce paper and plastic consumption, while also committing to use 100% renewable power in its global operations by the end of 2022.

In early 2016, Zurich UK became the first insurance company to sign

121

— Jaime Paiva, Regional Head of Sourcing & Procurement EMEA, Zurich

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ZURICH INSURANCE GROUP

$51.6bn Approximate revenue

1872

Year founded

54,000+ number of employees

122

OCTOBER 2019

123

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ZURICH INSURANCE GROUP

up to Social Enterprise UK’s ‘Buy Social Corporate Challenge’, which committed 10 large UK companies from diverse industries to increase their spend with social enterprise firms.

The ‘Buy Social’ ethos is completely aligned with Zurich’s Purpose and Values. Since then, Zurich has been working directly with organisations like Wildhearts, a stationary producer which uses its profits to fund microloans in the developing world and entrepreneurial training in UK schools; 124

Ninety, an innovation consultancy that gives 90% of its distributable profits back to charity; and From Babies with Love, a promotional items provider that gives 100% of its profit to orphaned and abandoned children around the world.

“It’s important to clarify that social enterprises are not charities, but companies with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested in the business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners,” says Paiva.

“Most of the companies we work with are providing career development OCTOBER 2019

opportunities to people who otherwise have limited prospects for formal employment or reinvesting a substantial part of their profits into social initiatives or charity.” Zurich’s goal is to embed this practice in the way it does business with its supply base and its supplier’s suppliers. “We have a commitment to ensure fair business opportunities and, in our experience, this is what these companies are asking us for. They don’t want special treatment, just the chance to prove their value, quality and ability to compete on equal terms with profit-oriented companies,” adds Paiva. “Our vision is for our procurement practices to drive positive societal, environmental and ethical outcomes, while playing a key role as an enabler of Zurich’s objectives.

It will do this by making sustainability one of the key criteria in our sourcing decision making process.”

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125

126

Patelco Credit Union: creating a culture of innovation WRITTEN BY

SHANNON LEWIS PRODUCED BY

SHIRIN SADR

OCTOBER 2019

127

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PAT E L C O C R E D I T U N I O N

We speak to Kevin Landel, SVP of Innovation and Payments Strategy at Patelco Credit Union, to discuss how collaboration between business and technology teams is the key to creating a culture of innovation

A

not-for-profit organisation, Patelco Credit Union’s focus is on community. Started in 1939, it was originally the Pacific Telephone

Company’s credit union, where employees could collect deposits and fund loans. Rooted in that 128

cooperative nature, Patelco has grown to a US$7bn company with more than 350,000 members.

Landel says, “we truly believe we’re here to help our members”. Patelco has multiple community outreach and support programmes, from connections to the Children’s Miracle Network to its loan programme that offers an upfront 0% interest $500 cash loan to disaster-stricken customers.

Kevin Landel started at Patelco six years ago as Chief Information Officer. “At the time,” he says, “virtually all of our technology was home grown.”

While this has the upside of flexibility, it meant the company was spending most of its resources on support rather than strategic building. Landel shifted to a platform strategy, sourcing out Patelco’s technology. CU Direct took on its loan origination system; Alkami made its system for online banking.

OCTOBER 2019

129

$7bn In assets

1939

Year founded

1,100

Approximate number of employees w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

PAT E L C O C R E D I T U N I O N

“ There’s no reason for us to reinvent the wheel, so we partner with providers that offer a great foundation that does all the basics but is an open platform that allows us to build strategically on top of it”

130

— Kevin Landel, SVP of Innovation and Payments Strategy, Patelco Credit Union

OCTOBER 2019

Now, when Patelco wants to add a widget to simplify customer donations to its community outreach programmes, it can do so easily without having to develop the technology for an entire web platform. “I’m happy to say we are out of fix mode and into the build mode,” says Landel. His role has since shifted as Patelco brings on a new CTO, as well as marketing and credit analysists with strong data science backgrounds. Now, Landel focuses on developing other areas of innovation where the company can flourish: robotic process automation,

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘MEET PATELCO ONLINE’ 131 virtual agents, and bringing in AI for

asked a room of potential providers

data analysis.

if they were willing to update its mobile

“There’s typically this build or buy

site first and online site second. “It was

decision that technology leaders

an innovation in the industry, but it’s not

make,” Landel says, “and we take a

a big leap in technology,” says Landel.

middle ground. There’s no reason for

Because mobile users are more

us to reinvent the wheel, so we partner

flexible and accustomed to change,

with providers that offer a great

this strategy allowed Patelco to

foundation that does all the basics but

“concentrate on what’s important and

is an open platform that allows us to

limit the risk”. Patelco launched the

build strategically on top of it”. Patelco

new system without removing the old,

chooses providers based on their

incentivising customers to change over

“flexibility and willingness to work in an

with additional functionality rather than

unusual way.” When updating its online

forcing them. 85% of members

banking system, for instance, Patelco

switched systems of their own accord. w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

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“ The culture of innovation here starts at the top.

It falls into three areas: learning, doing, and refining” — Kevin Landel, SVP of Innovation and Payments Strategy, Patelco Credit Union

This, in conjunction with a virtual advisory team that asked for feedback from the mobile users, allowed Patelco to limit the usual dip in customer satisfaction when making the platform conversion and to come out of it in only three quarters. “It isn’t using unusual technology,” Landel says, “it’s just a different way of thinking.

“The culture of innovation here starts at the top. It falls into three areas: learning, doing, and refining,” he adds. From sending executives to the Credit Union Executive Society (CUES) Innovation Institute at MIT and Stanford, to putting

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Kevin Landel Kevin has held executive positions, been a principal in two startups, and as an alumnus of the MIT Media Lab and subsequently at the San Diego Supercomputer Center, Kevin has designed systems, taught courses, and consulted for many companies in the US and abroad, has been awarded a variety of grants and awards, and holds a patent for computer video display technology. Kevin is a sought-after voice in financial services technology and innovation, and has served on advisory boards for Fiserv, CO-OP, Alkami, CUISPA and others.

An avid surfer and outdoorsman, Kevin lives in Pleasanton with his family.

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PAT E L C O C R E D I T U N I O N

“ It was an innovation in the industry, but it’s not a big leap in technology” — Kevin Landel, SVP of Innovation and Payments Strategy, Patelco Credit Union

the full leadership team through the Harvard Business School online course 134

about disruptive strategy, Patelco ensures its heads of teams all speak the same language. “Filene Institute has an innovation immersion that we’ve done with our executives, and we had them come out to do a follow-up presentation with our whole team.”

One of the ways in which Patelco instils collaboration into its culture of innovation is through the use of the SAFe framework, a scaled AGILE system that “goes higher than just a team level with scrums and sprints.

It really works at the company and portfolio level.” According to Landel, “it allows us to understand what the dependencies and risks are in any OCTOBER 2019

project that we’re working on.” During the planning sprint, business leaders and technology teams get together to discuss solutions to projects.

“It dramatically increases the transparency and flexibility of the teams by creating a higher level of collaboration between the business and technology teams,” says Landel. This has allowed Patelco to go from taking 90 days to roll out a product to going from ideation to rollout in three weeks.

Patelco leverages the collaborative aspect of credit unions. “We don’t have the budget like big banks,” says Landel, “but we do have the collective strength of credit unions working together.” Landel serves on several industry advisory boards and is active in credit union collaborative initiatives, including big data and financial health research initiatives with Callahan Credit Union Financial Services Limited Partnership, and as a member of the strategy council of CO-OP Financial Services, a credit unionowned service organization that provides payment card services, shared branching, contact center, and other services to Patelco and the CU industry. “We leverage the collaboraw w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

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tive nature of credit unions to multiply our energy to provide the best tech we can for our members.”

Being located close to Silicon Valley, Patelco has access to all of the very latest technology and innovative ideas.

“There’s a real synergy,” says Landel.

“We have knowledge, data, and an understanding of our business that an entrepreneur may not, while an entrepreneur has the technology, skillsets, ideas, and capacities to build things that we may not. Considering this, it’s natural to get together and do a partnership.” This synergy gave Patelco an AI chatbot that it now uses

“ We have knowledge, data, understanding of our business that an entrepreneur may not while an entrepreneur has the technology, skillsets, ideas, and capacities to build things that might not.

It’s natural to get together and do a partnership” — Kevin Landel, SVP of Innovation and Payments Strategy, Patelco Credit Union

as the primary knowledge database for w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

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“ It isn’t using unusual technology, it’s just a different way of thinking” — Kevin Landel, SVP of Innovation and Payments Strategy, Patelco Credit Union

the entire organization. Actionable Science approached Patelco with background data machine learning technology; Patelco was looking for a way to help members understand its new credit cards. The pilot was so successful as an in-house training tool that Patelco “took it and expanded it across all knowledge areas […] our entrepreneur was able to take these learnings and develop products from them,” Landel notes. “We’ve launched a startup and we have a solution that’s meeting our needs.”

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In the next two to three years,

digital changes are underway, Patelco

Patelco will cross the $10bn threshold,

still strongly believes in its physical

a major milestone for US financial

branches, although these have been

groups that would trigger several

shifting from transactional locations to

compliance regulations. “Our work for

places of advice and financial health.

the next few years is to get prepared

True to Patelco’s core values, Landel

for that and cross the threshold with

concludes, “we strongly believe in

momentum. We’re growing at a

people helping people.”

tremendous rate,” explains Landel.

Patelco is looking at improving its payment system with AI, investing in a blockchain group exploring digital identity, and in a group focused on natural language processing. While w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

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Manulife: harnessing the power of change WRITTEN BY

MATT HIGH PRODUCED BY

NATHAN HOLMES

OCTOBER 2019

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MANULIFE VIETNAM

Manulife’s Chief Operations Officer Kevin Kwon explains how digital innovation is transforming the customer experience

T

ransformation isn’t simply about applying new technology,” says Kevin Kwon, Chief Operating Officer at financial services

company Manulife Vietnam. “Technology, of course, is a major enabler of any transformation, but it’s more about shifting people’s mindsets so that you 142

make change and innovation the new normal. That’s when transformation can become really powerful.”

Since joining Manulife, a Canadian life insurance company that operates in North America and 12 markets across Asia, transformation has been Kwon’s focus. It’s also been the focus of Manulife globally, with the company on a mission to transform itself and the industry in the process.

Driving this transformation is Manulife’s focus on improving the customer experience, an embrace of digital innovation and operational efficiency, and building an internal culture that drives this change.

At the heart of this transformation is a focus on making decisions easier and lives better for both customers and employees.

Based out of Vietnam, Kwon embarked on his own digital and cultural transformation, driven OCTOBER 2019

143

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MANULIFE VIETNAM

“ Transformation isn’t simply about applying new technology. It’s more about shifting peoples’ mindsets so that you make change and innovation the new normal” — Kevin Kwon, COO, Manulife

by a shift in focus from conventional methods of doing business – which he describes as manual and involving “paperwork from end to end” – to a seamless digital customer experience.

Creating that experience has been a significant journey for the company, as Kwon explains. “In the past, life insurance has seen a lack of automation and digital technologies, which really sharpened our shift in direction. At the same time, if you’re going to make such a large digital transformation, you have to do it right. The most important step,

144

from a technology point of view, was establishing a target architecture that enables a seamless data flow from one end to another and provides our customers with a full end-to-end solution.

All the time we were driven by improving the customer experience.

“One of the unique things about our story is that there is this technology piece that’s focused on innovation, but there is also a wider change management story whereby our mindset has to be in line with the evolving needs of our customers; the two feed each other.” On the technology side, creating a simple and intuitive process was OCTOBER 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘MANULIFE – HÀNH TRÌNH HANH PHÚC’ 145 key. “In the past, agents would receive

“major accomplishments” that have

paper-based applications, enter our

significantly improved the customer

branches and stand in long queues

experience and placed the company

while their policy was processed. We

in a leading position in the Asian mar-

process close to 30,000 new business

ket. “I can confidently say that we are

applications per month, so the first

leading in this race,” he says. “So many

priority for us was the development

companies say they’re embarking on

of an auto-underwriting engine in the

a digital transformation, but really they

back end. This was followed by build-

are introducing a series of solutions

ing the front end to allow our advisors

one at a time rather than having the

to essentially digitise all the information

target architecture that allows a seam-

that was previously on paper forms. On

less sharing of information through

the claims and auto-adjudication sides,

a connected ecosystem. An end-to-

we followed a similar approach.”

end solution really is key here, many

These developments are, Kwon says,

organisations only develop a front or w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

MANULIFE VIETNAM

$10mn

worth of investment in Vietnam

1999

Year founded in Vietnam

146

900

Approximate number of employees

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MANULIFE VIETNAM

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back end solution so that they still have employees working between the two on a manual basis – that is not a ‘digital transformation’.”

A significant factor in this success, Kwon states, is working with partners throughout the development stage.

“It’s all about partnership. We can’t do everything, and neither can they,” he explains, “but when we work together with partners who share our values and our competencies, we are on the same journey. The other advantage we had was that our solutions were developed

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Kevin Kwon Kwon is the Chief Operating Officer of Manulife Vietnam; he sits on the management team and has a passion for customers.

During his 21 years of international experience in financial services, he has built a reputation of driving and delivering excellence across Corporate Strategy, Bancassurance, Product Development and Product Pricing. His creative vision and business insight into company management are helping enhance operations and drive business transformation within Manulife. When he is not busy fostering a culture of digital transformation, Kevin is focused on his other fulltime role as loving husband and father to two little kids.

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MANULIFE VIETNAM

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“ If you’re going to make such a large digital transformation, you’ve got to do it right” — Kevin Kwon, COO, Manulife

two years and has also focused heavily on developing the right mindset to accompany change. “Everything we do starts from customer journey mapping,” he explains. “We never second guess what they want; it is our job to know their needs. That process isn’t a one-off exercise, but a constant evolution based around a concept we call ‘customer experience transformation’.”

This, he says, has involved the realigning of teams within the business so that they are in line with customer

in our regional headquarters and rolled

requirements across four major seg-

out across Asia, allowing for a lift and

ments: search, buy, manage and review,

shift approach. This offered greater

and claims. “Every value stream has

economies of scale and ade it easier

its owner, and every owner has full

and faster for us to go to market.”

autonomy to decide on how best they

For Kwon, implementing such a tran-

can improve customer experiences

sition has only been possible due to a

using the tools that we are giving them,”

significant cultural shift within Manulife.

Kwon notes. “They have the right to

This change has been driven by a new

prioritise, to see how we can enhance

set of corporate values designed to

those digital tools and create a better

improving how employees think, act

customer journey.”

and work. “We truly believe culture can

The unintended positive from such

be a distinct competitive advantage

an approach has been a significant

for us, which is why Manulife made the

uplift in working culture at Manulife.

strategic decision to refresh its values

For example, improving the methods

and focus on building a new culture.

by which customers are served, and

He has been in his current role for

optimising efficiency in the company’s w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

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MANULIFE VIETNAM

152

“ All the time we were driven by improving the customer experience” — Kevin Kwon, COO, Manulife

solutions, creates a better work/life balance for Manulife’s employees. And, because they no longer need to spend as long working through ndless paper trails, employees can be deployed to new areas or roles, and thereby add greater value in the workplace.

“It is a challenge, but it’s also an opportunity,” Kwon states. “As a result of our digital transformation, we are working with our training academy offer better career paths, to provide

OCTOBER 2019

153

opportunities to upskill and retrain, and

process that involves: “making sure we

to be successful within Manulife, all

have the right training programmes in

while improving the experience for our

place, that we have the right content

customers. Often, people think a digital

and are communicating it in the most

transformation is simply about reduc-

effective manner. It’s a journey that

ing costs or streamlining. There are far

never stops, but our ultimate bold

greater benefits than that”.

ambition is to transform and become

With the fundamental building blocks of Manulife’s transformation now in

the most digital customer-centric market leader in our industry.

place, Kwon hopes to continue to focus on managing change for the foreseeable future. It is, he says, an ongoing w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

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