Global Banking & Finance Review Issue 22 - Business & Finance Magazine

Issue 22

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Jules Ngankam, Group Chief Executive Officer, African Guarantee Fund

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A me r i c as | A sia | EMEA

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FROM THE

Chairman and CEO Varun Sash

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Editor Wanda Rich email: wrich@gbafmag.com Web Development and Maintenance Anand Giri

Dear Readers’ I am pleased to present Issue 22 of Global Banking & Finance Review. For those of you that are reading us for the first time, welcome.

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2020 has been a challenging year around the world. Covid-19 has impacted daily life and business operations businesses. Businesses have had to adapt and innovate, and we are no exception. Due to distribution restrictions after this issue, we will change from a print publication to a monthly digital publication. Our digital magazine will provide you with the same great coverage and can be easily accessed on our website or from our app allowing you to read it from your phone or tablet.

Featured on the front cover is Jules Ngankam, Group Chief Executive Officer of African Guarantee Fund (AGF). Our cover story, ‘Supporting Growth in Africa’ is an exclusive interview with Jules Ngankam about today’s business challenges in Sub Saharan Africa, and the financial implications combatting the Coronavirus pandemic.

You requested more of the exclusive, in-depth interviews we are known for and in this edition we deliver. Inside you will find engaging interviews with several leaders from the financial community and insightful commentary from industry experts.

In this edition, we are pleased to present the Global Banking & Finance Award® 2020 Award Winners.

The awards were created to recognize companies of all sizes that are prominent in particular areas of expertise and excellence within the financial community. Global Banking & Finance Review would like to congratulate the award winners and look forward to their continued success.

We strive to capture the breaking news about the world's economy, financial events, and banking game changers from prominent leaders in the industry and public viewpoints with an intention to serve a holistic outlook. We have gone that extra mile to ensure we give you the best from the world of finance.

Send me your thoughts on how I can continue to improve and what you’d like to see in the future.

Enjoy!

Wanda Rich Editor

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Issue 22 | 3

CONTENTS

inside...

BUSINESS

16

Business travel in a Covid age

32

Financial Institutions Face a New Contact Center Threat

Rami Cassis, CEO of Parabellum Investments

Mark Horne, Chief Marketing Officer, Pindrop

46

Knowledge Management Will Be Seen as the Vital Function It Truly Is in 2021 Jack Shepherd, Legal AI Practice Lead, iManage RAVN

48

Leadership and management in a WFH world Carolyn Moore, SVP of People at Auth0

98

Why the opportunity for innovation has never been greater

FINANCE

12

Why the Evolving Financial Services Landscape Will Turn Real Estate on its Head Wayne Busch, President of Financial Services, Insurance and Consulting at NTT DATA Services

53

Be Future-Ready: The Case for Payments as a Service (Paas) Barry Tarrant, Director, Product Solutions, Fiserv

92

The Philanthropy Paradox

134

Is MiFID II still fit for purpose in a postCOVID financial landscape?

Anna Josse, Co-Founder and CEO of Prism the Gift Fund

Martin Taylor, Deputy CEO and co-founder at Content Guru

Ekaterina Petrova, Managing Director of GenerationS Corporate Accelerator

132

A human touch will be key post pandemic

Niels Pedersen, senior lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University and the author of ‘Financial Technology: Case Studies in Fintech Innovation.’

TECHNOLOGY

24

Be Future-Ready: The Case for Payments as a Service (Paas) Barry Tarrant, Director, Product Solutions, Fiserv

42

The Philanthropy Paradox

136

Is MiFID II still fit for purpose in a postCOVID financial landscape?

Anna Josse, Co-Founder and CEO of Prism the Gift Fund

Martin Taylor, Deputy CEO and co-founder at Content Guru

4 | Issue 22

12

CONTENTS

interviews...

20 TREASURY’S DIGITAL REVOLUTION: HOW CORPORATES CAN ENSURE STABILITY IN UNCERTAIN ECONOMIC CONDITIONS Frank Nicolaisen, Head of GTB Americas, UniCredit

28 DELIVERING PERSONALISE BANKING SERVICE EVEN WHEN REMOTE Mauricio Porro, National Marketing and Planning Manager, Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz

34 2020 HAS KICK-STARTED A NEW ERA OF AI AND MACHINE LEARNING IN COMPLIANCE: AN INTERVIEW WITH BRIAN CRAMER & TIM ESTES

Issue 22 | 5

CONTENTS

Interviews...

38 PEOPLE, PROCESS, AND TECHNOLOGY =

SUCCESS

Dhanusha Muthukumarana, Managing Director, Chief Executive Officer, POTENZA Mithila Wegapitiya, Director, Chief Operating Officer, POTENZA

44 HOW FORTE INSURANCE WEATHERED THE STORM THAT WAS 2020 Charles Cheo, Executive Chairman, Forte Insurance (Cambodia) Plc.

58 THE EVOLVING PAYMENTS LANDSCAPE Prajit Nanu, Co-Founder and CEO, Nium

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CONTENTS

Cover Story...

SUPPORTING GROWTH IN AFRICA Jules Ngankam, Group Chief Executive Officer, African Guarantee Fund (AGF)

68

African Guarantee Fund is a non-bank financial institution whose objective is to promote economic development, increase employment and reduce poverty in Africa by providing financial institutions with guarantee products and capacity development assistance specifically intended to support SMEs in Africa.. Jules Ngankam is Group Chief Executive Officer of African Guarantee Fund (AGF), and recently he spoke to Global Banking & Finance Review about today’s business challenges in Sub Saharan Africa, and the financial implications combatting the Coronavirus epidemic

Issue 22 | 7

CONTENTS

Interviews...

74 PUTTING CUSTOMERS FIRST Dr Adesola Adeduntan, CEO, FirstBank

80 AWARD-WINNING CIO SHARES INSIGHT ON PERSONAL AND COMPANY SUCCESS Fred Swanepoel, Chief Information Officer, NedBank

84 LOOKING AHEAD: UK BANKING’S TRAJECTORY Matthew Phillips, Vice President, Head of Financial Services UK & Ireland, Diebold Nixdorf

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CONTENTS

Interviews...

88 BRIDGING THE DIVIDE BETWEEN FRONTIER, EMERGING MARKETS, AND THE REST OF THE WORLD. Albert Maasland, CEO, Crown Agents Bank

94 RESOURCE GROUP LEVERAGES TALENT TO INNOVATE, MAKE A DIFFERENCE Hisham Itani, Chairman and CEO, Resource Group

Issue 22 | 9

Because you motivated us today we are recognized as t

Banco Santander Chile: Infórmese sobre la garantía estatal de los depósitos en su banco o en www.cmfchile.cl. Publicidad valida solo para Chile.

Tu banco

s to grow as a digital bank, the Best Digital Bank in Chile.

SANTANDER, CHILE’S BEST DIGITAL BANK We celebrate to have been chosen by Global Banking & Finance, as the Best Digital Bank and the Fastest Growing Digital Bank in Chile in 2020.

Thank you for inspiring us to improve every day.

Americas 12 Issue 22

AMERICAS FINANCE

Why the Evolving Financial Services Landscape Will Turn Real Estate on its Head

The traditional banking and payments ecosystem is undergoing major change as consumer behaviors and preferences shift – and this evolution has been significantly accelerated by COVID-19. Changes to the traditional ways of banking, shopping and transacting with retailers are aimed at removing friction and digitizing processes. We’ve seen this disruption across virtually every vertical industry, which is now sweeping the financial services industry and subsequently, commercial real estate.

Outcomes of modernizing the financial services industry include reduced foot traffic at bank branches, lower ATM usage and an overall decrease in the use of cash and checks, while reliance on digital wallets and mobile banking apps steadily increases.

Overall, digitalization for the sake of progress and convenience points to fewer reasons for consumers to visit

traditional banks in person, which is being reinforced by COVID-19 stayat-home orders across the country. In the year ahead, I anticipate the face of commercial real estate will change drastically as shifting consumer preferences and access to online financial services resources cause bank branches and the storefronts they anchor in many locations to close.

Financial Services’ Impact on Real Estate Banks across the US have already started closing retail branches, causing commercial real estate markets to shift in response to this growing trend. As these storefronts shutter, leaving large commercial real estate spaces once anchored by banks vacant, this spells trouble for real estate owners who seek to fill these vacancies in 2021 and beyond. This is in addition to a

Issue 22 | 13

AMERICAS FINANCE

growing “work from anywhere” culture that is encouraging companies to reduce their real estate footprint. Both of these trends will negatively impact commercial lending at banks.

The future of the traditional bank footprint is unclear, but some financial services organizations are paving the way to new forms of financial services spaces that prioritize experience to encourage younger, digital-first generations to bank with them. For example, Capital One Cafes provide a public workspace that facilitates conversations around banking - and coffee - in a more comfortable, approachable and casual setting.

Moving forward, it is likely the financial services industry will abandon large commercial real estate spaces in favor of smaller, more modern and fluid spaces that don’t limit patrons to just financial transactions, waiting in lines and interacting with bank tellers.

A Move Toward Digital and Real-Time Another major trends that will impact the financial services space is the shift away from in-person banking to online payments solutions and the increased adoption of digital wallets. Consumers are opting for real-time, sovereign, and regulated forms of payments that are contactless, instant and largely driven by GPI initiatives. For example, in the US, Zelle is the current leader - outpacing Venmo and Paypal - as a real-time payment service. However, there is competition for Zelle in the consortium, and others are coming out with their own real-time payment programs. Contactless payment, a technology US consumers were notso-long-ago hesitant to adopt, has skyrocketed in use (up 150% since 2019), accelerated by COVID-19 with

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cash being deemed “unclean” by the WHO and consumers now preferring to bank digitally. Mastercard alone reported a 40% jump in contactless payments during the pandemic — including tap-to-pay and mobile pay — indicating a trend that has steadily continued throughout 2020.

While this could signal the death of cash, the wallet, and traditional banks, some financial services experts believe it is actually a renaissance for the payments ecosystem and an opportunity to roll out new tech to consumers more willing to adopt. As fintech companies continue to create innovative alternatives to traditional banking, we will see additional M&A activity in the FinServ/FinTech space, with traditional banks gobbling up small, innovative FinTech companies to boost their technology and culture.

lower ATM usage, less cash on hand, check volume declining, less requirements for day one and two processing for banks and a lessening demand for large commercial realestate space.

Like most other industries, the financial services industry is undergoing a major transformation led by advancements in technology, and as a result the commercial-real estate market is being turned on its head. In 2021, it’s likely your trips to the bank will be far fewer and your local bank branches will begin to shutter, leaving empty retail space and opportunities for new gathering and transacting spaces to take shape once people can safely interact again.

Major Changes for the Financial Services Industry The financial services industry has been rife for innovation and disruption for years, and banks are recognizing this momentum and working with it to streamline payments, remove friction and keep pace with consumer expectations. They’re adopting new tech and integrating digital solutions such as facial recognition that matches to a consumers’ profile at the bank and authenticates payments, among other high-tech capabilities, in order to attract the next generation of consumers entering the workforce and beginning to bank. Credit card companies are also going digital and getting rid of plastic credit cards in favor of digital wallet integrations and contactless payment technology.

Naturally, these changes to the traditional banking and payments ecosystems mean lower foot traffic,

Wayne Busch President of Financial Services, Insurance and Consulting NTT DATA Services

AMERICAS BUSINESS

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AMERICAS BUSINESS

Business travel in a Covid age Rami Cassis, CEO of Parabellum Investments shares some of his experiences of business travel during the pandemic and gives his tips for a smoother travel experience Travelling during the pandemic comes with many added complications, none of which are insurmountable, and you also need to get past some of the more confronting experiences. I recall an Emirates flight in the summer where its cabin crew, instead of modelling their usual well-groomed uniforms were clad head-to-toe in full hazmat suits. Like many of my fellow passengers, I was taken aback as I boarded the flight.

The flight-attendants, although super-pleasant and highly-apologetic about the impact to the usual high-quality onboard service, were prevented from accompanying us to our seats, and all food served throughout the journey arrived in pre-packaged boxes.

I have averaged almost a flight a week since the end of March, but it was on that particular Emirates flight in the summer that hammered home to me just how seriously the aviation sector had been impacted by Covid-19.

The pandemic could have a long-lasting impact on the airline industry’s bottom line and on the number of passengers that take the first or business class route. A recent survey published

by IdeaWorks 1 in the US suggests between 19 per cent and 36 per cent of airlines’ business traffic base will not return to the skies. That is not the case for me and although I expect business travel to return, it may not be at the level it was once at.

It is no longer the case that you can simply pitch up to a hotel or airport. Many need a negative Covid test conducted within 48 hours of arrival in a country. Additionally, when you consider various countries have implemented differing quarantine regulations, international travel schedules have become unrecognisable compared to the first quarter of 2020. Indeed, I have been tested for Covid-19 more than 20 times now (they have all been negative despite a number of people close to me having had the virus).

The Covid-19 crisis has certainly hit the airlines hard – according to the International Air Transport Association’s latest numbers, passenger numbers were down 70% in 20202. Lufthansa, which I used last year has been burning cash at a rate of $590m a month, while Emirates another airline I flew on regularly given my Dubai base, posted a $3.4bn loss of the first half of 2020.

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AMERICAS BUSINESS

I can certainly testify how eerie it has been walking through deserted airports, which would otherwise be heaving of passengers. On many occasions, there has often been more airport staff than travellers, and rules for departure and arrivals differ from country to country and time to time. I recall vividly on arrival in Frankfurt being asked quite a few questions by customs officials – usually there’s barely any eye contact let alone a conversation given I have a French passport, so EU travel is a given.

There have been pictures posted on social media by travellers enjoying the freedom of being on an empty plane, but I often found it a gloomy experience. I remember being just was one of just three passengers on a BA flight to Nice in France. On a practical level it was mildly pleasant, but it was also depressing in manifesting the impact of the pandemic, and how the associated government decisions impacted our most basic and individual freedoms. Freedoms that we all previously took for granted.

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Naturally, some airlines and airports have handled the situation better than others. That said, it’s worth mentioning that at all times I have felt perfectly safe.

For instance, British Airways, irrespective of class of travel, has had the annoying habit of boarding people from the back of the plane first, eventually working their way to the front. Meanwhile, Turkish Airlines had the even more annoying practice of banning any normal-sized cabin luggage. Smart bags that would otherwise easily qualify to be kept in the cabin had to be checked in – so risk being damaged in the hold.

In my experience, I would maintain that the best and most organised airports remain Dubai, Singapore and now also Istanbul. Not necessarily in that order but all three are exceptionally well maintained with Istanbul being the newest. On the other hand, Charles de Gaulle is probably one of the worst airports because it is not well maintained, has long queues and is somewhat spread out.

AMERICAS BUSINESS

And with regards to lounges, many have little food available irrespective of whether it’s first or business. Emirates closed its first-class lounge in Dubai and merged it with business class, which I felt impact the high levels of service it is famous for (having said that a separate first class area has just reopened in Dubai).

With the number of travellers now getting some way back to normal, I recently spoke with the chief executive of one of my portfolio companies about the cultural business differences. When it comes to Europe, people seem keener to meet in France and in Germany. In the UK, people are generally more cautious, or wish to adhere to government guidelines.

Across all countries, people seem to be adapting to working remotely, but it is clear they all cherish how life was before. Maybe one of the side-effects of the pandemic is making us all realise that basic freedoms and human rights we all took for granted have been temporarily taken away and people react in one of two ways – they are either afraid or furious.

I’m very much in the latter camp and I’m counting down the days until we can carry on with our business lives as we did before – and that includes paid for premium service from our airlines.

COVID BUSINESS CLASS TRAVEL TIPS

•

get there early or book a VIP service if you don’t mind the extra cost. Previously innocuous tasks, like going through customs, can now be time consuming.

•

check the airline policy for boarding. Some, like Air France, insist on surgical masks and won’t let you board with a mask in fabric – others like Turkish Airlines have an onerous in-cabin luggage policy that prevents items normally allowed being taken on board.

•

as a precaution, take a Covid test within 72 hours of flying. Government policies change rapidly, which might introduce stricter measures for arrivals.

•

choose a mask that’s as least uncomfortable as possible

•

keep checking your flight – schedules change at the last minute, including cancellations

•

be aware of your own body temperature.

Temperature checks are everywhere, and you are presumed to carry Covid if you have a slightly higher temperature than the norm.

Rami Cassis CEO Parabellum Investments

1

Reports. (2020, December 01). Retrieved January 21, 2021, from https:// ideaworkscompany.com/reports/

2

Passenger Recovery Disappoints in October. (n.d.). Retrieved January 21, 2021, from https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/pr/2020-12-08-01/

Rami Cassis is the Dubai-based founder and CEO of Parabellum Investments, a family office operating as a global private equity firm focusing on enterprise software, IT & business services firms across multiple industries.

Issue 22 | 19

AMERICAS INTERVIEW

Treasury’s digital revolution: How corporates can ensure stability in uncertain economic conditions

The digital revolution in treasury may have been under way for some years now, but the past few months have shown there is plenty of room to improve and refine. We talk to Frank Nicolaisen, UniCredit’s Head of Global Transaction Banking, Americas, about how the coronavirus pandemic has intensified the need for corporates to upgrade their treasury infrastructure and what they can do to get started.

Q: The pandemic looks to have added significant impetus to the digital push in treasury. How has the use of financial technology in the treasury space evolved in recent years and where does this fit into the story?

The narrative of innovation around treasury has been building for some time – and for good reason. A host of recent innovations, such as application programming interfaces (APIs) and optical character recognition (OCR), are already live and streamlining treasury processes for corporates of all sizes.

At the core of this is the rise of e-banking – following experiences in the retail sector, corporates have moved away from branch-based or over-the-phone banking to platforms, with many banks, including UniCredit, investing to make this a seamless, fast and more efficient experience. This, in turn, paves the way for other efficiencies, such as virtual accounts – a concept that sees corporates hold a single physical bank account that can be sub-divided into “said virtual accounts, which work much like real ones, with

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their own budgets, permissions and account numbers, all whilst feeding into the physical parent account. This solution is growing in popularity and is especially beneficial to corporates with multiple banking relationships and complex account structures, minimising the number of physical accounts they need to maintain.

While these technologies have been around for some time, they have seen a spike in adoption during the recent economic downturn, enabling corporates to rationalise accounting processes, cut maintenance costs, increase transparency over funds and efficiently optimise their financial assets from a remote basis.

To take treasury management to the next level, even newer technologies are emerging, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, which promise to bring a raft of benefits, including the streamlining of bureaucratic processes in a safe and secure manner.

Q: What should a successful treasury set-up look like today?

For some time, a digital, real-time treasury set up – with fully-automated routine processing – has been the vision and the gold standard. This has the capability to turn the sheer amount of data that many treasurers handle on a daily basis from an administrative burden to a source of strategic insight.

AMERICAS INTERVIEW

With the right technology, corporates can automate a huge range of previously time-consuming administrative tasks, such as opening, closing and managing accounts, generating cash-flow forecasts, executing routine payments; reconciling incoming payment flows, calculating FX exposures and even executing FX conversions. All of this frees team members to focus on more valueadding tasks, while reducing human error in the workflow.

At the same time, the data captured in these digital systems can also be reviewed and mined for valuable insights, helping treasurers further refine their processes.

Implementing such a system, of course, will be easier for some businesses than others. Young companies, for instance, will not have to overhaul any legacy infrastructure, and can simply implement a new, modern system. Older or larger companies, on the other hand, will likely be less agile, and have to

undertake the more time-consuming process of updating existing systems, while managing operational risks during the transition.

Nevertheless, establishing a robust digital set-up remains central to most treasurers’ strategic vision. Once complete, this switch-over promises benefits to corporates of all kinds – and an opportunity to future proof their business against economic shocks, the likes of which we’ve seen over the last year.

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AMERICAS INTERVIEW

Q: How can corporates yet to initiate the transition to digital treasury get started?

The first step is to investigate the process. Treasurers can speak to their banks and other potential partners, asking questions such as: What are the stakes? What can be achieved? What treasury set-up best suits my business?

What benefits is the transition likely to bring in the long-term?

This conversation typically begins either when a treasurer notices the benefits the transition has brought to other businesses, or when triggered by an urgent business need. But it doesn’t necessarily need to be prompted in this way. Starting the conversation now means treasurers are forearmed should necessity arise.

Q: How will you leverage your position as UniCredit’s Head of GTB Americas to deliver these treasury solutions to corporates?

Broadly speaking, my mandate is to continue to develop the Group’s unique, digital Global Transaction Banking (GTB) offer – helping US multinational clients thrive in Europe, and European clients access the US markets.

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As part of this, I’m looking to facilitate the delivery of UniCredit’s proprietary GTB solutions from our core European markets to businesses operating in the Americas. Having previously played a key role in the expansion of UniCredit’s Tech Team in Germany – which focused on serving fast-growing technology companies – I am hoping to draw on this experience to oversee the first step in this process: the roll-out of the bank’s global e-banking portal. Once complete, this innovation promises to vastly improve the banking experience for our corporate clients in the US. It’s one of a number of digital tools corporates can leverage to help them through the many challenges of the current environment. Over the next few years, I think we’ll see adoption continue to climb across the board and I’m looking forward to playing a part in it.

Frank Nicolaisen Head of GTB Americas UniCredit

AMERICAS TECHNOLOGY

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AMERICAS TECHNOLOGY

3

technologies to improve customer and employee experience during the pandemic

Although the use of contactless payments has steadily increased, the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed contactless toward mainstream adoption. An August 2020 survey found that one in five consumersi used contactless payments for the first time during the pandemic. Many believe this technology is essential moving forward, even after the pandemic subsides. In fact, according to a studyii by Entrust, 83% of respondents believe contactless cards are here to stay with 70% reporting they prefer contactless payment for sanitary reasons.

While contactless cards provide some solace for consumers worried about the risk of contracting the virus from payment devices, banks can go a step further and implement additional technology that will improve both customer and employee experience during the pandemic. Like contactless payments, the three technologies listed below may achieve mainstream adoption due to COVID-19, but their various advantages mean they’ll likely have long-term staying power in the financial services industries.

1. ID proofing authenticates identity remotely.

With COVID-19 cases surging across the U.S., many customers are limiting in-person visits to stores and other facilities, including bank branches.

Unfortunately, many banks still require customers to physically visit a branch to open a new account or access certain services due to the difficulty of authenticating identity online.

You can help your customers stay safe by adopting ID proofing technology, which authenticates customers’ identities from a mobile device.

The customer uses their device to photograph a government-issued photo ID, then takes a selfie for comparison via facial recognition technology. The user is then verified, denied or issued a challenge to further test their identity based on rules set by your company.

It’s important to note that ID proofing won’t work for every customer in every situation. No facial recognition algorithm is perfect, and many identify certain types of faces more accurately than othersiii. A genuine user could fail the facial recognition test due to poor lighting when their selfie was taken, or

their physical appearance may no longer match their photo ID. Some customers lack official photo IDs or mobile devices with facial recognition capabilities.

That being said, the AI engines that refine these algorithms are getting better by the day, and soon ID proofing will enable everyone to open new accounts and access services without leaving their homes. This capability will continue to show dividends after the pandemic by making your customer experience more streamlined and convenient, removing friction from the account onboarding experience.

ID proofing involves collecting sensitive personal information, including biometric data. As such, it’s important to protect customers’ privacy by partnering with security providers that prioritize protecting personal data, as well as implementing strong cryptography strategies to avoid data breaches and other disruptions. Customers also deserve to know how their sensitive data is stored and used.

Be transparent about your bank’s data practices and make sure you’re compliant with all current data privacy legislation.

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AMERICAS TECHNOLOGY

2. Instant card issuance enables faster onboarding.

As we move toward a more on-demand future, customers will continue to want things instantly, including their payment cards. With instant card issuance, customers can drive to their banks and pick up a new card right away, rather than waiting several days for it to arrive in the mail. To minimize contact during the pandemic, banks can offer drivethru, touchless instant issuance, so customers don’t even have to step inside the bank. Then, they can immediately start using their new chipequipped card for safe, contactless payments.

Instant card issuance is relatively easy to adopt: All you need is an instant card printer and either an on-premises or cloud-hosted software stack. Look for one with a user-friendly interface that’s able to handle multiple card designs, including both credit and debit card profiles. Your printer should also include cybersecurity protections including secure booting, malware detection and encryption of user certificates to protect sensitive data.

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As more customers look to adopt contactless cards during and after the pandemic, this technology will be particularly important for banks to address that need. And we also expect that instant card issuance will continue to be popular in the post-COVID-19 world, for both sanitation and convenience purposes.

3. Single sign-on authentication streamlines employee access.

Creating and remembering secure passwords is a major burden for bank employees and customers alike. Financial information is incredibly sensitive and requires the highest levels of protection, but the strongest passwords are often the hardest to remember. And if a user needs to remember multiple passwords to access different services or accounts — or secure areas of a building — the difficulty is multiplied, and so is the potential for password theft or password fatigue.

AMERICAS TECHNOLOGY

Single sign-on (SSO) authentication alleviates this difficulty by tying access to multiple accounts to one password. Bank employees can sign in once on a mobile phone or device and gain access to computers, networks or areas of the bank building without the need to manage multiple passwords. By removing the need to type passcodes into keypads for room access, SSO can reduce opportunities for COVID-19 transmission among employees at work. It also streamlines the login and authentication process, improving productivity.

Most importantly, though, by eliminating the need to remember multiple passwords, SSO makes it easier for an employee to create a single, strong password to manage all their accounts. But with SSO, cracking one password can give a bad actor access to multiple platforms, so it’s especially important to avoid easy-to-guess combinations. Make sure to train employees on what constitutes a strong password and why it’s vital that theirs is secure.

Organizations can support security by implementing additional layers of protection, like two-factor authentication, as well as strong cryptography strategies that keep sensitive information safe. While no plan is 100% fool-proof, having a clearly defined strategy and team dedicated to protecting sensitive information is essential to maintaining customer and employee trust.

Andy Cease Product Marketing Manager Entrust

1

Steve Cocheo, E. (2020, August 29). More Consumers Prefer Contactless Payments for Pandemic Purchases. Retrieved January 05, 2021, from https://thefinancialbrand.com/101415/paymentcontactless-card-mobile-wallet-digital-coronavirus-covid-19pandemic-trend/

2

E. (n.d.). Retrieved January 05, 2021, from https://www.entrust. com/newsroom/press-releases/2020/consumer-survey-revealscontactless-cards-are-dominating-american-payment-preferences

3

Joy Buolamwini | Timnit Gebru /. (n.d.). Retrieved January 05, 2021, from http://gendershades.org/overview.html

4

Fox, M. (2020, December 14). When can I get a coronavirus vaccine?

Retrieved January 05, 2021, from https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/30/ health/covid-vaccine-questions-when/index.html

Thinking ahead to the post-COVID future Any discussion of employee and customer experience today must take the impact of COVID-19 into account. With widespread distribution of vaccines on the horizon for 2021iv, however, it’s also important to think ahead to how today’s investments will play out after the pandemic. While ID proofing, SSO and instant card issuance offer sanitary benefits that are especially valuable during COVID-19, they also streamline customer and employee experiences in ways that will continue to improve ROI after the pandemic is just a memory.

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AMERICAS INTERVIEW

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AMERICAS INTERVIEW

Delivering Personalised Banking Service Even When Remote Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz has been the leading bank in Bolivia for the last 115 years, having demonstrated its commitment to Bolivia and its people through value offers, innovative products and an agile, efficient service. Mauricio Porro, Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz’s National Marketing and Planning Manager, agreed to speak to us to discuss the bank’s resilience under the unprecedented conditions brought on by the pandemic, and how their personalised approach to customer relations positions them to best meet Bolivia’s financial needs.

For the past several years, Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz has been working on refining and transforming their digital operations.

This has stood them in good stead for when the pandemic hit, and services that allow customers to remain safely in their homes while performing transactions became all the more imperative. “Thanks to the digital transformation impulsed by our bank and managed for many years, we have been able to provide our clients with all the services from our mobile banking and internet banking platforms during these months of pandemic,” Mauricio told us. “We have made all the 24/7 banking service channels available to all our clients, providing them with continuous and permanent attention, which has brought us very satisfactory results. We have seen a significant change of behaviour in our clients who have used the digital channels to make their transactions.”

This change in behaviour is reflected among the 30-million-plus transactions Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz has registered over the last six months, he confirmed. “During the most difficult months of the pandemic in Bolivia, at Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz more than 93% of transactions have been made through digital channels. There has been an important growth of operations made through alternative channels; our mobile banking has increased its level of transactions by 83%, exceeding 5 million transactions per month, and our call centre by 112%, being the two channels that have registered the highest growth.”

During such a challenging time, retail clients are in more need of personalised banking services than ever before.

Mauricio explained how Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz has stepped up to meet those needs. “At Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz, throughout our history, we have been implementing a business model aimed to satisfy the financial needs of each of our users and even more during this pandemic, in which more than ever, we have to be close to them. In this sense, we have attended in a personalised way to the requirements of thousands of clients from all over the country through our alternative channels.

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AMERICAS INTERVIEW

“One of the personalised services that we offer 100% digitally is the request for products totally online,” he continued.

“The figures show that this service has been very well accepted by our clients; more than 30% of the accounts were opened digitally, and we take care of bringing their debit card straight to their door. In the same way, more than seven thousand people have used our online loan application platform, looking for financing options to buy properties, cars or simply a consumer loan.

“Likewise, through our consultation centre, our clients can carry out multiple operations, such as enabling mobile banking, user registration in internet banking and resetting passwords, among others. Our alternative channels have taken centre stage in recent times, and through them, we have provided personalised, comfortable and safe attention.”

It is evident that Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz has always held customer relations in high regard, and the conversation

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moved onto what steps the bank takes to maintain and grow those all-important relationships with customers.

our bank to all Bolivians, facilitating their lives and supporting them in their daily tasks.

“We are very grateful for the trust that our clients have given us,” Mauricio said. ”Satisfying the specific needs of each client is one of our top priorities, which rises from the commitment to provide them with the best financial experience in the market.

“In addition to this, we are constantly looking for new ways to provide our clients with the best advantages and benefits in the market. We have the Benefits with B, from BMSC programme, through which all our customers who pay with their debit or credit cards from Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz can have access to daily discounts in more than 40 allied businesses nationwide in the areas of gastronomy, health, entertainment, home and shopping, among many others.

“Every day we work uninterruptedly to satisfy our customer’s financial needs, always listening to them, since their feedback is very important to improve each of our processes and products.

“We know today, due to technological development, our customers are increasingly demanding more efficiency, safety and speed. In this sense, uninterrupted investment in technology and innovation has also been fundamental, because it has allowed us to democratise financial services and strengthen the reach of

“Likewise, with our Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz Points Club, our clients can exchange their points for different products and services, among them, restaurants, cinemas, supermarkets and household products. Customers who make purchases with their debit or credit cards increase the average balance of their savings accounts, can open DPFs, and make transfers or card payments as well.

AMERICAS INTERVIEW

“These two programmes are implemented permanently and benefit all our clients. Our Points Club has been in effect for 12 years and thousands of customers have been able to redeem their points in the best shops in the whole country.”

Finally, we discussed the bank’s plans for the future. “We will continue working and betting on the development and growth of Bolivia, generating direct and indirect jobs and business opportunities,” Mauricio said. “At the same time, we will continue to pay attention to the needs of our clients, developing campaigns that reward their loyalty, and investing in digital solutions with added functionalities and improvements of the channels we already have, with the aim of providing them with the best benefits in the financial market.”

Mauricio Porro National Marketing and Planning Manager Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz

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AMERICAS BUSINESS

Financial Institutions Face a New Contact Center Threat

Contact centers are an essential channel for banks and customers to communicate, but every channel has security risks to accompany its benefits. Traditional contact center fraud security emphasized two major threats. First, there was the worry that rare unscrupulous contact center agents would abuse the knowledge they gained in the course of work for nefarious ends. Second, there was the danger that scammers could “socially engineer 1” and trick agents into disclosing information they should not.

The first problem could be handled by appropriate interview screening and good on-site and remote protocols; the second problem was handled through training and education. Today, there’s a third vector for contact center fraud loss: IVR exploitation.

New Tech for a New Era While the general public may imagine the typical contact center to be a vast cubicle farm, with customer service agents answering each and every query they receive, this vision is somewhat outdated. First, COVID has forced the vast majority of contact center agents into work-from-home setups; cubicles have been temporarily abandoned all over the country, and some firms may choose to retain remote working even after the pandemic subsides. Second, most institutions try to ensure that

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relatively few calls ever reach human operators. If you’ve placed a call to your bank, your health insurance provider, or even your pharmacy in the last decade, chances are you’ve encountered an Interactive Voice Response, or IVR, setup. An IVR can complete many basic functions without agent intervention; if a call must go to an agent, the IVR has usually gathered information, like customer name or customer account number, that will be provided to the agent to accelerate their work assisting the caller.

Now, it’s the rare and foolish financial institution that would leave sensitive transactions to an IVR — such highvalue interactions would usually happen through a website, through a personto-person call, over a mobile app, or even face-to-face at a teller’s window.

It doesn’t follow, however, that an IVR is safe because it can’t be directly exploited. Bad actors will perform account reconnaissance (the most common type of IVR fraud) to slowly gather enough data that can be used to take over customer accounts, using phishing techniques, spoofed calls, and other methods. Furthermore, fraudsters scrape together information from social media, from already compromised accounts, from socially engineered and tricked agents, and from IVRs. In fact, recent research 2 from Aite Group found that fraud often begins in the IVR and ends elsewhere.

Real Firms, Real Losses The IVR threat to financial institutions and their clients isn’t theoretical.

Aite Group discovered that 41% of financial institutions were aware of IVR fraud loss at their institutions.

A further 33% didn’t know if they’d experienced IVR loss; it’s likely that some suffered losses that they were unable to identify. Just as disturbing, half of the institutions that identified IVR-originating fraud admitted that they were not, at present, monitoring their IVR installation. Because IVRs are automated and because the opportunities they offer criminals are poorly understood by some security professionals, there’s an unfortunate tendency to set up an IVR and assume that it can operate unsupervised. That’s an understandable mistake, but for businesses and customers alike, it’s a costly one.

If there’s insufficient IVR tracking and monitoring, recognizing the most sophisticated fraud becomes less likely.

Thankfully, it appears that change is coming to financial institutions, with 62% reporting that they’ve either increased their security in the last few years or that they have plans to do so in the next 24 months. The experts are clear: Omnichannel fraud demands omnichannel security.

AMERICAS BUSINESS

How the Technology Works Incompetent scammers are relatively easy for trained contact center agents to unmask in a conversation. But how does an automated IVR monitoring system fare? It analyzes phone carrier metadata, recognizes unlikely call patterns (like multiple calls from the same number at odd hours), and confirms that caller IDs have not been spoofed. Because IVR and contact center attacks aren’t scammers’ endgame — these attacks are primarily focused on data mining and data gathering — new machine learning tools can warn institutions that a fraud attempt may be in progress. IVR monitoring can identify the accounts that fraudsters are slowly and methodically attempting to crack. All of this happens in the background, so there’s no deterioration of the caller experience, and would-be fraudsters won’t realize that the system has flagged and identified them.

Mark Horne Chief Marketing Officer Pindrop

Looking to the Future Criminals are good at adjusting to changing circumstances: consumers have already reported nine figures’ worth 3 of COVID fraud losses. Institutions must be just as attentive and equally adaptable. When the coronavirus recedes and offices fill back up, scammers will change their strategies again, but they won’t give up and they won’t disappear. As IVR and other automated systems grow ever more essential to financial institutions’ functioning, there will be fewer and fewer justifications for leaving these tools unattended. Fraud hurts your customers, hurts your reputation, and hurts your bottom line. Your institution should invest in today’s tools to stop tomorrow’s fraud.

1

Whitney, L. (2020, November 05). How to defend your organization against social engineering attacks. Retrieved January 05, 2021, from https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-defend-yourorganization-against-social-engineering-attacks/

2

ANALYST REPORT: Aite: Safe and Secure Transactions in the IVR. (n.d.). Retrieved January 05, 2021, from https://www.pindrop.com/ analyst-reports/aite-safe-and-secure-transactions-in-the-ivr/

3

Consumer complaints about COVID-19 fraud pass 200,000. (2020, September 21). Retrieved January 05, 2021, from https://uspirg.org/ news/usp/consumer-complaints-about-covid-19-fraud-pass-200000

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AMERICAS INTERVIEW

2020 has kick-started a new era of AI and machine learning in compliance: An interview with Brian Cramer & Tim Estes

In the wake of COVID-19, the financial services industry has had to rapidly change its methods of working in ways that could not have been dreamed of 12 months ago. But from this disruption has come a wave of innovation that has prompted banks across the world to rapidly progress their digital transformation plans.

we’ve seen the overall volume of digital communications increase by 40 to 50%. What you also see notably is the adoption of new tools to help employees manage remote working better. Tools like Microsoft Teams, Slack, Zoom, and mobile devices more generally have soared in popularity amongst businesses.

To better understand the impact that this has had on the financial services industry and the compliance challenges it’s facing, Global Banking and Finance Review spoke with Brian Cramer, CEO of Smarsh, and Tim Estes, CEO of Digital Reasoning.

What is very interesting now is the complexity of these newer channels and collaboration tools. If you take Zoom or Microsoft Teams, for example, they're a bundle of many different communications in one platform.

Previously email was email. And instant message was an instant message.

But if you have interactions on Zoom or Teams to use the example, you have voice communications, you have several different types of chat, you have document sharing, white-boarding many different types of communication in one bundle, and that introduces a lot of complexity for organizations from a regulatory perspective.

Q: Since the outbreak of COVID-19, what compliance challenges have you seen most affect the financial services industry?

Brian Cramer: There's some obvious things that have happened since COVID-19 and the resulting work-fromhome arrangements that companies have been forced to adopt. As a result,

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Tim Estes: Picking up on that point, more communication means essentially more to review. The FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) has announced that they're going to start requiring the same level of surveillance and risk mitigation processes to be put into place for channels like Zoom, Teams, WebEx, and other remote-working tools, and we know right now that that doesn't exist in most of the financial services market.

So, this has been the key challenge for regulated businesses this year: the combination of the volume expansion that Brian talked about combined with the level of surveillance needed to ensure that these new channels are not cesspools for risk.

Q: Against this backdrop, what solutions does the financial services industry need to ensure compliance?

Brian: All financial services businesses need be asking themselves: am I capturing everything and am I doing it reliably? Meaning, am I getting communications from Teams? Am I getting all emails? Am I getting text

AMERICAS INTERVIEW

messages between employees or between customers and employees?

Am I also getting a voice conversation?

That’s the first fundamental question.

And, then the second question is: where is my data? Is it safe? Is it scalable with the rapidly increasing volume and variety of data? And, is it accessible to be able to extract intelligence from it?

Tim: Exactly. When you deal with human language communications, it's not enough that you store it. You need to understand it because you're being asked by regulators to understand the human context to those conversations.

Q: How is AI going to help the financial services industry solve these compliance challenges?

Tim: AI's been a buzzword now for probably about five or six years. The problem that we are trying to solve with the use of AI is the level of false positives that legacy tools and fragmented data sources come up with when monitoring communications data. This means that banks have

to make a huge amount of human investment to review those falsepositives and escalate potentially problematic communications.

Q: How do you see communications intelligence transforming compliance obligations for the financial services industry?

The latest AI solutions are between 5 and 100 times better than the legacy solutions at identifying conduct issues across the areas that a bank is obligated to monitor. This means it’s quicker, more accurate and less resource-intensive to escalate issues so they can be addressed as soon as possible, and in the right way. This gives businesses the ability to see what's going on in a much more realtime fashion. By shortening the time between when events happen to the point when the appropriate function can act on those communications, businesses are far more agile and able to derive actual value from these compliance technologies. This is what we at Smarsh and Digital Reasoning call ‘communications intelligence’, which is a proposition I think is notably broader than just traditional compliance.

Brian: To put it simply, communications intelligence is a business enabler. The statistic that I learned a couple years ago that really shocked me was that about 10% to 15% of overall payroll in the financial services industry was focused on compliance. As the number of platforms being used continues to grow and the volume on each channel continues to grow, this cost burden is only going to increase. This has drastically limited the amount of innovation that banks were pushing for in recent years, because available compliance technology required them to add headcount whenever they adopted new and innovative communications tools, in order to scale their compliance, review, and surveillance functions. And they would get no return from it other than risk reduction.

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AMERICAS INTERVIEW

Now, when you apply AI solutions to the equation, it allows businesses to adopt innovative new communications channels without having to increase their compliance headcount.

Institutions can empower their remote workforce with the tools they need, adopt new channels to market to new customers, and use new channels to broadcast their own messages and build new financial products to grow their own business. All of this is possible with a solution that can easily scale alongside this pace of innovation and change.

Q: What do you see as the biggest compliance challenges for the financial services industry over the next few years?

Tim: Looking at the momentous changes to the communications landscape this year, we believe that voice is the next frontier. If you think about the number of different channels you can now have a voice conversation across, from the phone to video calls across Zoom, Teams and Slack‌ as Brian previously said, it doubles or triples compliance challenges, because you have multiple channels in the same platforms.

Businesses will need solutions that can bring that all together and understand the human context to that language data. This is a huge challenge, but also poses a massive opportunity for the businesses that can get this right.

Brian: Exactly. For banks, it’s about developing the ability to be agile but safe, right? And I think that if you look at the industries that we serve, they've moved slowly and are now accelerating because of external forces like COVID-19.

But they are not quite agile enough to the point where they could establish a new business line with a new team and begin operating in weeks or months.

It typically takes them years. I think communications intelligence allows them the ability to not only manage risk as they continue their existing business and expanding into new businesses, but it also can provide business value. I think we haven't even scratched the surface around the number of use cases for businesses that have the ability to capture all electronic communications and apply intelligence to them.

Brian Cramer CEO Smarsh

Tim Estes CEO Digital Reasoning

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Artist’s perspective

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DESIGN PARTNERS Handel Architects FBEye International Magnusson Klemencic Associates RWDI Anemos, Ltd. W.V. Coscolluela & Associates, Inc. Sy^2 + Associates, Inc.

San Miguel Avenue cor. Lourdes Street Brgy. Wack-Wack, Mandaluyong City +63 932.100.0000 westinmanilaresidences.com Legal Name: Sonata Premier | HLURB LS No. 032389 The Residences at The Westin Manila Sonata Place, or Sonata Premier, is not owned, developed or sold by Marriott International, Inc. or their affiliates. Robinsons Land Corporation uses the Westin® trademarks and trade names under a license from Marriott International, Inc. If this license is terminated or expires without renewal, the residential project will no longer be associated with or have any right to use, the Westin® brand trade names or trademarks.

Date Issued: May 23, 2017 | Date of Completion: September 30, 2021 | HLURB ENCR AA-2019/11-2621

Asia 38 Issue 22

ASIA INTERVIEW

People, Process, And Technology

= Success

POTENZA assists banks to make a complete technology transformation, by automating and optimizing their operations, enabling them to achieve their goals and improve their bottom line. Their technology expertise, combined with their knowledgeable BFSI consultants, is what makes them stand out against their competitors. Wanda Rich, Editor, Global Banking & Finance Review spoke to Dhanusha Muthukumarana, Managing Director, Chief Executive Officer and Mithila Wegapitiya, Director, Chief Operating Officer at POTENZA about their skilful use of the latest technology to streamline banks’ business operations.

POTENZA was founded in 2016 as a start- up company and in just 4 years has become a successful organisation. What initiatives do you feel have contributed to your growth and success?

The main success factor I believe is that we intended to make POTENZA not just a typical IT Services or Systems integration company, but instead focus on core Digital Transformation through a balance of Technology and Business Perspectives. From the start at POTENZA we have looked at the challenges that a business may encounter during its operation, and then asked ourselves which were the most significant of these challenges. At the outset we divided our offering into 3 practices which cover the majority of these business problems, namely 1) Core Consulting, 2) Data Analytics and 3) Digital Productivity.

Another main reason for our success is that at POTENZA we believe in three main factors that are paramount.

These factors are people, process, and technology. All three of these attributes need to co-exist seamlessly in any of our engagements, to enable us to obtain the required results we aspire to.

Can you tell us about how your RPA solution works and how users benefit from this?

RPA or Robotic Process Automation, is a game changer, and is the first few steps in our immergence into what could virtually be the 4th industrial revolution. The Basic concept is that we humans have become like robots, engaging in mundane, repetitive tasks from morning to evening at work. Hence the question “can we really stop being robots and be human again” has started to emerge within organizations. Our

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ASIA INTERVIEW

RPA practice strives to solve this very problem, by introducing Digital workers, more commonly referred to as “Bots”, allocated to work side by side with human workers. These Bots work 24/7 around the year, with no tea breaks, no coffee breaks, no drama, and the best is, they actually enable humans to engage in truly human and cognitive tasks within the organization. From one perspective, the organization benefits through cost optimization, increased efficiency as well as being able venture towards a “Zero Error Culture”. From

the other perspective, human workers’ job roles, as well as lives, are enriched, offering more fulfilling work in their organizations, as well as being able to better manage work/life balance.

For RPA we have partnered with the two world-leading RPA technology companies, Automation Anywhere and UiPath. Therefore, we now have certified consultants and engineers, who have completed multiple projects in the region, ready to undertake complex automation projects across the globe.

Your consultants are highly praised by many of your partners. What is it about these consultants that helps them stand apart from others in the industry?

All our consultants and engineers are selected through a meticulous interview process, where we identify attitude over aptitude, which we consider is of primary focus for POTENZA. Secondly, we always tend to hire Consultants from strong business backgrounds, which in most cases is more important than their technical capability or technology exposure. By doing this, POTENZA’s approach of always placing business processes and best practices first, becomes a significant advantage. POTENZA also maintains an outstanding training program, which takes a fresh consultant through a series of well thought out and structured programs, where not only functional and technical aspects are identified, but also to discover if they have the correct POTENZA mind-set to help with individual success. Finally, POTENZA goes to great lengths to provide these consultants the finest working environment, together with the best available benefits. We do not use the word “employee’s” but “Family member” instead.

Dhanusha Muthukumarana Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer POTENZA

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ASIA INTERVIEW

What does a typical consultation consist of?

In a typical consultation we would always approach a customer with a blank canvas. We ensure we understand the customer properly, and have a twoway conversation rather than just a one-way pitch. We also do not present a pre-determined solution for a customer, but provide a truly workable plan tailored the customer’s needs.

How have POTENZA adapted to the current pandemic?

I would say POTENZA has used the current Pandemic Situation in a positive way, as the organization is now operating remotely 100%. Through the recent health crisis, our teams have delivered complex projects completely remotely, and have adapted to this new normal rapidly. We believe, due to travel restrictions and stakeholders completely relying on online platforms to communicate, that we have created a new window of opportunity to start new conversations across the world to enhance the profile of POTENZA. Where do you see the company in 5 years? What are your plans for continued growth and development?

Our dream has always been to become the next Accenture or the next McKinsey Consulting. We have all the raw materials for this. The only thing we need in addition is global reach, which we are strongly focusing on. In another 5 years we envision our organization will consist of 250+ Consultants, covering most of the mature markets across the globe. With APAC and Australia now covered through our business efforts, we look towards the west now to take our valuable proposition to those markets.

Mithila Wegapitiya Director/ Chief Operating Officer POTENZA

Issue 22 | 41

ASIA TECHNOLOGY

Swapping manual complexity for digital efficiency: the future of trade finance Trade finance is going through a period of unprecedented evolution. Once an industry notorious for its stubbornness in the face of change, new and innovative digital technologies have now matured to the point where they are finally transforming it into a more streamlined and cost-effective place to do business for all participants.

Some of trade’s biggest operational challenges – like incorrect documentation and KYC, noninteroperable systems, poor visibility, manual reconciliation – are now being addressed and overcome by forwardthinking digital solutions.

Enterprise blockchain is perhaps the most promising – and appropriate – technology to emerge for this sector.

Trade is inherently a decentralised system. The industry is heavily intermediated – predominantly by banks that help to facilitate transactions and provide the financing behind them, but also by insurers, customs officials and other market participants. Over and over again firms have tried to apply centralised solutions to this decentralised system, which of course has never really worked.

The decentralised nature of blockchain makes it a perfect fit for trade finance.

For the first time the entire industry is getting behind a technology and moving it into real world deployment at record pace.

Meanwhile, regulators are working with technology providers to understand how to audit and gain insight into the transactions taking place on these

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new blockchain-based platforms, and ensuring suitable laws are in place, including those relating to electronic documentation and electronic signatures.

The architecture underpinning the entire ecosystem of trade is undergoing complete digital transformation – but how are participants benefiting from this change?

Unravelling complexity

Many of the processes and technologies underpinning trade finance have not been modernised in decades.

The result is that those transactions continue to rely on paper-heavy processing, unsuitable for the current digital age. Traditional technology required corporates to log into multiple portals and juggle relationships and documentation for each shipment.

These inefficiencies in trade finance mean that nearly USD $1.5 trillion of demand for trade finance is rejected by banks, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), with 60% of banks expecting this figure to increase over the next two years. Developing markets that rely heavily on access to trade can be severely hindered through these outdated processes.

In addition, businesses all over the world must navigate the growing threat of cyber-attacks, changing regulations, and ever-changing sanctions lists.

Despite this complexity, cumbersome and time-consuming paper-based exchanges are still commonplace.

Take, for example, invoice financing.

While a common activity, managing invoice payments and terms can be slow and inefficient for companies and their trading partners. They must navigate different currencies and jurisdictions, each with unique requirements in terms of contract terms and payments.

By digitising these manual processes and superseding ageing legacy systems, a technology such as blockchain has a real impact on reducing the costs, risks and delays to participants involved in trade finance.

If applied effectively, the technology has the potential to unlock the potential $1.5 trillion opportunity in global trade finance. Companies of all sizes will benefit from better visibility into trading relationships and easier access to financing options, beyond point-topoint relationships, to a global network of trading parties.

A decentralised, global network

Blockchain’s integration across the financial services ecosystem has delivered some encouraging results so far. While the rollout has been more gradual than some of the more over-enthusiastic predictions, many see it as a brilliant innovation capable of remedying a lot of the operational pain-points perturbing financial services. As such, there is growing debate about how blockchain can provide decentralised solutions to solve many of the problems facing trade financing.

ASIA TECHNOLOGY

One such solution is real-time visibility, which is available via permissioned access to authorised network users, and gives buyers and sellers unprecedented transparency into the status of their transactions.

This single source of truth and use of smart contracts could remove a number of inefficiencies in the paper-heavy processes that exist in trade finance, such as negotiations of letters of credit.

In addition, settlement finality removes the need for intermediaries to perform reconciliations. All of these applications could streamline the entire process.

Achieving the network effect

In order to move towards a truly digitised and connected ecosystem for trade finance, mass adoption on a global scale is essential. This elusive network effect can only be achieved if technology players prioritise forwardthinking and inclusive integration solutions that lower the barriers to entry for all types of companies involved in the trading process.

If only a handful of firms adopt a blockchain solution for invoice financing, for example, the solution is useless if one company needs to trade with another that is outside this circle of early adopters. All the other benefits of blockchain such as speed, efficiency and lower costs mean nothing if you cannot use the platform to connect with the necessary counterparties.

Like any piece of enterprise technology, blockchain will be most useful when used in conjunction with existing systems. The reality is that most businesses are not full digitally native and so will continue to rely on legacy systems – all to different extents – in the near future.

The key to unlocking blockchain’s true potential, therefore, is not to try and oust these but to make sure the technology fits into the right places, with minimal cost and disruption to a firm’s day-to-day business. Put simply, integration holds the single most important key to rewiring the $8 trillion global trade finance market.

Alisa DiCaprio Head of Trade and Supply Chain R3

As Head of Trade and Supply Chain at R3, Alisa is responsible for trade strategy, standards and governance design. Alisa was previously a senior economist at the Asian Development Bank and holds a PhD from MIT.

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ASIA INTERVIEW

How Forte Insurance Weathered the Storm That Was 2020

With over 20 years in the market, award-winning Forte Insurance is the largest and most recognised insurer in Cambodia, and continues to enjoy success despite a difficult year. Charles Cheo, the Executive Chairman of Forte Insurance (Cambodia) Plc., spoke to us about how they are addressing the challenges posed by COVID-19, promoting awareness of life insurance, and planning to optimise growth in 2021 and beyond.

Insurance premiums at Forte have seen a net increase of 17% year-on-year for the first nine months of 2020, according to the latest figures. We asked Charles about his thoughts on this and for his insight as to how various insurance segments have been impacted in different ways.

“Cambodia has done a commendable job managing the public health aspect of the pandemic,” Charles told us.

“Obviously, there has been a greater focus on people’s health and business disruption, which in turn has led to greater interest in insurance.

“Travel insurance has been affected immensely – tourism has been shut down for the better part of a year. However, our life and health insurance products have been doing well. The pandemic has brought those issues into greater focus for people from all walks of life.”

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Charles was keen to explain what the COVID-19 coverage they offer entails, as well as how they are assisting their customers during such a challenging time.

“This coverage, which is provided by a consortium of insurance companies in Cambodia, is designed to provide travellers to the country with the necessary protection mandated by the government,” he said. “While tourism remains closed, Cambodia is cautiously allowing the entry of a range of people who work and live in the country, with the aim of helping mitigate the economic impact of the outbreak. This coverage helps ensure policyholders have the resources available in the unfortunate situation that they test positive and require treatment after arrival.

“Early on during the pandemic, we communicated with our customers to let them know we are available to serve them as usual. Given the economic impact, we have also worked with those customers who have had a difficult time keeping up with their premiums. We recognise that we are all in this together and need to support each other to emerge stronger.”

Forte places great importance on providing efficient, comprehensive services, so we asked Charles about how they communicate their policies in ways that are understandable to all, and what they are doing to promote awareness of life insurance in Cambodia to a younger audience.

ASIA INTERVIEW

“Over the years, Forte has worked very hard to ensure that our policies and related documentation are as simple as practicable. We also train our staff and agents to explain the terms of coverage and procedures for filing claims in easy-to-understand language. In developing markets such as Cambodia and Laos, insurance can be seen as too complex and expensive, so we recognise that we have to do more to help customers understand what they are purchasing.

“We are using a variety of traditional and non-traditional ways to promote life insurance in Cambodia, which is still a relatively new concept. For example, we have held several client seminars each month in Phnom Penh and in major provincial cities. We have also sponsored a popular radio show to boost awareness. We use a range of digital channels to reach younger customers, such as social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn. And in November, we sponsored a music video by popular singer Laura Mam and two other artists called Be With You, which enabled us to reach a whole new audience – it has received millions of views! While it may be too early to see a direct impact on sales, it is never too early to bring young people’s attention and awareness to life insurance products and our company.”

As we enter 2021 with hope that the effects of COVID-19 will begin to recede, Forte’s business strategy continues to focus on areas of growth.

“Like everyone else around the world, we are hopeful that the pandemic will be brought under control in 2021,” Charles said. “Nevertheless, we are moving ahead with a number of strategic initiatives. For example, we will continue to focus on promoting Forte Life, which only launched in early 2020. We are also accelerating digitalisation efforts to enhance efficiency and increase service levels. Finally, we are always looking at potential areas for investment. Insurance continues to be in the early stage of growth in many countries in the region, and we are keen to participate in that growth if opportunities align with our strategy. Forte has been very fortunate in that we have been able to weather the storm caused by the outbreak, and remain strong, both financially and operationally.”

Charles Cheo Executive Chairman Forte Insurance (Cambodia) Plc.

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ASIA BUSINESS

Knowledge Management Will Be Seen as the Vital Function It Truly Is in 2021

46 | Issue 22

ASIA BUSINESS

Despite all the challenges of the past year – the COVID-19 pandemic chief among them – global banking and finance did not come to a grinding halt in 2020.

Many finance professionals switched to remote working at the drop of a hat, and operations were largely unaffected.

2021 looks to continue in a similar vein in the short to medium term.

With people having undergone such a radical change of behaviour in 2020, it is the perfect time for everybody to embrace the opportunities presented by this for knowledge management (KM). As different approaches to KM consolidate, people are realising that KM and innovation are two sides of the same coin. At the same time, knowledge sharing is occurring less frequently in unstructured forums such as “popping your head around the door” and structured processes are now emerging.

This is a very exciting time for KM. The Methods Have Merged Until recently, two distinct approaches to KM have been taken. European businesses, for example, have long relied on creating content and knowhow, while the US has tended to favour technology, search, and data.

These approaches are now starting to come together. The content creators are realising the importance of capturing structured data to inform their content.

The data curators are realising the importance of feeding their data into a tangible end-product. By combining the two distinct approaches, business have made the first important step towards the next generation of KM. Those who consume knowledge are ready for these two approaches to merge. A decade ago, many working in banking and finance took pride in saying “every transaction is different”. Now, thanks to the business imperative to reduce the time and cost of transacting, there appears to be recognition that even the most complex banking and finance projects have repeatable elements.

By being rigorous around capturing past experiences, creating taxonomies, and establishing a knowledge curation process, businesses can start to leverage their data to improve their knowledge content – and ultimately, their service delivery. Deals are no longer created from scratch; there is always a starting point, no matter how complex a deal appears to be.

a taxonomy that enables people to find it. Since time immemorial, the primary method of knowledge sharing has been “having a chat with somebody”, or “popping your head around somebody’s door”. Those kinds of information sharing are unstructured, bilateral, and not conducive to a KM process that prioritises capture and reuse of information.

Is KM the New Innovation?

Remote work has caused people to interact differently. People are communicating in structured forums such as messaging platforms. This presents an opportunity for “information sharers” to be directed to a specific place to ask their questions and obtain answers (e.g., a “knowledge channel” in Slack or Teams). By structuring the process through which people seek and obtain knowledge, KM teams can tap into a wealth of information that previously laid to rest in office corridors.

Technology and innovation have very much been seen as “game changers” in the banking and finance world. In contrast, people who leave client-facing roles (such as being a practicing lawyer) to take up KM positions have been seen as “taking a step down”. Given the opportunities KM presents for businesses – particularly by coupling data with content – this is starting to change.

There is a growing recognition that innovation doesn’t happen in isolation.

It requires an in-depth understanding of internal processes, and KM is ideally positioned to provide this indepth understanding.

Businesses have rightly asked themselves, “if modern KM is about process, content, and data, what exactly is the role of innovation?” After all, even the most talked about technologies do not happen in isolation. They must affect a process and drive an outcome, both of which are within the domain of KM. In short, KM is innovation, and the two should no longer be considered as discrete areas of expertise.

What 2021 has in store has yet to be seen, but one thing is certain: KM has an important role to play in the coming year, and increasingly, it will be seen as the vital function it truly is, helping financial services organisations to efficiently tackle the challenges they face.

“No Office” Shouldn’t Mean “No Knowledge Sharing” More than any other factor, the importance of KM has been brought into the spotlight by the wholescale changes in working practices observed over the last 12 months.

Successful knowledge management systems rely on data being captured, structuring that data, and fitting it into

Jack Shepherd Legal AI Practice Lead iManage RAVN

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ASIA BUSINESS

Leadership and management in a WFH world Although many of us will have settled into some kind of groove, having worked away from the office for the best part of a year, there are still numerous challenges that businesses and their workforces face in this new reality.

One particularly pertinent challenge is the one faced by people managers, especially those managing virtually for the first time. How can you ensure productivity from those in your charge when you don’t have direct oversight?

How do you have those more difficult conversations over a video call? Some of your team may be handling remote working better than others, so how differently should you be handling them day-to-day?

For the majority of businesses these will be questions they’re still grappling with. When the pandemic hit, we happened to be in the fortunate position of being a remote-first business, where 60% of our nearly 700 employees were already working from home. As a result, the uptick to 100% was far less taxing for us. In seven years of working

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from home, we’ve learned a lot about managing teams remotely, a few of which may help leaders who are still navigating the transition.

Keeping communication channels open to build trust Leading a remote team is wholly different to the usual, in-office set up. Strict hierarchy, and any notion of presenteeism do not translate well into the remote working environment. You have to accept that your employees’ domestic life will necessarily overlap with their professional one.

Leading a virtual team requires trust and a philosophy of work based on results, and managers need to learn to give them more freedom to do work on their own terms, as long as they produce the intended results.

Building trust is best managed with regular communication. Frequent written communications from leaders regarding strategy, objectives, and organisational learning is crucial. It’s

natural when working remotely for team members to isolate themselves and get wrapped up in their own workload.

Managers need to help their teams understand how their work impacts on the broader corporate objectives.

At Auth0, we adopted and adapted a technique created by Google called ‘Objectives and Key Results’ (OKRs) 1 to enable this.

Now more than ever, make it a priority to regularly check in with your employees and always be up to date and aware of what their needs are.

One of the first initiatives we kicked off in an effort to do so was our Slack ‘Coronabot’. This is a tool we integrated with our main form of communication that allows employees to self-identify if their work capacity was impacted by the pandemic. Another way that we tried to better understand the concerns and needs of our employees was holding listening sessions. From these listening sessions, we’ve rolled out a couple of initiatives to combat burnout, including Slack-free weekends and no internal meeting Fridays.

ASIA BUSINESS

Make flexibility a priority As the worlds of home life and work life collide, the traditional ‘9 to 5’ workday needs to evolve.

Leaders need to encourage their team to devise their own schedules and complete work at those times when they’re most productive.

If in doubt, ask your employees how best you can help and trust that their answers will be honest. In our own experience we saw a need for a different approach when it came to supporting our employees who are caregivers. With childcare much less accessible, caregivers are doing double duty. We rolled out a survey to these individuals to hear directly how best we could support them and used the feedback to plan future programmes and supports.

We have encouraged these employees to take advantage of flexible working hours, should they need to adjust due to the pandemic, and are using tools like Clockwise or Slack that allow our employees to set their working hours and snooze

notifications when they’re offline. This alleviates the pressure to respond, and we’ve found employees are actually happier and more productive this way, especially if you have a team spread across several time zones.

Put your culture front and centre When you work remotely interactions between management and staff become increasingly transactional. Leaders need to avoid making decrees without explaining the reasoning behind them, and the thought process that led to them.

Failure to do so can create a secondary culture within the workforce composed of rumours and hearsay, which can lead to mistrust.

Leaders therefore need to firstly be clear in the reasoning for their decisions, but also explicit about the culture they want to create. Your corporate culture must be written down and communicated frequently so employees can use them to guide their everyday work.

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ASIA BUSINESS

This is particularly beneficial for multinational companies spread across geographies and timezones and encompassing multiple cultures.

Whether your teams are based in Singapore or San Francisco, they all have a code of conduct to adhere to This is crucial for dealing with conflict in a productive way and creating teams that collaborate and respect each other.

workforce feeling connected. We’ve also utilised the results of both our semi-annual engagement survey and more frequent pulse surveys to give us insight into how effective these engagement programmes have been and where we could tweak them to make them even better.

Create virtual spaces to socialise

Security should always be a top priority, especially especially as people are logging into more services remotely.

Your business’ IT and Security teams should have set up multi-factor authentication as the minimum standard. As new apps are connected to better enable any of the measures described above, your IT teams and managers should also be educating their teams about the access thirdparty providers have to their data.

Leaders mustn’t forget the more pastoral benefits of the workspace.

Spontaneous water-cooler chats may seem trite, but they’re an essential means of colleagues building rapport and learning about one another’s lives outside of work.

Socialising should not disappear when you transition to remote work.

That would be bad for business, productivity, and employee wellbeing.

Instead, I would encourage you to get creative and use different functionalities of the collaboration tools you’re probably using daily. We use Donut within our Slack channels, that randomly pairs three employees together and schedules them for a meeting. The intention is to bring employees together that otherwise may never interact and have them connect on topics beyond the workplace, such as life, family, etc. Donut has been a fantastic aid in keeping our distributed

Don’t neglect security

Building for the future For many businesses the move to remote working will have been, and is continuing to be, a difficult transition.

Admittedly, remote work is not a perfect substitute for personal communication.

When circumstances allow, we would recommend managers meet with their teams in-person at least once a year. managers meet with their teams at least once a year.

However, even whilst the pandemic still hampers our ability to travel and meet face to face, it is still possible to have a distributed team that is productive, collaborative, and happy. If leaders take the time and make the effort to foster a culture built on trust, it will open up opportunities for you in the long-term, no matter what that future may be.

Managers have a crucial role to play as evangelists of security best practice. They should be monitoring whether their teams are completing their security awareness training and, if new apps or technology are being introduced, ensuring that the appropriate channels are open for them to ask questions. The pandemic has been a lucrative time for cybercriminals, who have taken advantage of some lapses in security best practice.

Ensuring security is everyone’s business, but it starts from the top.

Carolyn Moore SVP of People Auth0

1

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Re:Work - Guide: Set goals with OKRs. (n.d.). Retrieved January 05, 2021, from https://rework.withgoogle.com/guides/set-goals-with-okrs/steps/introduction/

ASIA FINANCE

Be Future-Ready: The Case for Payments as a Service (Paas)

Over the years, financial institutions have faced a myriad of changes in regulations, technology and customer expectations.

Banks are now having to deal with the competing demands of maintenance and compliance on the one hand, and the need to innovate and deliver value-added services on the other. The balance of effort is increasingly consumed by the former with the share of investment in innovation and value generation being squeezed.

COVID-19 has changed customer behaviour, which will accelerate the need for more digital innovation, adding further to the demand on technology resources that are already stretched to the limit. While future investment plans may remain uncertain, banks need to consider several factors for their technology strategy, such as efficiency, where to invest and how to reduce capital expenditure.

It is apparent that the traditional approach to implementing and updating technology is no longer sustainable in the long-term.

The true cost of outdated technology Maintaining technology has always been a challenge. What makes it more important now than ever is that innovation expectations have become far greater and exist on multiple simultaneous fronts. Today, there is more demand for product innovation, alongside the need to deliver consistently across multiple channels. On top of this, banks are facing structural changes, such as the convergence of payments.

Faced with this combination of imperatives, many banks are finding that continuing to maintain their payments technology in-house is no longer the most viable option.

Banks that persist with existing in-house infrastructures are in many cases spending large sums just to keep up, with little left for innovation. This can put them at a distinct disadvantage in today’s digital environment, where challenger banks and fintechs are fully embracing tools like the cloud to optimise operations while delivering truly transformational customer experiences.

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ASIA FINANCE

Maintaining technology can be quite costly,and leveraging shared payment innovation can result in notable cost savings. Additionally, there are savings to be had in the areas of capital costs, opportunity costs, regulatory or payment scheme compliance costs, and the inevitable one-off costs from technology or infrastructure upgrades.

And as the options available for customers to initiate payments across card and non-card payment rails increase, this will drive a convergence of the technology that supports the processing of those payments, further increasing the demand for change.

In this environment, migrating to an alternative technology strategy, such as PaaS, can be a strategic and costeffective decision.

Why PaaS? One solution to mitigate the risks and costs associated with maintaining technology is to outsource payments

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activity to a PaaS provider. The most obvious advantage here is cost reduction. However, there are many other positive and significant financial benefits that can be realised in terms of reduced capital expenses and the associated effects on balance sheet and free cash flow. This is particularly important in the current environment as capital investment comes under even more scrutiny.

Running a robust platform is a PaaS provider’s primary business, whereas for a bank it is just one of the many areas in which it has to invest. A PaaS provider is compelled to continually reinvest to ensure their technology never stands still long enough to become outdated, while also recruiting high-calibre personnel to support and advance it.

Geographical scale can also add value and increase opportunities for innovation. A PaaS provider with clients around the world sees and delivers innovation globally, which can be

redeployed elsewhere rapidly and at a lower cost than custom development.

Also, a global processing network can serve as a worldwide payments intelligence network, detecting trends, such as new payment types, consumer payment behaviour and cyberthreats.

One further consideration is how payments have become increasingly commoditised in recent years.

As traditional revenue streams from payments have declined, it makes even less financial sense to retain payment processing in-house. By adopting PaaS and benefiting from the associated cost savings, retained payment margins can be maximised, simultaneously freeing up resources that can be diverted to innovation and value-added activities, such as enhancing customer experience and building the franchise.

Debunking the myths Despite the compelling business case for banks to adopt PaaS, some remain reluctant to do so because of various

ASIA FINANCE

myths. One example is the belief that outsourcing data is inherently risky. The reality is, in fact, the opposite. PaaS providers have the scale, resources and procedures to address and invest in key priorities – for example, cybersecurity.

Keeping things in-house can actually create greater data security risk if resource constraints are an issue.

Budgetary considerations aside, experience and specialist tools are also major points of difference here.

A typical bank IT manager might experience two or three major transition projects in their entire career. In contrast, teams at a PaaS provider collectively will have experience successfully delivering many major transformation projects, and will have also developed a whole range of specialised implementation adapters and toolkits that are continually enhanced and expanded.

Be more agile and tactical When technology becomes outdated it can easily go from an asset to a liability. While COVID-19 has emphasised this reality for some, truly appreciating it requires a comprehensive assessment of existing technology and its long-term impact on business. Outsourcing through PaaS has a wealth of benefits that can radically transform this situation. Financial institutions can become more agile and tactical so they can continue to innovate and provide services that customers demand while differentiating themselves from the competition.

Barry Tarrant Director, Product Solutions, Fiserv

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PROFESSIONAL TRADING TOOLS GUIDE SERIES

TRADER’S PREFLIGHT

CHECKLIST

ASIA INTERVIEW

The evolving payments landscape The global pandemic has negatively impacted economies around the world, but we’re also seeing an acceleration in e-commerce and consumer behaviours. What trends are you seeing, and what is the takeaway for Nium?

At the start of the global pandemic, no one had a clue on where things were headed. But luckily for Nium, we have a 360-degree view on how different industries are adapting because of the number of industries we serve.

For instance, we saw that there was a rise in gaming, e-learning, and e-commerce while the travel industry was significantly impacted.

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According to Newzoo, the leading global provider of games and esports analytics, the games market will to grow to $217.9 billion by 2023, representing a strong +9.4% CAGR between 2018 and 2023. This is up from a previous forecast of $200.8 billion. The sudden shift away from the classroom in many parts of the globe also led to a rise in e-learning adoption, where schools have had to distribute gadgets to students to ensure they have access to learning materials. Schools in New York, US for example distributed around 500,000 laptops and tablets to their students in early April.

To cater to these sudden shifts in consumer behaviour, banks are coming to Nium with an accelerated timeline to

leverage and implement our services, including instant real-time cross-border payments. This is positive because banks are reacting to new consumer behaviours promptly.

That said, while these are positive trends, we need to think about how we can sustain this momentum into the future. Initially when the pandemic hit, we saw a huge shift of revenues from offline to online channels. However, now that countries are gradually re-opening, we see that many consumers are preferring to go back to offline channels. The question now lies in how we keep up with these changes and continue to deliver great customer service.

ASIA INTERVIEW

The world is shifting to an API economy, how is this going to impact your customers?

What is Nium doing to cater to the under-penetrated segment that may not have access to payments today?

Our definition of an API economy is one that deploys best-of-breed products seamlessly and efficiently – and this is a core mantra of what we believe we are powering at Nium.

If you think about it, banks today are being unbundled at a rapid pace.

15 years ago, if a customer wanted a loan or a travel card, they would have had to walk into a physical bank. Today, customers can turn to a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) lender or any prepaid travel card business.

Nium is providing an infrastructure platform catered for anyone – from everyday customers and businesses, to large banks, and even to fintechs – aimed at levelling the playing field through the provision of financial services to all members of the population. In other words, our platform enables our partners to reach out to the population and provide greater access to payments than ever before.

Nium is actually leading the charge in this rapid unbundling through our banking-as-a-service (BaaS) offering. For instance, E-commerce companies no longer only provide e-commerce as a service but instead have tapped onto a new range of services within that ecosystem. Companies today can choose partners for their payment solutions – for instance, they can use X for payments, Y for card issuance, and Z for lending.

The API impact that Nium makes goes beyond just a few customers; we make it easy for everyone to plug in and rapidly deploy our service.

To take a recent example, Nium partnered with Aptiv8, an IT and manpower solution provider, to launch a remittance service called MyRemit. This service allows migrant workers in Singapore to conduct digital remittance transactions via a

mobile app, anywhere and anytime.

This has been particularly vital during this year’s strict social distancing and lockdown measures, as migrant workers can still remit money back home for their family’s needs through a digital channel.

Similarly, Nium recently partnered with Cebuana Lhuillier, the Philippines’ largest microfinancial services provider, to launch their mobile remittance app, Quikz, in Singapore. Powered by Nium’s Remittance-as-a-service (RaaS) solution, this app allows thousands of Filipinos based in Singapore to send money to their loved ones back in the Philippines. Our platform ensures the transactions are processed securely and in real-time – providing more customers with a safe and more affordable way to make transactions.

The future of the API economy is all about how to make APIs easy to understand, and that is where Nium is driving our vision forward.

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ASIA INTERVIEW

What was 2020 like for Nium and what is it going to be like in 2021?

This year has been interesting for Nium because the pandemic forced us to rethink and review our company playbook for success. At the peak of COVID-19, I gathered my leadership team together to reflect on the impact the world had faced, how the world is going to change, and what we, as a company, need to consider when adapting to these changes. This exercise was extremely useful and it has formed the basis of a refreshed playbook for us.

Our team members came up with many different stories on how we need to overcommunicate not only to our clients, but also internally with our colleagues. We also spoke about product prioritisation.

For instance, travel used to be an industry that most of our products served, but it has become much smaller today, while other industries such as e-learning and gaming have burst through the scenes. So, do we still create products for the travel industry knowing that it will come back in the next two years, or do we focus on the growing industries right now? The good thing is, because we work with clients across a large spectrum of industries, we have been able to observe these changes panning out early and react swiftly.

Come 2021 and 2022, product will be key for us. There is a lot of pent-up demand across industries that were restricted due to the pandemic, such as travel, and we are looking forward to capturing this new demand, which I believe will definitely come back once we tide over these difficult times. At Nium, we will continue to focus on growing our revenue and expanding our team worldwide.

At the same time, we are also aware of the impact that the pandemic has had on our employees this year. I want to take a brief moment here to acknowledge the efforts of our employees worldwide. They have rallied hard over the past few months, putting in the extra hours as they work remotely, to ensure they deliver quality work. Ensuring that our employees remain engaged and prioritising their mental health will also be a focus for us in the new year.

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Prajit Nanu Co-Founder and CEO Nium

Nium is a global financial technology platform redefining the way consumers and businesses send, spend and receive funds across borders. The company is continuously innovating to provide the most relevant and agile solutions to meet the needs of consumers and businesses, having evolved from solely focusing on consumer remittance via InstaReM, to also providing fintech solutions for businesses. Nium is regulated in Australia, Canada, European Union, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, United Kingdom and the United States of America, and processes billions of dollars a year for banks and payments institutions, the next generation of e-commerce players, OTAs and retail users across the world. Nium’s investors include Visa, BRI Ventures, Vertex Ventures, Vertex Growth, Fullerton Financial Holdings, GSR Ventures, Rocket Internet, Global Founders Capital, SBI Japan, FMO (Netherlands Development Finance Company), MDI Ventures, Beacon Venture Capital and Atinum Investment.

For more information, visit: http://www.nium.com.

EMEA 68 Issue 22

EMEA COVER STORY

Supporting Growth in

Africa Despite the internationally recognized importance of SMEs, African small businesses often have difficulties accessing financing for growth and innovation from the formal financial sector. SME financing is often considered by many financial sector players in Africa to be a risky activity as promoters quite more often than not, fail to come up with the collateral levels required to secure bank facilities. Enterprises (SMEs) are widely recognized as big drivers of economic growth, innovation, regional development and job creation. A strong and vibrant SME sector provides a strong foundation to increase standards of living and to reduce poverty. African Guarantee Fund is a non-bank financial institution whose objective is to promote economic development, increase employment and reduce poverty in Africa by providing financial institutions with guarantee products and capacity development assistance specifically intended to support SMEs in Africa.

Jules Ngankam is Group Chief Executive Officer of African Guarantee Fund (AGF), and recently he spoke to Global Banking & Finance Review about today’s business challenges in Sub Saharan Africa, and the financial implications combatting the Coronavirus pandemic. Jules has over 15 years of experience in banking and financial services with leading financial institutions. He joined African Guarantee Fund in 2013 as the Chief Financial Officer after which he served as Deputy CEO from April 2017 and was thereafter appointed Group Chief Executive Officer in September 2020.

1 - What conditions led to the creation of African Guarantee Fund?

The Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector contributes significantly to developing African economies, but it still has a huge unexploited capacity for growth. SMEs make up approximately 80% of Africa’s private sector firms, with 50% being smallscale and 30% being medium-sized. SMEs contribute over 50% of new jobs in Sub-Saharan Africa however, only approximately 20% to the GDP. This is compared to 40-60% of GDP in the EU and the US and even higher rates in growing Asian economies.

For the SME to really play their role of the engine of growth, among other barriers, access to finance remains the strongest obstacle. According to analysts the SME financing gap in the continent is estimated at USD 300 billion.

The acknowledged reticence of the banking system in financing SMEs, especially as regards to the investment needed for development for this class of businesses, is mainly explained by: • •

• •

Low Banks’ long-term deposits; The inability of the SMEs to provide acceptable guarantees and collateral; Inadequate equity for SMEs; SMEs’ poor quality of management.

The African Guarantee Fund for Small and Mediumsized Enterprises (AGF) was established in 2012 to address the mismatch in the supply and demand of SME financing in Africa.

The aim of AGF is to reduce the risks assumed by the financial sector by sharing these risks through the provision of financial guarantees that mitigate the inability of SMEs to provide acceptable collateral.

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AGF also offers capacity development to financial institutions to improve SMEs’ financial product offerings, by helping banks to better address working capital and long-term financing needs of SMEs; and increasing Banks’ capacity to appraise SMEs by providing technical assistance and strategy to further develop their business.

AGF is a truly public-private partnership involving donors, development institutions, financial institutions and private investors joining forces to support African SMEs. 2 - Can you tell us about the guarantees AGF offer to address the range of financing needs?

AGF offers four main types of guarantee products: Loan Individual Guarantees Loan Portfolio Guarantees Bank Fund Raising Guarantees Equity Guarantees The Loan Individual Guarantee guarantees a single loan made by a bank to a single Borrower whose identity is known.

The Loan Portfolio Guarantee guarantees a portfolio of loans made by a bank to a borrower segment for which the qualifying criteria have been

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defined but the individual borrowers are not known at the time of the guarantee agreement. The guaranteed party is not required to get approval of AGF prior the placement of each loan under the guarantee.

The Bank Fund Raising Guarantee guarantees bonds issued by a bank to investors for the purpose of raising long-term resources to finance SMEs. The Equity Guarantee is issued to cover equity investments in SMEs. 3 - What is the scope to use guarantees?

The most important criteria of AGF’s guarantee is that the end beneficiary has to be an SME. 4 - How does African Guarantee Fund enable banks in Africa to execute their SME strategy?

In Africa, the main source of financing for SMEs is the banking sector. Despite Banks’ increasing interest to provide services to SMEs, they face multiple challenges mainly due to issues of assessing and managing risks.

Furthermore, the resources of banks and financial institutions are mostly short-term, and it is therefore difficult for the banking system to easily use

their current excess of liquidity to finance the needs of SMEs. Finally, the inability of SMEs to provide acceptable collateral to reduce the lending risks associated to them, the inadequacy of their capital structure and sometimes the poor quality of their management increase the reluctance of the banks to fully support their activities.

AGF products assist financial institutions to scale up their SME lending activities in situation where SMEs are unable to meet collateral requirements; Improves the solvency (regulatory capital) ratios of banks and thus enables them to have a better leverage on their capital; Addresses regulatory requirements of banks' limited use of short-term resources to finance medium and long-term SME needs; Allows banks to mobilize medium and long-term resources at very competitive price.

5 - How is the AGF opening up financial opportunities and supporting the growth of SME customers?

The challenges SMEs face in Africa are within five key areas: Access to finance Infrastructure Access to markets Human resources Legal environment and corruption

EMEA COVER STORY

Amongst these challenges, the biggest one is that of accessing finance.

The SME financing gap is brought about by the following gaps: Information gap: SMEs lack historical data to enable them to adequately assess their risks due to the fact that most of them do not practice proper book-keeping.

Tenor gap: Banks have short-term resources while the SMEs need more of long-term resources to grow.

6 - What improvements have you brought about in the SME sector since you began operations?

Since AGF began operations, the company has delivered in:

•

20 Million people were able to access clean energy thanks to SMEs supported by AGF guarantees.

Fostering Jobs Creation • 130,000 Additional jobs created

Improving lives in Africa • •

•

AGF has supported more than 25,000 SMEs. SMEs that benefited from AGF guarantees have generated an additional revenue of USD 4 Billion.

Approximately 50% of supported SMEs are located in rural areas.

Fighting Climate Change • Cutting 3.8 million tons of CO2 equivalent Greenhouse Gas (GHG) • 57,005 KW Cleaner generation capacity installed • 101 Partner Financial Institutions and 291 SMEs Trained

Collateral gap: Banks have tough collateral requirements.

Product gap: Bank products are sometimes not adapted to SMEs’ business cycles.

Skills gap: SMEs are unable to attract or afford required talent.

Perception gap: This is the gap between the perceived risk and the real risk.

AGF’s guarantee products and capacity development assistance are designed to tackle the financing challenge by being the missing link between the lending institutions and the SMEs.

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EMEA COVER STORY

Promoting Gender Equality •

USD 522 million Loans granted to 6,000+

women-led SMEs •

328 women-led SMEs Trained Contributing to Africa’s Competitiveness • USD 780 million loans granted to 3,400+ SMEs in the Energy, Infrastructure and Manufacturing Sectors Contributing towards Food Security • USD 188 million loans granted to 2,100+ SMEs in the Agriculture Sector.

Partnering for Poverty Reduction • USD 2.5 billion private capital made available in 40 Countries 7 - What are your plans to increase financing to agricultural and renewable energy SMEs in Africa?

8 - In November, Fitch Rating confirmed the African Guarantee Fund for Small and Mediumsized Enterprises Ltd's (AGF) Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) Rating at 'AA-' (Very Strong), what does this rating mean for the company?

The biggest asset of a guarantee fund is its credibility. The main criteria defining AGF’s credibility is its rating. The rating brings a very strong comfort to our partner financial institutions when assessing AGF’s capacity to assist them in improving their profitability, liquidity and solvency in order to meet the expectations of their shareholders and the requirements of the regulators.

AGF’s rating brings huge benefits to our partner financial institutions: •

It provides a higher capital relief to banks as it reduces the required amount of loan provisions.

In 2015, AGF with support from the Nordic Development Fund, launched the Green Guarantee Facility (GGF) to ease access to finance for SMEs to invest in climate and green growth-oriented economy.

•

Allows banks to raise capital at a better cost;

•

Increases the asset quality of banks’ loan portfolio.

•

Improves the banks’ Risk Weighted Assets (RWA)

The Green Guarantee Facility brings direct benefits in terms of climate change mitigation and adaptation as well as sustainable employment, poverty reduction, and genderinclusive financing opportunities.

9 - Has AGF had to adapt operations as a result of COVID-19? What are some ways AGF is responding and assisting businesses and individuals during this critical time?

From the banking sector point of view, green finance is a new sector, of which SME lenders are not very familiar. Besides, SMEs are also not well versed with knowledge and skills to design and manage climate-friendly projects, let alone access to green funding. There exists significant knowledge and capacity gaps in green finance, which the GGF technical assistance addresses.

COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect African SMEs and has deteriorated their creditworthiness.

As a consequence, the reluctance of financial institutions to finance SMEs has increased.

It is crucial to provide external stimulus to financial institutions so that they can continue to support SMEs in this unprecedented crisis.

AGF launched a COVID-19 product that aims to:

To-date, AGF in partnership with the Nordic Development Fund and the International Trade Centre has hosted five Green Finance Conferences and subsequent trainings in Zambia, Kenya, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal.

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•

•

Reduce the uncertainties faced by financial institutions in Africa as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic.

Provide more comfort to financial institutions to restructure facilities that become nonperforming because of COVID-19.

EMEA COVER STORY

•

•

Provide commercial stimulus to the financial sector with the objective of mitigating the deterioration of SMEs’ perceived risk.

Provide technical assistance to financial institutions to enhance their risk assessment approaches to better analyze the impact of the pandemic and reduce the SMEs’ risk perception gap

10 - In your opinion, what role should financial institutions take to support the social economic development in Africa?

Financial institutions need to increase their support to SMEs by increasing SME lending and designing products that are better adapted to SMEs’ needs.

11 - Are you launching any new products and where do you see AGF in 5 years?

We are constantly improving our product offering to better serve SMEs and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our new products mostly follow a thematic approach to close financing gaps in climate finance, women finance, agribusiness, etc.

In 5 years, we see AGF covering all countries in Africa, dealing with most of African banks and managing a guarantee portfolio of USD 5 billion.

Jules Ngankam Group Chief Executive Officer African Guarantee Fund

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Putting Customers First For over 126 years, First Bank of Nigeria Limited (FirstBank) has been delivering comprehensive and innovative financial services. With over 750 business locations and over 86,000 Banking Agents spread across 99.7% of the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria, FirstBank has built lasting relationships with customers by focusing on the fundamentals of good corporate governance, strong liquidity, optimised risk management and leadership.

Wanda Rich, Editor, Global Banking & Finance Review spoke to Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, CEO, FirstBank to find out about the banks current activities and to discuss the current state of banking in Nigeria.

Wanda Rich: What is the current state of banking in Nigeria?

Dr. Adesola Adeduntan: Banking in Nigeria has progressed substantially in the last few years if you consider where we started from. For example, if you consider service, in the not so distant past, we were in a place where bank customers could only enjoy banking services if they had an account at their local branch. Today, customers’ funds can be moved between banks instantly, in the comfort of their homes or offices.

Nigerian banks are rapidly embracing digital innovations.

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We are now also better capitalized and have consistently demonstrated our capacity to export banking services to other countries. Interestingly, no bank represents this successful evolution better than FirstBank which has been established for over 126 years. Our position as the foremost financial services provider in the region was achieved on the back of continuous reinvention and innovation. At FirstBank, over 85% of our customer transactions are conducted on affiliated platforms.

Wanda Rich: FirstBank is at the forefront of promoting electronic banking solutions in Nigeria. You recently launched the first of its kind in Africa, FastTrack - Next Generation ATM. Can you tell us about the FastTrack ATM and the advantages it offers customers?

Dr. Adesola Adeduntan: The FastTrack - Next Generation ATM, also known as the Touchless ATM, is a solution that allows a customer to transact at an ATM by simply tapping a contactless NFC (Near Field Communication) card on the ATM. The transaction would have been initially set up by the customer on his mobile phone. The innovation is targeted at making our customers’ transactions faster and more efficient at our ATM sites.

It is also one of our responses to the COVID-19 pandemic ensuring efficient and safe customer service. It is widely acknowledged that, the virus can be better contained by adopting a minimum touch interaction approach.

The contactless solution thus ensures customer safety and an improved confidence in the use of the ATM while drastically reducing the time spent at an ATM. The risk of spreading the COVID-19 virus is reduced as well as providing a new and exciting user experience for our customers.

Wanda Rich: Talking about COVID-19, how is FirstBank responding to the current pandemic?

Dr. Adesola Adeduntan: We are one of the very few organisations that have experienced previous pandemics, as well experience in two world wars and, a civil war over previous centuries. You may have seen our strap line “woven into the fabric of the society”. This is not just a cliché. Our services help shape the society through challenging times.

We had already made deliberate and sizable investments in technological infrastructure, as well as products and services that made it possible for us to adequately respond to the challenge posed by the current pandemic.

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Our services to our customers remain stable and unbroken during the current period. Even when bank branches could not open to at the height of the pandemic, our customers were able to transact seamlessly at our over 86,000 agent banking locations, with over 3,000 ATM terminals at the various digital touchpoints. Today, the number of FirstBank’s agent banking locations has grown to over 86,000 within 772 local government areas in Nigeria. At those locations, customers open accounts, register for their Bank Verification Numbers, withdraw and deposit cash, transfer funds, recharge airtime, and pay bills. The channel has processed over 9.3 Trillion Naira transactions since its launch in 2018.

In line with our core commitment to putting our customers first, while equally ensuring responsible lending, we provided significant concessions on interest rates across different loan types, in addition to repayment moratoriums and facility extension to support some key market segments, like schools and traders, making repayment flexible and realistic.

One of the most neglected demographics in this current period are children and young people. We were aware of this, and deployed e-learning platforms to ensure students across

the nation are not disconnected from learning opportunities like many of their counterparts in other parts of the world. For example, we sponsored the distribution of 20,000 customised e-learning tablets in partnership with the Lagos State Government in Nigeria.

We are also an important member of the coalition of private sector organisations, that have continued to generously donate isolation facilities, drugs and relief materials to people across the country during these trying times. We remain committed to the success of our customers going forward during this period.

Wanda Rich: Has the crisis of COVID-19 accelerated the implementation of banks’ digital strategies?

Dr. Adesola Adeduntan: We are aware that there is a positive impact of the pandemic, by moving many of our activities to digital channels.

FirstBank’s journey towards digitalization has recently been more aggressive, which was why we were able to seamlessly respond to the sudden social changes. The pandemic has encouraged us to further validate the effectiveness of our digital strategies. During these times, in addition to the branches and the agent

Dr. Adesola Adeduntan CEO First Bank of Nigeria Limited (FirstBank)

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locations, we have continued to open new customer accounts via our digital touchpoints such as the mobile app, USSD, as well the assisted Digital Sales app. We are currently responsible for over 20% of the industry’s interbank transactions nationwide, and this is a testimony to the volumes we generate through our digital channels. Our system processes over 30% of card transactions in Nigeria.

Our digital loan platform provides simple loans to salary earners within seconds of them making requests on their mobile phones. Like our many other transaction types, they do not need to physically visit one of our locations. The outlook for us is to build a technology company remotely delivering a full range of banking services, and we remain focused to deliver this in the future.

Wanda Rich: How is the bank opening up financial opportunities and supporting the growth of SME customers at this time?

Dr. Adesola Adeduntan: Our Bank is passionate about Small and Medium Enterprises because of their potential to impact the economy. We have value-added solutions with which we have created a functional ecosystem for SMEs to thrive. The ecosystem includes propositions, such as connection of the SMEs to talent and resources, cutting edge tools, access to business finance and market capacity building opportunities and policy advocacy. These are all aggregated on our SMEConnect platform, as value adding products and services for easy access and at competitive rates that are mostly discounted. The SMEConnect is a digital platform that enables the SMEs to connect to our services from the comfort of their locations anywhere in the world. This has been well received by the SME community as we engage across the country.

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During this period, we have remained very close to our business owners, to provide much-needed support to navigate the challenges. We hold regular free webinars to help equip them with the needed skills to effectively leverage digital platforms in this new environment. As earlier mentioned, we gave concessions on loans, which were mostly appreciated

by SMEs.

Wanda Rich: Financial Inclusion has always been a focus for FirstBank.

You have the KidsFirst and MeFirst products for the younger generation.

Can you tell us about these unique accounts, why they were created, and how they help drive financial inclusion?

Dr. Adesola Adeduntan: You are right.

We see financial inclusion as a means of achieving sustainable social impact.

I mentioned how we are building a distribution channel that has been adjudged the most successful bank-led agent banking scheme in the world.

We are a youth-friendly bank with compelling propositions for that demographic. About 35% of our customer base is young people.

KidsFirst and MeFirst were created to encourage the right savings culture among children from 0 – 17 years. The offerings have relevant enhancements, including appropriate parental guidance and financial discipline for children as they grow into adulthood. Both accounts can be opened with zero balance and operated with a minimum balance of 100 Naira.

KidsFirst Account is designed for children between the ages of 0 and 12 years to sensitise them on how exciting savings can be. The account comes with an appealing gift item for the child when the account is opened, and it is automatically transited to MeFirst account when the child is 13 years old.

MeFirst account, on the other hand, is designed for teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17. It was created in recognition of the need to help teenagers embrace the culture of financial responsibility and cashless payment as they develop into young adults. They have access to attractive and fashionable pre-paid cards through which parents/guardians can credit weekly/monthly allowance and monetary gifts. With controlled spend limits, the teenagers are introduced to the concept of ecommerce with the use of the card for small online orders like games, music and physical POS payments as well.

The good thing is that these accounts come with the benefit of access to Financial Literacy Workshops and Youth Empowerment Series, which are some of the outstanding investments we have made at FirstBank, to prepare Nigerian youths to become enterprise-minded.

Wanda Rich: What does the partnership between FirstBank and Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) and The Lagos State Health Management Agency (LASHMA) mean for customers?

Dr. Adesola Adeduntan: The partnership with LSETF means that low-cost private schools in Lagos State can access funding at a single-digit interest rate of 9%. We target support for over 2,000 schools in the first tranche. This will enable schools, who were badly affected by the pandemic to bounce back in better times. We are glad to support the Lagos State Government in improving the post-COVID-19 economic recovery for those involved in the education sector, which in turn boosts learning and creates more jobs. We are going a stage further, working with the health sector partners, like LASHMA, as well as offering highly competitive concessionary interest rates to key players like the Pharmacy associations nationwide, supporting the national and even global efforts to flatten the curve.

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Wanda Rich: As the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects persist, what is FirstBank’s approach to sustainable impact in the society?

Dr. Adesola Adeduntan: Regardless of the impact of COVID-19, as a responsible corporate organisation we remain committed to supporting all our stakeholders in the most sustainable manner possible. Our Bank has been woven into the fabric of society for over 126 years, overcoming challenges, and remaining a dominant player, partnering and supporting various sustainable activities towards the continued growth of our host communities and the nation at large.

Whilst different organisations rose to the various challenges resulting from the COVID-19 crisis, and were supportive in areas such as health and welfare, FirstBank chose and developed the e-learning initiative.

FirstBank felt strongly that the specific needs of children and youth risked being neglected at a time of unprecedented crises – with schools being closed, parents losing jobs, businesses shutting down, government revenues shrinking, health care resources being over-stretched, economic conditions worsening, amongst many other challenges.

The bank therefore kick-started an initiative to move one million students to e-learning, alongside its partners.

This was to minimise the disruption to their education resulting from the prolonged closure of schools across Nigeria, and ensure that they remain fully engaged during this difficult period, so they can continue to learn and compete favourably with their peers across the world. Over 140,000 students have benefitted from this e-learning initiative.

Focusing on key elements that resonated with its brand, such as dynamism, innovation and nation building, FirstBank’s e-learning initiative is an innovative and dynamic approach to learning which is not only a suitable and resourceful solution at this time, but also one that is intertwined with perhaps the next century’s digital approach to education, especially with the addition of courses such as coding and robotics, which can usher students into the era of the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution, and prepare them for the jobs of the future. The e-learning initiative also aligns with FirstBank’s key focus area within its Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability framework – education.

Education remains the single largest beneficiary of FirstBank’s enormous investments in CR&S. Currently, 10 universities and three secondary schools enjoy FirstBank’s infrastructure projects; 10 universities are endowed with professorial chairs by the bank; and over 80,000 students in over 80 secondary schools in Nigeria have benefitted from financial literacy, and entrepreneurial and career counselling, provided through FirstBank-sponsored programmes.

Education consistently attracts the bank’s keenest attention from year to year. This is because FirstBank believes that education – high quality and relevant education – remains the bedrock of any society. When children are properly educated, the nation’s future is enhanced, and the citizens of the future will provide ground-breaking solutions for the continent and the world at large.

FirstBank’s partnership with IBM as part of the e-learning initiative, is making available to students the Digital-Nation Africa (DNA) programme, an online youth-focused learning programme that enables innovation and skills development on emerging technologies.

IBM Digital-Nation Africa aims to provide African youth with effective digital literacy. The Platform seeks to enable African citizens, entrepreneurs and communities with the knowledge, tools and skills to innovate, design, develop and launch their own digital skills. It also helps African citizens enhance their digital skills to best meet the needs of the job market.

DNA provides a broad range of courses for various levels of digital literacy, from introducing the key emerging technologies beneficial for all, through an integrated innovator section, to a focused skills enablement section where users can understand the skills and demands of the market and gain proven knowledge to enhance their job prospects. In addition, it provides free access to practical exercises, and allows new ideas to be brought to life through focus areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Coding, Cloud, Internet Items, Blockchain, Data Science and Analytics, and Cyber Security.

There are currently nearly 14,000 registrants on the programme, which is promoting opportunities to learn the skills of the future.

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The partnership with Curious Learning is designed to reach smartphone users using available tested literacy and numeracy apps – with free access. Curious Learning is delivering academic-based content for students aged three to eight through a number of mobile applications designed to empower these young children in a fun, self-guided learning process through exploration and curiosity, to help them with their cognitive skills at a fundamental level. Examples of these apps are Feed the

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Monster and Read with Akili. Efforts are in place through Curious Learning to ensure the e-learning initiative swiftly moves across the country to school children and individuals with the need to promote the pursuit of knowledge, irrespective of age. This is critical in identifying with the roles of children at securing the future of any country.

Another partnership in FirstBank’s e-learning initiative is with Lagos State Government and Robert & John, an Edu-tech company

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also enables note-taking for quick reference, and to foster extra-curricular activities, provides exciting features to make learning exciting and fun, such as podcasts and various games like brain pulse, monster munch etc. which allows students to play with one another online, thereby building relationships and promoting interactive learning.

So far FirstBank has provided 20,000 low-end devices preloaded with Roducate offline (presented to Lagos State Government for distribution to students) in addition to free sign-ups on the Roducate e-learning platform, with the ultimate goal being to empower at least one million students. Also, FirstBank is a member of the Global Education Coalition led by UNESCO which is a platform for collaboration and exchange to protect the right of education during this unprecedented disruption and beyond.

that owns Roducate. The Roducate e-learning platform, structured in line with the government’s accredited curriculum for primary, secondary and tertiary schools across various fields of academic endeavours, such as science, commercial and arts, includes tutorial videos to reinforce the learning engagement, as well as assignments and mock exams to test students’ knowledge and progress in the course of studying. Learning on the platform

Furthermore, in a bid to support SMEs operating in the education sector, FirstBank created a matching fund scheme of ₦5 billion (5 billion Naira) LSETF-FirstEdu Loan, in partnership with the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF). The scheme is designed to cushion the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on low-cost private schools by providing loans to them at an attractive interest rate. The partnership with Lagos State Government is for continuous development of the education services in Lagos State and the nation as a whole. The commitment by the Lagos State Government with this partnership – will mitigate the challenges caused by the lockdown on the education sector following the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a responsible corporate organisation committed to supporting all its stakeholders in the most sustainable manner possible, FirstBank has partnered various State Governments through the private sector-led Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) intervention with a view to promoting the readiness and efficiency of health care professionals and other compatriots at the forefront of fighting the pandemic. FirstBank donated ₦1 billion towards the joint effort of the Nigerian private sector-driven CACOVID (Coalition Against COVID-19) under the leadership of the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele. CACOVID is providing the bulk of emergency health infrastructural interventions across Nigeria.

We enhanced palliative measures to help customers through these times.

We introduced special waivers on repayment fees on our credit cards and a 90-day loan moratorium on our FirstEdu and First Trader solutions, to help cushion the impact of the toll on employment and livelihoods. We will persist in providing innovative and user-defined solutions to support our customers and communities sustainably.

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Award-winning CIO shares insight on personal and company success Nedbank Group, one of South Africa’s largest banks, celebrates five technology-related awards from Global Banking and Finance 2020.

With a company vision of becoming the most admired financial services provider in Africa by staff, clients, and shareholders, it's clear that Nedbank Group is well on their way. In this interview, CIO Fred Swanepoel, who was recognised as CIO of the Year South Africa, shares his journey to becoming an awardwinning Information Officer as well as his personal methods, tips, and advice for those interested in IT management.

Briefly share with us your journey to becoming CIO of Nedbank Limited.

My career began at the Small Business Development Corporation, from where I later joined Nedbank in 1996. In 2004, I became the divisional director of Group Technology and Support Services. I subsequently gained experience at the highest levels of Nedbank’s technology cluster, holding divisional director positions of Finance, Risk and Compliance; Projects and Programme Management; and Group Software Services.

In November 2008, I was appointed as Group CIO and a Nedbank Group Exco member.

What’s your top tip for staying ahead in your field?

I have a passion for mentoring and sponsoring highpotential talent, accordingly, if I may, I’d like to list three: • Never stop learning. I believe education and continuous learning to be the bedrock of success. I am privileged to have had the opportunity to study a B. Com Honours at the University of Stellenbosch, an MBA at the University of the Witwatersrand as well

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as a SEPSA and AMP from Harvard Business School.

But learning extends beyond formal education and training. In the prevailing fast-changing and hypercompetitive environment, leaders have had to commit to ongoing agility and learning as we pivot our strategies in response to systemic developments. In short, to remain ahead of the game, you need to keep on educating yourself.

• There is no substitute for hard work.

True passion for technology and innovation is a vital ingredient for a successful tenure in the fast-moving, highly competitive financial services technology ecosystem.

• Developing a strong network to leverage at critical 'moments of truth' is important. Like any asset, this network requires nurturing and investment.

Having sponsors who genuinely care about your wellbeing and success has, over time, proven to be invaluable to my career trajectory.

What are the most important functions of a CIO? Performing a conduit role between business and IT is, in my opinion, a critical component of my role to enable coordination and synchronicity of enterprise execution efforts. Brokering of ‘tradeoffs’ has increasingly become an important part of my role as we seek to navigate the prevailing volatile and uncertain competitive economy by maximising the benefits from our substantial IT investments across the various components of our business. Advancing our digital aspirations has, over the preceding years, been top of my radar, given the various benefits emanating from digitisation (revenue uplift, cost-saving, client experience uplift etc). Having ‘the correct people in the correct seats on the bus’ is incredibly important and people remain the biggest component of an effective IT value chain. Only by having the right people will any IT initiative be successful. We have experienced this firsthand

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with our big transformational programme, Managed Evolution, and witnessed the positive impact that having the right people leading our efforts has on execution effectiveness and operational efficiency.

multi-skilled players to support you in particularly difficult times, is critical.

What’s the most important part of your job and what advice would you give to young people interested in a career in IT management?

In 2020, Nedbank has been recognised by Global Banking and Finance by winning 5 significant industry-leading technology-related awards, namely:

‘We have become educators.’

There is a digital revolution taking place. I believe that our role is to consistently educate business partners and key stakeholders about how tech can support, enable, and transform traditional operations in support of sustainable business outperformance. I have a critical role to play in brokering collaboration between the IT and business fraternities in support of accelerated execution, the adoption of digital, system rationalisation, the onboarding and leveraging of new technology deployments, etc.

For young people with a keen interest in IT I would advise the following: • You get out of life what you put into it: passion, pride, commitment, and heart. These cannot be taught but they are without a doubt differentiators. Doggedly pursue what you aspire towards – you are the architect of your own future.

• Be genuine: far too often, I see people living separate personal versus professional lives.

It is my considered opinion that being genuine is what will endear you to key stakeholders in this day and age.

• Learn to become ambidextrous: survival in today’s fast-moving, highly competitive, global technology ecosystem, requires one to be able to manage high levels of complexity, various interdependencies, and various moving parts on a daily basis.

• Pick your team well! Having a team composed of determined, self-motivated and

Can you surface a recent highlight of your career?

• Best Banking Technology Implementation South Africa • Most Innovative Digital Branch Design South Africa • Most Innovative Retail Banking App (Nedbank Money App) South Africa •

Best Retail Bank South Africa

• CIO of the Year South Africa I am humbled to have been recognised as the CIO of the year in South Africa for 2020. The performance and commitment of my diverse IT leadership team, the support from our CEO Mike Brown, the Board, my Group Exco colleagues, and our staff are the drivers behind us winning these awards.

What are the biggest trends impacting your field in the decade ahead?

• Client experience focus – delivering leading client experiences, at an innovation cadence that exceeds that of our peer group on a relative basis is, in my opinion, what will separate the winners from the losers going forward.

• Remote working – the enablement of staff to work effectively remotely is critical to support core business operations and the ongoing profitability of the enterprise.

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• Cybersecurity remains one of the most important trends, in an increasingly digitised ecosystem, as we have a responsibility to our clients to protect them from sophisticated cyberrelated attacks, which continue to persist and grow in volume.

• The pervasiveness of digital / Internet of Things (IoT) – with more and more automation, connected devices will dominate the industry and enable enterprises to cross barriers they have previously not been able to. Nedbank has welldefined plans in place to leverage our vast API network in support of improved client experience and feature functionality offered to our clients.

How would you describe your communication skills and how do you cope with stress?

I’d best describe my communication skills as ‘radically candid and people-centred.’

In the prevailing and tough Global environment, we, as leaders, have had to communicate with care and empathy whilst still being radically candid in the content of our communication. Balancing the sincere care we have for our people and delivering the cold hard facts is something my leadership team and I have not shied-away-from. We have deliberately focused our communication across digital platforms without losing the human touch.

This caring and radical candid communication approach gives rise to a workforce that grows together in and out of these tough times.

Developing skills to manage stress is an important tool in everyone’s armoury.

How do I personally cope with stress?

• I fly. I’m an avid pilot and love the alone time in the air to reflect on past, current, and future challenges.

• I leverage a core group of family and close friends to support me in times of need.

• I prepare. The more stressed I am, the harder I work and, in my experience, the luckier I get.

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Who do you most admire in business or who has been your biggest influence, and how have they affected you?

• Elon Musk - It is inspiring to see how he has transformed a vision into a revolutionary reality by combining technology and business.

• Mike Brown – Mike’s attitude, aptitude, and energy are, quite simply, extraordinary. His application and consistency over a 10+ year tenure is impressive. His ability to consistently display high levels of IQ and EQ is rare and is what sets him apart from his peers.

What 3 books would you recommend people read?

• The Platform Revolution by Geoffrey G, Parker and Marshall W, Van Alstyne • Goliath’s Revenge: How Established Companies Turn the Tables on Digital Disruptors

by Scott Snyder and Todd Hewlin • Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't by Jim Collins

What do you look for when you’re building a team?

‘Strategy precedes structure.’

Having the right strategy to build a team around is the first step. Nedbank’s IT strategy is anchored around 3 pillars: Digitise, Delight, and Disrupt.

Each pillar has specific strategic technology focus areas. The right team is an outcome of the strategy. At Nedbank, we have come to realise that our secret to success is the use of technology as an enabler whilst harnessing the power of our people. With these two ingredients, Technology + Our People, we create agile teams that deliver delightful client experiences whilst driving our strategic mandate to Digitise, Delight, and Disrupt the financial services industr

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Fred Swanepoel Chief Information Officer (CIO) NedBank

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LOOKING AHEAD: UK BANKING’S TRAJECTORY

Matthew Phillips, Vice President, Head of Financial Services UK & Ireland, Diebold Nixdorf, explores three of the key themes having impact and driving change for UK banks.

The UK’s banking industry has always been evolutionary and revolutionary. It’s a sector that every consumer relies on and that influences our daily lives. 2020 was a year of great change for many, a marker in the sand, and an opportunity to rethink what we do and why.

For UK banks it’s a part of their ever moving journey to be the best service provider for their customers. To provide them with the banking services they need, when and where they need them. As a partner to the banking sector we’re always there with the ‘what’s next?’ As we look at what 2021 and beyond will look like, I explore the trends driving change and shifting the evolution of the sector.

BEYOND THE PANDEMIC As a result of the pandemic banks have seen a surge in the use of online banking and mobile apps by consumers to perform transactions they may have previously conducted in-person. How do the services offered

by Diebold Nixdorf assist banks delivering seamless financial solutions to customers?

Customers who have long used online and mobile services have increasingly relied on technology during lockdown.

And customers who hadn’t previously banked in this way drove increased adoption. However, there is increasing evidence that when physical banking options have been available, customer demand was strong.

Diebold Nixdorf supports banks in providing the breadth of technology services that fulfil the needs of

every type of customer. From the highly digitally enabled, to those who need a little bit of both digital and physical banking, to those who still predominantly rely on their branch. Providing consumers with the opportunity to choose and flex how they bank is essential - both during a pandemic and not.

What is the impact of COVID-19 on the self-service market?

Self-service and ATMs have been undergoing consistent evolution for many years and the impact of COVID-19 is just a part of this journey. Looking back on the technology advances in the ATM market in recent years, it’s clear to see that much of the evolution into selfservice has significantly helped banks to lessen the impacts of COVID-19 for consumers. It’s an area where investment in technology has reaped rewards during a time of crisis.

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As an essential service, banks are expected to provide continuous service no matter what the circumstances and they did an exceptional job during 2020. With personal interactions being reduced wherever possible, self-service terminals have provided a crucial method of upholding customer service. A bridge between physical and digital services that has enabled banks to maintain those crucial touch points.

experience. Banks are keeping pace by updating their apps and online account servicing and embracing technology, such as self-service systems, to improve the in-branch and remote banking experience. But what’s of upmost importance when adopting this new technology is working behind the scenes to connect all of these elements – for the benefit of both the customer and the bank.

We envisage a future where self-service continues to be this bridge. As consumers increasingly embrace technology in retail environments, they will begin to expect more of this functionality when it comes to banking.

Our solution is simplicity: futuristic in-person banking technology, built on fully integrated software, with a flexible, customisable interface to allow banks to engage with customers through their distinct brand identity.

THE IMPACT OF DISRUPTORS

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

How are established banks keeping pace with the new disruptors?

What do you think the future developments are for the industry?

There’s no doubt that the banking industry is feeling the impact of some powerful brands and new entrants into the market. However, UK banks have the trust of consumers - built up over hundreds of years - through their consistency of delivery and service, and it will take a while for new disruptors to compete in this way.

For any large organisation, restructuring and updating legacy infrastructures and technology requires time and investment.

But banks in the UK know that it is central to retaining the trust they have earned. Because of this they are motivated to keep pace and are working to keep the needs of their customers front of mind.

The banking industry will continue to innovate and develop - driven by the needs of the consumers it serves and technological developments. There are distinct learnings from 2020 - such as the importance of richer transactions - that will see immediate development and investment, and where customers will reap the rewards. Online banking and mobile apps, in the most part, coped excellently with the surge in use but there are areas where the technology has been found lacking, such as the integration between digital and physical services.

The industry is now focused on providing solutions to the problems that have been highlighted by the circumstances of the past twelve months.

We work with banks to make sure that the adoption of new technology is as seamless as possible and to ensure that technology is integrated flawlessly into the overall

We expect to see the industry focus on customer experience and I believe that 2021 will be the year when we see decisive impetus added to banks' strategies around the

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continued role of bank branches. Now is the time for change across branches to reach scale and to provide consumers across the UK with the elevated experiences they expect. The future is driven by customers and they will stay front of mind as banks keep pace with the ways in which the world has changed recently.

What are your future plans for developments?

Diebold Nixdorf believes in being a partner that helps banks to actively drive the industry forward.

By working together we provide technology services that offer integrated future-facing solutions, which allow banks and retailers to give the best possible customer experience. Our plan is to continue to present our customers with new and innovative technology, which will enable them to be agile and deliver a truly connected experience.

Matthew Phillips Vice President, Head of Financial Services UK & Ireland, Diebold Nixdorf Diebold Nixdorf is a world leader in enabling connected commerce.

We automate, digitise and transform the way people bank and shop.

As a partner to the majority of the world’s top 100 financial institutions and top 25 global retailers, our integrated solutions connect digital and physical channels conveniently, securely and efficiently for millions of consumers each day.

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Bridging the divide between frontier, emerging markets, and the rest of the world.

Crown Agents Bank boasts financial market experience that spans almost two centuries, with expertise in foreign exchange for emerging and frontier markets. The multi-award-winning organisation was named by Global Banking & Finance Review as “the most exciting, innovative and promising” forex bank in The Next 100 Global Awards and Fastest Growing Forex Bank in Africa 2020. We spoke to the CEO Albert Maasland about the services they provide, the technological strides they’ve made to address the complexities of foreign exchange in emerging markets, and the effects of COVID-19 on cross-border payments services.

Crown Agents Bank (CAB) specialises in payments and foreign exchange for digital payment specialists, official development agencies, nongovernmental organisations, commercial and central banks. Can you tell us more about your business model?

Crown Agents Bank’s mission is to ensure moving money in, out and across developing, emerging, and frontier markets is as efficient as possible. We have a range of institutional clients as many stakeholders are interested in our core business of moving money, meaning we work with commercial banks, central banks, governments, payment companies (non-bank financial institutions), international development organisations and pension schemes all over the world. Through our wholesale FX and cross-border payments services, we are able to provide cost-effective services to and from many countries that historically have experienced high costs and complexity in moving money where it is needed.

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From our London base, we focus particularly on FX and payments in Africa, the Caribbean, Central and South America and the Asia-Pacific, and act as a commercial gateway for entities seeking to transact with these regions.

What is the value proposition CAB offers to clients?

CAB is a true specialist in what are often called frontier markets. One of the most unique aspects of CAB is its heritage; we have been operating for nearly two centuries and have developed particularly strong relationships in some of the world’s hardest-to-reach markets.

We specialise in serving markets that other players can’t as they lack the network, adaptability or expertise of a boutique bank like CAB - something that we’re really proud of.

Our aim is to help our clients to safely and securely move money where it’s needed most, and this is reflected in our currency offering. We offer direct access to over 100 frontier, emerging and G10

EMEA INTERVIEW

market currencies across more than 500 currency pairs – many being illiquid or rarely-traded tender.

What are the challenges and opportunities of working in these challenging markets?

There are significant costs and complexities associated with moving money in or out of emerging and frontier markets, both in terms of FX conversion and the associated payment costs. These markets often suffer the most in the face of natural disasters, economic downturn or political disruption. Logistical difficulties exist regarding the physical movement of money, driven by inefficiencies, limitations in correspondent banking relationships, exchange controls and limitations in interoperability between traditional and emerging payment systems. Both individuals and businesses struggle and may suffer from processes that are expensive in terms of time and cost. We aim to reduce these challenges on behalf of our clients.

We understand the unique challenges that many of these regions face and our work helps to facilitate remittance, development aid and capital flows, both on an intra- and extra-regional basis.

Technology is a driving force at CAB. In 2017 you launched EMpowerFX. What makes this platform unique and how has it helped strengthen operations?

CAB’s FX specialises in illiquid markets with a wide-ranging exotic currency offering and a unique, established payment network in hard-to-reach territories. Our automated trading platform, EMpowerFX, is a prime example of the technology deployed to provide better FX service for emerging markets.

EMpowerFX was launched in late 2017 to provide clients with real-time, direct access to competitive FX pricing and execution capabilities across all major traded currencies and emerging market currencies. We currently support trading in excess of 500 currency pairs on the platform. Users gain instant access to our exotic FX pricing, live market news feeds along with access to major traded currency pairs.

The EMpowerFX platform provides an efficient, one-stop venue to buy even some of the least accessible currencies at competitive costs. The service is designed to facilitate as frictionless a process as possible, saving time and effort.

How did the acquisition of Segovia expand on the bank's vision?

The acquisition of Segovia, a USbacked technology company which focuses on frontier market payments, marked the next chapter in our technological transformation. The acquisition has allowed us to extend our payment network, adding mobile

money payment capabilities and Segovia’s modern payment gateway to the bank’s extensive FX capabilities. As a result, we now offer a scalable and efficient payment solution for global institutions. Segovia brings additional technical talent to the task of expanding our digital bulk payment solutions for organisations tied to our FX liquidity capabilities. The acquisition improves our customer offer with the benefits from the combined network and strong relationships throughout Africa and other regions of the world as we combine our extensive FX and payment capabilities in a single platform.

Can you tell us about how your recent partnerships, including Paycode, benefit clients?

We are quickly becoming an FX and digital payments powerhouse, having started an ambitious programme of digital transformation a few years ago.

We announced our partnership with Paycode, a South African fintech specialising in biometric payments, back in July with a goal to reach 100 million unbanked individuals in rural Africa with our combined solution. We are working on a number of fintech and other institutional partnerships, each designed to extend the reach and facilitate financial inclusion and better, more reliable and efficient services.

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In relation to the current pandemic, how are foreign exchange services and cross-border payments being affected? How is the bank responding to COVID-19?

The COVID-19 crisis is having a widespread effect on both foreign exchange services and cross-border payments. The pandemic has posed many challenges to emerging and frontier markets, many of which are beyond their control. Lockdowns paused everything, globally, meaning that remittances, travel and trade were massively hit.

We are witnessing pressure on many frontier and emerging markets as a result with increased volatility due to shortages of hard currency impacting many currencies, reinforcing the importance of working with specialists in this field. We have also witnessed a significant increase in digital payment activities, as remittance and development aid organisations in particular look to digital solutions to overcome the challenges of lockdowns and restrictions on movement across many markets.

During these troubling times, we have continued to play our part by continuing to provide tailored services, support and settlement as usual. We work to ensure our clients have access to liquidity and that payment corridors stay open - something that is absolutely crucial for moving money into and across developing markets.

Despite the challenges, we continue to see significant growth in our FX and payment activities because of our specialist capabilities.

Albert Maasland

What does the future look like for CAB?

CEO Crown Agents Bank

There are very few limits to our growth opportunities on the back of our continued investment in our partner network and infrastructure. We want to build on the success we’ve already achieved, maximising the potential of technology and continuing our digital transformation journey to support the provision of affordable, secure FX payment services in hard-to-reach markets.

www.crownagentsbank.com

We will continue to add new currencies and alternative payment capabilities, ensuring that money can reach the people and organisations who need it most.

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The Philanthropy Paradox

The Philanthropy Paradox, a think piece commissioned by Prism the Gift Fund looks at public attitudes and prospects for planned giving, highlighting worrying negative attitudes towards philanthropists at a time when the third sector most needs the support.

The report is based on a survey conducted by NatCen with over 1,200 people. Most interestingly, it highlights a paradox, which is that the majority of people agree philanthropy makes society better, but almost a third do not believe philanthropists themselves are good for society.

“This Think Piece describes and illustrates a paradox that has implications for all who care about building a stronger charitable sector: that the British public feels far more positively about the fruits of philanthropy than it does about those who fund it,” said Dr Beth Breeze, the writer of the piece. In addition, the report reinforces two known paradoxes – that donors tend to benefit alongside those they intend to help, and that wealth accumulation tends to precede distribution.

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A disconnect between philanthropy and the donor It is concerning that there seems to be a disconnect between the impact of philanthropy and the donors making the gifts. There is a danger this could lead to HNW individuals deciding to curb giving to protect themselves.

Why would they want to be targeted by media or others in a negative light? In turn, charities are denied those larger private income streams. The advisors to donors need to help their clients navigate this.

How does the private client industry, and their clients, address the paradox that welcomes donations but labels donors as “money grabbing, tax dodgers”? (Terminology used in the survey responses). Clearly education is vital on a number of levels: •

Education from primary school age is key to ensure everyone has a responsibility to give. To rely on the British government has been a default position for many years and we can do this no longer.

•

In terms of UK tax breaks, many individuals are aware of Gift Aid but not the extent of its application.

EMEA FINANCE

Advisors need to be educated themselves around all the tax breaks and inform their clients.

There is between £500-£750m unclaimed in Gift Aid every year.

Why? Clients simply don’t know how Gift Aid works. Gift Aid has a split tax incentive between the donor and the charity. The charity is eligible to claim 25% extra on a donation from HMRC. If a donor pays tax above the basic rate, they can claim the difference between the rate they pay and basic rate on the donation. For example, a donation of £100,000 becomes £125,000 after application of Gift Aid. This would cost a 45% taxpayer £68,750 after making a Gift Aid reclaim on their tax return.

•

Even less have heard of gifts of shares or property*. The UK government set up The Giving Campaign in 2003. They believe it did help raise awareness of the Gift Aid tax incentive but singularly failed to make donors aware of any other incentives. And almost 20 years on, nothing has changed.

•

Therefore, educating private client intermediaries on charitable tax reliefs is critical to informing their clients on the full reliefs available to them. And this would apply to the tax reliefs of other jurisdictions, not just the UK.

•

These tax incentives still mean a donor gives money away that they could have personally benefitted from. There seems to be a huge misunderstanding about these incentives. The British government

should actively encourage these incentives and educate the public that not only do they exist, but they are legitimate forms of giving to be encouraged.

Learning from other countries on major donor fundraising There is much to be learnt about philanthropy from the Americans and Europeans. And where there are better and smarter forms of giving, let’s embrace that and learn from one another. The same conversation about simpler forms of giving, has been taking place with successive governments in the UK for the last 20 years with limited progress.

and encouraged. In the UK, there is a ~£10bn gap that currently exists in charitable expenditure. Maybe philanthropists and their advisors can help plug that gap or assist in looking at innovative ways of contributing to it.

Let’s learn from the positive aspects of philanthropy; garner more encouragement of philanthropy through knowledge around the tax incentives and where appropriate follow some of the great philanthropists in Europe and USA and celebrate their generosity.

Britain may be an island again after Brexit but the wonders of modern technology and a post Covid-19 world means the global world of philanthropy can work together.

And the reality is charities rely on both smaller and major donors. British charities have historically been very good at raising funds from the general public – brilliant at direct mail and securing government grants. However, when you look at some of the very large UK charities and their accounts, often you’ll see only about 8-9% of funds are raised from major donors. It illustrates that British charities have a lot to learn from other countries about major donor fundraising.

All forms of giving should be celebrated and encouraged Rather than castigate and shame these successful and sometimes generous individuals, let’s encourage more of them to give and give more. And advisors do have a key role to play in this motivation and education. The challenge is to align all of society – so that all forms of giving are celebrated

Anna Josse Co-Founder and CEO Prism the Gift Fund Prism the Gift Fund (Prism) is a UK registered charity- a Donor Advised Fundthat administers the giving of individuals, groups and foundations making significant gifts all over the world.

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Resource Group Leverages Talent to Innovate, Make a Difference Resource Group is an investment group with an incubator focus working with diverse businesses to capitalize on technology and human talent for value creation. Chairman and CEO Hisham Itani helped shepherd Resource Group from a family business to international investor in R&D and leading-edge solutions. To begin 2021, we sat down with Itani and asked him to share his experience with the company and his expectations for Resource Group’s future.

Resource Group has grown from a family security-printing business to a diversified international investment group. Can you tell us about this journey and the creation of Resource Group?

Behind Resource Group is a legacy business that started back in 1973.

When the family business started, security printing was at its early stage in Lebanon. The business was growing, producing stamps, and printing secure documents for both the private and public sector. As soon as I graduated from university, I joined the family business. I saw the potential in the technology sector for the Middle East region.

A growing market for digital security led to further expansion of the business into the region. We pioneered automated personalization with security printing in 1995, paving the way for a steady pipeline of products such as cheque books, fiscal stamps, bonds and others. We introduced years later,

secure card-based products and smart card manufacturing to the Middle East and Africa (MEA) while the technology was still at its onset.

Then, in 2005, we took another leap forward when we started investing in Research and Development (R&D). This allowed us to develop new technologies and delve into digital security through secure software solutions. Our R&D investments led to the creation of an in-house secure identification platform and automation software targeting public services.

As a result, the company grew into an international provider of digital secure solutions to telecom operators, financial institutions, corporations, and governments. It is one of the very few companies in the Middle East that develop proprietary solutions for digital identification. Resource Group was born in 2008 to consolidate the growing portfolio of businesses and to incubate more businesses and technology start-ups.

Resource Group won Most Innovative Holding Group Middle East 2020 and you were named 2020 Technology CEO of the Year Middle East. What strategies helped achieve this success?

First and foremost, I credit the persistent effort of our team in developing new technologies that contribute to the digital transformation in the Middle East and Africa.

For more than four decades, we have been building our R&D capabilities which allowed us to develop our own technologies locally instead of being limited to importing and adapting systems. This would not have been possible without our determination to invest in local talents and contribute to the wheels of our national economy. Relying on our team, our technical expertise, and our presence in different countries across the MEA region allowed us to become a well-established group in the industry today with a wide portfolio of executed national and regional projects throughout the years.

Also, as we work closely with public entities, we believe that the cooperation between the public sector and the private sector contributes to digital transformation and ultimately helps position the region at the center of innovation.

As a CEO, what are the biggest obstacles you have had to overcome?

Building a business, or leading one, is a complex endeavor. In our field of business, like many others, obstacles are part of the journey. In fact, technology innovation is a process that entails a continuous effort towards creating new solutions that benefit our society. Therefore, when choosing to innovate, we face many challenges because we are trying to find solutions to everyday problems. Hence, as a CEO, the most important element is to focus on the vision. It is the vision that propels you forward.

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Creating an R&D center was not an easy project at a time when digital security was relatively new in our part of the world. As a result, we took many risks to be able to drive the business forward. But I have always believed in the potential of technology to positively shaping our lives. And just like in any business, every new idea involves a readiness to face obstacles. We were ready to face the obstacles and take risks to make a difference in our country and the region through the deployment of innovative technological solutions.

There are no big or small obstacles, only a vision and a strong determination to make a difference.

How is Resource Group supporting digital transformation in Lebanon and throughout the Middle East?

Digital transformation is playing a crucial role in shaping the way businesses and governments all over the globe are responding to challenges and potential opportunities. Similarly, digital technologies are affecting societal behaviors, especially today with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. This evolving landscape requires constant adaptation to predict future trends and develop the right approaches and solutions that promise a sustainable growth in the long run.

As a company specialized in new technologies, we believe that digital transformation is essential for the growth of society. The future is shaped by the capability to continuously innovate and test ideas. Additionally, our ability to develop our own technologies through the investment in human capital has given us an edge to expand into the MEA region.

Today, Resource Group focuses on innovation by heavily investing in R&D to find solutions for challenges that citizens face in public services and other aspects of everyday life. We support governments in fostering innovation to enhance the citizen experience and provide sustainable solutions. In fact, the role of digital transformation in the public sector has been crucial in fostering innovation and adopting digital schemes and programs. For example, we have certainly witnessed in the last few years ambitious digital plans across the Middle East and Africa launched by governments aiming to address economic, environmental and societal changes.

Hisham Itani Chairman and CEO Resource Group

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We have been supporting governmental entities with proprietary solutions for a decade already with the introduction of the first biometric passport in the Central African region. Since then, we implemented several biometric identification projects comprising of e-work permits, e-residency permits and biometric visa systems.

We have also supported public authorities in the automation of road traffic processes by developing e-vehicle solutions (including biometric driving licenses, secure vehicle plates and RFID stickers) in several countries in the

EMEA INTERVIEW

MEA region. We have also established secure border control systems, implemented fiber optic deployment projects, and provided fraud risk management solutions to fight the illegal import of mobile devices, among others.

As a business incubator, Resource Group continuously supports rising technology startups and young entrepreneurs to develop their ideas. We provide the right tools and guidance to create successful business models. Our aim is to support the knowledge economy in the Middle East to foster the economic growth in the region and provide more opportunities for future generations.

What advice do you have for budding entrepreneurs?

The most important thing that I learned is that an entrepreneur needs to have a vision and a purpose.

My advice is to find your purpose. Go forward to achieve it without ever stopping, no matter the noise around you. The more the challenges, the more interesting the journey. Entrepreneurship is a bumpy road, but that does not mean that one cannot enjoy it.

Also, it is very useful to have guidance and acquire knowledge when exploring new ideas and building new conceptual models. Gaining the bigger picture of what you are getting into and learning about the risks will provide perspective and a competitive advantage.

Finally, entrepreneurs have to have a strong determination to achieve their vision and to succeed, because this is what will keep them moving forward relentlessly. It is the difference that they can make through the achievement of their idea that will keep them motivated and focused.

How is Resource Group responding to the current pandemic?

The world has witnessed a tremendous shift on all levels with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although many businesses struggled, and many people suffered and are still suffering mentally, physically, economically, and socially, it was fascinating to see technology and innovation accelerate to help societies face this global crisis.

At Resource Group, we are using our expertise and technologies to support this rapid shift and find solutions that support governments in their fight against this pandemic. Through our R&D center, we started early last year to develop ideas and undertake tests to help track the virus and keep citizens well informed and updated.

Internally, our main objective was to keep our employees informed at all times and make sure they are adjusting smoothly to the new reality.

We put their well-being first because our talents are the core of our business. As a result, our employees are operating remotely in order to minimize their presence at our offices. They are able to work from home to remain close to their children and families in this difficult time.

Our role today is crucial, whether to better safeguard citizens online or to assist organizations and governmental institutions manage their operations more efficiently and shift towards digitization.

What are your future plans for development? Our priority remains to contribute to the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem by supporting technology start-ups and entrepreneurs. These endeavors will directly impact the economy and contribute to digitization.

We will also further invest in R&D and focus on design thinking to better understand the current challenges faced by citizens and create suitable innovative solutions that tackle the exact problems.

Additionally, we will create and test new ideas and solutions based on market needs and the current technological evolution, especially with the emergence of new technologies that open up tremendous opportunities for sustainable growth. This is in line with our efforts to support governments in automating their processes and providing citizens with enhanced services. Â

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Why the opportunity for innovation has never been greater For so many, 2020 has been a year of continuity and survival. The thought of breaking new ground may seem farfetched for those that aren’t one of the few sectors that have grown this year. Is innovation even achievable, when everyone is working flat out just to keep operational?

Perhaps it is better to reframe the question – in a disrupted world, is innovation the difference between success and failure? History shows that is the case. The ability to move fast, to develop and deploy new services, is fast becoming the differentiator between winners and losers. Perhaps before the pandemic losing meant falling behind the curve; now, it can spell the end of a business.

It is certainly changing the way we all do business. A McKinsey and Co study 1 found that “more than 90 percent of executives said they expect the fallout from COVID-19 to fundamentally change the way they do business over the next five years, with almost as many asserting that the crisis will have a lasting impact on their customers’ needs.”

Furthermore, 70 percent believe that the changes brought about by the virus will be a big opportunity for growth.

Of course, being able to see those opportunities, and seize them, are two different things. The same study noted that just a fifth of respondents felt confident in their ability to seize new growth opportunities.

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How then do organisation develop that capability to seize opportunities, to innovate in such a way that drives success?

The two sources of innovation Broadly speaking, there are two sources of innovation – internal and external. The latter can come from third parties, from partnerships and joint ventures. There is a long and storied history of businesses with complementary services aligning themselves with one and other to innovate – these days, it might be a major corporate partnering with a disruptive start-up to share resources, ideas and processes, with both sides benefiting from the other’s unique characteristics.

It might even stretch to a merger or acquisition, depending on the size of the companies involved.

Internal innovation comes from within the business and involves having the right systems and processes in place to support the

creation of ideas. From training to dedicated innovation time, clearly defined structures to sandboxes or incubation labs for promising ideas, businesses can foster the stimulation and propagation of ideas to identify new ways to capitalise on opportunities.

Picking the best of both So, what’s the best approach? Should companies look externally, or should they focus on what they can generate internally?

Again, this is a question that needs reconsidering – it is not about the best approach, but about what suits the company in question. Trying to build an internal culture of innovation from scratch is time consuming; if there is no history of innovation, then looking to third parties and ‘buying-in’ that innovation might be more appropriate. Equally, a track record of internal innovation would suggest that perhaps value would be achieved more quickly by focusing on what existing employees and teams can generate with the right guidance.

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Then there’s a hybrid approach, where partnering with external parties can align with internal creativity, so that new perspectives are interwoven with established, proven processes and structures.

The importance of culture in innovation What each of these paths require is that the right culture is in place in order to succeed. What does that look like? It’s a culture that is actively seeks out new ways of working, that knows how to foster, rather than reject, ideas, and that can incubate them so that some become tangible solutions.

Just as importantly, it’s a culture that recognises the value in those innovations that don’t become products or services.

While that may seem obvious when going down the internal route, it is just as important when focusing on external or hybrid possibilities. That’s because a company’s culture needs to be open to new ideas for an external partnership or venture to work. It must be receptive to different ways of working – the whole point of the partnership is to add something new, to bring what was missing to the organisation. Even if the purpose is to facilitate the acquisition of new technology or services, so much of a company’s culture is bound into their offering’s DNA that to reject it is to risk failing to realise the full value of the potential benefits available.

Ekaterina Petrova

Being ready to seize opportunities

Managing Director GenerationS Corporate Accelerator

Businesses that want to succeed need to be innovative. That will mean different things to different organisations, but at its heart it’s about being able to identify and foster ideas that could become impactful services or products. Now is not the time to stop innovating – to do so is to miss the opportunities on offer. In fact, now is the time to make sure the right culture is in place, so that whether innovation comes from within or outside the company, organisations are ready to take their chances.

Ekaterina Petrova is Managing Director of GenerationS Corporate Accelerator and has more than 10 years’ experience with innovation investment projects and innovation consulting services for corporations and government entities. Ekaterina is a finalist of the EY Business Women 2020 competition.

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Am, J., Furstenthal, L., Jorge, F., & Roth, E. (2020, December 14). Innovation in a crisis: Why it is more critical than ever. Retrieved January 09, 2021, from https://www. mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/ innovation-in-a-crisis-why-it-is-more-critical-than-ever

SETTING THE STANDARD FOR ISLAMIC RETAIL & DIGITAL BANKING KFH-Bahrain is proud to announce that it has won two prestigious awards from the Global Banking & Finance Review®.

The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 Islamic Retail Bank

The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 Digital Banking App (KFH Jazeel Banking)

Global Banking & Finance Awards® 2020 AWARD WINNERS

Global Banking & Finance Awards® Top Next 100 Global Awards 2020

Global Banking & Finance Awards® 2020 AWARD WINNERS Global Banking & Finance Review is privileged to honour those financial institutions who have achieved outstanding results and who stand out in their particular area of expertise in the banking and finance industry.

Global Banking & Finance Review would like to congratulate the award winners and look forward to their continued success. The awards were created to recognize companies of all sizes that are prominent in particular areas of expertise and excellence within the financial community. They reflect the involvement of leading financial organizations and recognize the accomplishment, achievement, innovation, strategy, progressive and motivating changes taking place within the financial sector.

AWARD WINNING COMPANY NAMES

AWARD TITLES

Nedbank Ltd Best Banking Technology Implementation South Africa 2020 BPC Best Banking Technology Overhaul Africa 2020 BPC Best Banking Technology Overhaul LatAm 2020 Absa Bank Moçambique, SA Best Banking Technology Overhaul Mozambique 2020 POTENZA Best Banking Technology Solution Provider Sri Lanka 2020 Diebold Nixdorf Best Banking Technology Solutions Provider Europe 2020 SignDesk Best Digital KYC/On-boarding Application India 2020 I&M Bank Ltd Best Digital KYC/On-boarding Initiative Kenya 2020 Signicat Best Digital KYC/On-boarding Programme Europe 2020 Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation Best Financial Inclusion Technology Solutions Provider Philippines 2020 Access Bank Zambia Limited Best Financial Inclusion Technology Solutions Provider Zambia 2020 CredoLab Pte Ltd

Best Fintech Partnership Philippines 2020 Publicis Sapient and Lloyds Banking Group Best Fintech Partnership UK 2020 ACI Worldwide Best Information Security and Fraud Management Technology Provider North America 2020 CREDO Best Information Security and Fraud Management Technology Provider UAE 2020 Particeep Best Open Banking APIs Europe 2020 Profile Software SA Best Treasury Management Software Solution Provider Europe 2020 Millikart Best Information Security and Fraud Management Technology Provider Azerbaijan 2020 Prof. Benedict O. Oramah, President, African Export-Import Bank Banking CEO of the Year Africa 2020 Abdulhakeem Y. Alkhayyat, Kuwait Finance House Bahrain B.S.C. (c) Banking CEO of the Year Bahrain 2020 Johnathan J. Johannes, Managing Director, Banking CEO of the Year Banking St Lucia 2020 1st National Bank St.Lucia Limited Julian Kingsley Opuni, Managing Director, Fidelity Bank Ghana Ltd Banking CEO of the Year Ghana 2020 Mr Vytautas Sinius, Šiaulių bankas Banking CEO of the Year Lithuania 2020

Global Banking & Finance Awards® 2020 AWARD WINNERS

Charles Asiedu, EcoBank Malawi Banking CEO of the Year Malawi 2020 Rui Barros, Absa Bank Moçambique

Banking CEO of the Year Mozambique 2020 Mr. Christopher Loh,uab bank Limited Banking CEO of the Year Myanmar 2020 Adegoke Adegbami, Mainstreet Microfinance Bank Banking CEO of the Year Nigeria 2020 Ms. Mizinga Melu,Absa Bank Zambia PLC Banking CEO of the Year Zambia 2020 Diego Solano Saravia, Grupo Aval Banking CFO of the Year Latin America 2020 Ms. Leong Yang Yang, uab bank Limited Banking CFO of the Year Myanmar 2020 BNP PARIBAS RISK INNOVATION OFFICE Best Innovation Management Team France 2020 MYAWADDY BANK LTD Best Management Team Myanmar 2020 Fidelity Bank Ghana Ltd Best Banking Process ( WEB ONBOARDING SOLUTION) Ghana 2020 Bank Saint-Petersburg Public Joint-Stock Company Best Banking Product (Collateral Accounts) Russia 2020 Access Bank Zambia Limited Best Banking Product (WhatsApp Banking) Zambia 2020 RHB Bank Berhad Best Multi Currency Account Malaysia 2020 Odeabank

Most Innovative Banking Product Turkey 2020 Oksi Bot Vietnam International Bank (VIB) Best Banking Product (Credit Cards) Vietnam 2020 ClauseMatch

Best AI Software Solution Provider UK 2020 KCB Group Plc Best Corporate Governance Bank Kenya 2020 KCB Group Plc Best CSR Bank Kenya 2020 Saudi Fransi Capital Best Investment Bank Saudi Arabia 2020 Kada Poroman Microfinance Limited Best Micro Finance Bank Papua New Guinea 2020 KCB Group Plc

Best Retail Bank Kenya 2020 Ajiad Securities Best Stockbrokers Jordan 2020 Relevance Advertising & Marketing Brand of the Year Awards Europe 2020 Gulf Marcom Advertising & Marketing Brand of the Year Bahrain 2020 Gnomi Ltd Advertising & Marketing Brand of the Year Cyprus 2020 Media Unit DMCC – Cineklik.com Advertising & Marketing Brand of the Year Middle East 2020 Myanmar Creative Idea Advertising & Marketing Brand of the Year Myanmar 2020 Inmarc Advertising Pvt Ltd Advertising & Marketing Brand of the Year Sri Lanka 2020 Saudi Signs Media Advertising Brand of the Year Saudi Arabia 2020 Bangkok Commercial Asset Management Public Company Limited Asset Management Brand of the Year Thailand 2020 Skyline Aviation (Pvt) Ltd Aviation Training Brand of the Year Sri Lanka 2020 Vision Concept Aviation Training Institute Aviation Training Brand of the Year UAE 2020 First National Bank Botswana Banking Brand of the Year Botswana 2020 United Bank for Africa

Banking Brand of the Year Cameroon 2020 BAC International Bank Inc Banking Brand of the Year Central America 2020 Banque MISR

Banking Brand of the Year Egypt 2020 EcoBank Malawi Banking Brand of Year Malawi 2020 Azizi Bank

Banking Group Brand of the Year Afghanistan 2020 BFL BRED Group Banking Group Brand of the Year Awards Lao 2020 Bank Dhofar Banking Group Brand of the Year Awards Oman 2020 Absa Bank Uganda Limited

Banking Group Brand of the Year Awards Uganda 2020 Zenith Bank plc Banking Group Brand of the Year Nigeria 2020 Standard Chartered Bank Banking Group Brand of the Year Gambia 2020 Maga Engineering Pvt. Ltd Construction Brand of the Year Sri Lanka 2020 Eurofast Global SLTD Corporate Advisory Brand of the Year Bulgaria 2020 Microbits Digital Marketing Brand of the Year MENA 2020 CliQAfrica Limited

Digital Marketing Brand of the Year Ghana 2020 FIRST FRIENDS CAMPUS Education Brand of the Year Sri Lanka 2020 Electric Networks of Armenia Energy & Natural Resources Brand of the Year Armenia 2020 Vallibel Finance PLC Financial Services Brand of the Year Sri Lanka 2020 NMK Superfood Food & Beverage Brand of the Year Sri Lanka 2020

Global Banking & Finance Awards® 2020 AWARD WINNERS

Stanbic IBTC Holdings Holding Group Brand of the Year Awards Nigeria 2020 WESTERN INTERNATIONAL GROUP Holding Group Brand of the Year Middle East 2020 Singlife Insurance & Fintech Brand of the Year Singapore 2020 Generali Osiguranje Srbija Insurance Brand of the Year Serbia 2020 LLC BIMA INSURANCE Insurance Brand of the Year Tajikistan 2020 Noor Takaful Insurance Brand of the Year UAE 2020 CEDAR INSURANCE BROKERS LLC Insurance Broker Brand of the Year Awards UAE 2020 Al Rajhi Bank

Islamic Retail Bank Brand of the Year Middle East 2020 Cserve Technologies, Lda IT Solution Provider Brand of the Year Mozambique 2020 Al Omaniya Financial Services Co (SAOG) Non-Banking Financial Institution Brand of the Year Awards Oman 2020 Singer Sri Lanka Retail Brand of the Year Sri Lanka 2020 Korzinka

Retail Brand of the Year Uzbekistan 2020 Nairobi Securities Exchange PLC Securities Exchange Brand of the Year Kenya 2020 Salma Markets STP Broker Brand of the Year Asia 2020 Takaful Oman Insurance S.A.O.G. Takaful Brand of the Year Oman 2020 Websolutions Agency

Technology Brand of the Year Awards Croatia 2020 SCAND Ltd Technology Brand of the Year Belarus 2020 Alta Software Technology Brand of the Year Georgia 2020 Techlogix

Technology Brand of the Year UAE 2020 HFTrading Best Commodities Broker Australasia 2020 SMC COMEX INTERNATIONAL DMC Best Commodities Broker UAE 2020 Forex4you Best Forex Broker Asia 2020 GAIN Capital Australia Pty Ltd. Best Forex Broker Australia 2020 TrioMarkets Ltd Best Forex Broker Cyprus 2020 Orbex Best Forex Broker Europe 2020 PT Octa Investama Berjangka Best Forex Broker Indonesia 2020 Ajiad Securities Best Forex Broker Jordan 2020 Royal Pure Gold Best Forex Broker Kyrgyzstan 2020 FBS Best Forex Broker LatAm 2020 Orbex Best Forex Broker MENA 2020 INTER PAN Best Forex Broker Myanmar 2020 OctaFX Nigeria Best Forex Broker Nigeria 2020 GoldFX Investment Co., Ltd. Best Forex Broker South East Asia 2020 Admiral Markets Group AS Best Forex Broker Spain 2020 INFINOX Best Forex Broker Thailand 2020 Henyep Capital Markets Best Forex Broker UAE 2020 Standard Chartered Bank Best Forex Reward Program (Loyalty) Botswana 2020 Arab Financial Investment Company

Best Investment Research Jordan 2020 Century Financial Consultancy LLC Best Investment Research UAE 2020 FBS Trader – Trading Platform Best Mobile Trading Platform Asia 2020 Ak Investment Best Mobile Trading Platform Europe 2020 easyMarkets Best Mobile Trading Platform South America 2020 Cathay Securities Corporation Best Mobile Trading Platform Taiwan 2020 Gedik Investment Best Mobile Trading Platform Turkey 2020 TrioMarkets Ltd Best Multi Asset Trading Platform Cyprus 2020 TradeFW Best Multi Asset Trading Platform Europe 2020 Ak Investment Best Multi Asset Trading Platform Turkey 2020 Noor Capital – UAE Best Multi Asset Trading Platform UAE 2020 PT. Handal Semesta Berjangka (HSB Investasi) Best New Mobile Trading Platform Indonesia 2020 BDSwiss Best Partnership Program Asia 2020 RoboForex Best Partnership Program LatAm 2020

Global Banking & Finance Awards® 2020 AWARD WINNERS

OctaFX Best Partnership Program South East Asia 2020 Freedom Finance Germany TT GmbH Best Research House / Best Investment Research Germany 2020 Portfolio Personal Inversiones Best Research House Argentina 2020 Freedom Holding Corp Best Research House Central Asia 2020 Cathay Securities Corporation Best Research House Taiwan 2020 SICO BSC (c) Best Securities Brokerage Bahrain 2020 Sofia International Securities JSC Best Securities Brokerage Bulgaria 2020 ACLEDA Securities Plc Best Securities Brokerage Cambodia 2020 Bci Corredor de Bolsa Best Securities Brokerage Chile 2020 InterCapital Securities

Best Securities Brokerage Croatia 2020 TrioMarkets Ltd Best Securities Brokerage Cyprus 2020 AAA Trade Ltd. Best Securities Brokerage Europe 2020 Fijistock Brokers Limited Best Securities Brokerage Fiji 2020 NBG Securities Best Securities Brokerage Greece 2020 Guotai Junan International Holdings Limited Best Securities Brokerage Hong Kong 2020 Invest Banca Best Securities Brokerage Italy 2020 AmInvestment Bank Berhad: AmEquities Best Securities Brokerage Malaysia 2020 BDSec JSC Best Securities Brokerage Mongolia 2020 Attijari IntermĂŠdiation Best Securities Brokerage Morocco 2020 EFG Hermes Oman LLC Best Securities Brokerage Oman 2020 Cathay Securities Corporation

Best Securities Brokerage Taiwan 2020 Orbit Securities Co Ltd

Best Securities Brokerage Tanzania 2020 Kiatnakin Phatra Securities Public Company Limited Best Securities Brokerage Thailand 2020 Halk Invest Best Securities Brokerage Turkey 2020 Al Ramz Best Securities Brokerage UAE 2020 ICU Best Securities Brokerage Ukraine 2020 Orient Capital Management LLC Best Securities Brokerage Uzbekistan 2020 Armenia Securities Exchange Best Securities Exchange South Caucasus 2020 FBS Copy Trade Best Social Trading Application MENA 2020 Fullerton Markets International Limited Best Social Trading Platform Asia Pacific 2020 Amman Stock Exchange Best Stock Exchange Middle East 2020 Central Asian Stock Exchange Best Stock Exchange Tajikistan 2020 Republican Stock Exchange Toshkent Best Stock Exchange Uzbekistan 2020 ARAB African International Securities Best Stockbrokers Egypt 2020 JSC Heritage Securities Best Stockbrokers Georgia 2020 Freedom Finance Germany TT GmbH

Best Stockbrokers Germany 2020 LLC Prime Invest Best Stockbrokers Tajikistan 2020 Fullerton Markets International Limited Best White Label Solution Provider Asia Pacific 2020 FxGrow Best White Label Solution Provider Cyprus 2020 Portfolio Personal Inversiones Most Innovative Online Broker Argentina 2020 Cathay Securities Corporation Most Innovative Online Broker Taiwan 2020 RoboMarkets

Most Innovative Trading Platform (MT5) Europe 2020 Salma Markets Most Innovative Trading Platform Indonesia 2020 Mario Singh, Fullerton Markets International Limited Brokerage CEO of the Year Asia Pacific 2020 Mr. Sergei Bogatenkov, Admiral Markets Group AS Brokerage CEO of the Year Europe 2020 Kevin Brady, A2X Markets Stock Exchange CEO of the Year South Africa 2020 Royal Chartered Bankers Best New Forex Broker GCC 2020 CAPEX.com Best New Forex Broker Middle East 2020 Royal Chartered Bankers Best New Partnership Program / IB Program Middle East 2020 SmartCharts Most Innovative New Trading Platform Australia 2020 SmartCharts Most Innovative New Trading Platform Philippines 2020

Global Banking & Finance AwardsÂŽ 2020 AWARD WINNERS

SmartCharts Most Innovative New Trading Platform UK 2020 Emirates Chartered Accountants Group Best Audit and Tax Advisory Bahrain 2020 C. Savva & Associates ltd Best Audit and Tax Advisory Cyprus 2020 Crowe Mak Ghazali LLC Best Audit and Tax Advisory Oman 2020 Morison Menon Chartered Accountants & Partners Best Audit and Tax Advisory Qatar 2020 BAKER TILLY

Best Audit and Tax Advisory Seychelles 2020 Chart Consultants Pvt Ltd Best Audit and Tax Advisory Sri Lanka 2020 Istanbul-Accountants.com Best Audit and Tax Advisory Turkey 2020 Crowe Best Audit and Tax Advisory UAE 2020 AMG Global Chartered Accountant (Zambia) Best Audit and Tax Advisory Zambia 2020 SEKERBANK

Best Bank for Sustainable Development Turkey 2020 Vietnam Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VietABank) Best Bank for Sustainable Development Vietnam 2020 AFRICADEV CONSULTING Best Corporate Advisory Africa 2020 Uniter Best Corporate Advisory Belarus 2020 Loops Digital (Private) Limited Best Digital Content Service Provider Sri Lanka 2020 Liwa Content Driven

Best Digital Content Service Provider UAE 2020 Servcorp Limited Best Licensing and Business Registration Company South East Asia 2020 Flying Colour Business Setup Services, LLC Best Licensing and Business Registration Company UAE 2020 Fidusmart Treuhand & Stuerberatung Gmbh Best New Audit and Tax Advisory Switzerland 2020 National Citizen Bank Best Place to Work Vietnam 2020 Marksman Capital Partners Best Project Management Consultancy Ukraine 2020 Baoviet Holdings Best Sustainability Development Company Asia 2020 Shinhan Vietnam Finance Company Limited Best Sustainability Development Company Vietnam 2020 Eurasia Group Independent Community Retailer of the Year Uzbekistan 2020 VietinBank Leading Contact Center Vietnam 2020 Zerde National Infocommunication Holding Most Innovative Holding Group Central Asia 2020 Stanbic IBTC Holdings Most Innovative Holding Group Nigeria 2020 Intercorp Holdings S.A. Most Innovative Holding Group Romania 2020 NDB Capital Holdings Limited Most Innovative Holding Group Sri Lanka 2020 Ernst and Young Best Audit and Tax Advisory Lao People’s Democratic Republic 2020 Sergios Charalambous, SoftwareCy Advertising CEO of the Year Cyprus 2020 Davis Kallukaran, CEO Mak Ghazali LLC Audit & Accounting CEO of the Year Oman 2020 Umut Vehit, Euro – Mediterranean Investment Company Ltd Business CEO of the Year Cyprus 2020 IBRAHIM SOUA, Visionary Investment Finance Company (VIFCO) Tunisia Business CEO of the Year Tunisia 2020 Rashid Usmanov, Uzbek Republican Currency Exchange Business CEO of the Year Uzbekistan 2020 Mohamed Mughal,CEO, First Forte Consultancy Business Consultancy CEO of the Year UAE 2020 Najwa El Iraki, Founder & Managing Partner, AfricaDev Consulting Ltd Business Woman of the Year Africa 2020 Dr Sulochana Segera, CEO, Women in Management Business Woman of the Year Sri Lanka 2020 Natalia Karayaneva, Propy Business Woman of the Year USA 2020 Elona Mortimer-Zhika, CEO,IRIS Software Group Business Women of the Year UK 2020 Stephen Kabungo,CEO, Ilani Concepts Entrepreneur of the Year Eastern Africa 2020 Mr. Walter de Oude, Singlife Insurance & Fintech CEO of the Year Singapore 2020 Makram H. Hani, Arms & McGregor International Realty® Real Estate Brokerage CEO of the Year UAE 2020 Tina Badran Kfoury, Business Lobby Talent Management Recruitment CEO of the Year Lebanon 2020 CAPT. Mohammed Al Suwaidi, Vision Concept Aviation Training Institute Training Chairman of the Year UAE 2020 Daniel Thompson, Co-Founder & Financial Adviser, Finnacle Entrepreneur Newcomer of the Year Australia 2020 May Yang, Global Head of Operations, Synechron New Business Woman of the Year Europe 2020 PLEION Corporate Finance Best New Corporate Advisory Mauritius 2020 Syskode Technologies

Best AI Software Solution Provider Bahrain 2020 Slimmer AI Best AI Software Solution Provider Europe 2020 Sejel Technology Co. Ltd. Best AI Software Solution Provider MENA 2020

Global Banking & Finance Awards® 2020 AWARD WINNERS

STelligence Co., Ltd Best AI Software Solution Provider Thailand 2020 Ascent Technology Consulting Best AI Software Solution Provider UAE 2020 EBIZWORLD

Best AI Software Solution Provider Vietnam 2020 RNS Technology Services DMCC Best Anti Fraud / Security Solutions Provider Middle East 2020 Yandex.Money Best Anti Fraud / Security Solutions Provider Russia 2020 Cyber Gate Defense LLC Best Security Solutions Provider UAE 2020 Pole Star Space Applications Best Anti Fraud / Security Solutions Provider UK 2020 NICE Actimize Best Anti Fraud / Security Solutions Provider USA 2020 FSS Smart Recon Best Back Office Innovation India 2020 FSS Smart Recon Best Back Office Innovation Southern Asia 2020 Accubits Best Blockchain Provider UAE 2020 Knowesis Pte Ltd Best Client Lifecycle Management Solutions Asia 2020 Fenergo

Best Client Lifecycle Management Solutions Ireland 2020 Tanasuk Technologies Best Client Lifecycle Management Solutions Jordan 2020 Global New Wave Technology Co.,Ltd Best Consumer Software Provider Myanmar 2020 GoQuo Best CRM Solutions Malaysia 2020 WeWebit Best CRM Solutions MENA 2020 CUBO SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL (PVT) LTD – (ZONEBERRY) Best CRM Solutions Sri Lanka 2020 Informatica Software HK Ltd Best Data Enterprise Cloud Management Company Asia 2020 Ralliton Best Data Enterprise Cloud Management Provider Eastern Europe 2020 Tanqia Siyana Best Environmental Conservation Technology Solution Provider United Arab Emirates 2020 Stimes Technologies WLL Best IT Services Provider Qatar 2020 Fujisoft Technology Best IT Services Provider UAE 2020 Gensoft ERP

Best Logistics and Transportation Technology Solutions Sri Lanka 2020 Bluescript Best Online Advertising Technology Solutions Botswana 2020 SoftwareCy

Best Online Advertising Technology Solutions Cyprus 2020 Tech Village Egypt Best Online Advertising Technology Solutions Egypt 2020 BCON LT Best Online Advertising Technology Solutions Lithuania 2020 Jumix Best Online Advertising Technology Solutions Malaysia 2020 Mesdac Solutions LLC

Best Online Advertising Technology Solutions Oman 2020 iClick Media Pte. Ltd. Best Online Advertising Technology Solutions Singapore 2020 Inbound Hype (Ltd) Pvt. Best Online Advertising Technology Solutions Sri Lanka 2020 Marketing Ignite Co. Ltd Best Online Advertising Technology Solutions Thailand 2020 WebCastle Technologies LLC Best Online Advertising Technology Solutions UAE 2020 Famo Group Best New IT Services Provider Oman 2020 Daddy Cool Technologies Best New IT Services Provider UAE 2020 Innoship

Best New Logistics & Transportation Technology Solutions Romania 2020 The Digital Bees Best New Online Advertising Technology Solutions Bahrain 2020 BIT QUEST SDN BHD Best New Online Advertising Technology Solutions Malaysia 2020 Gohan Concepts Best New Online Advertising Technology Solutions South East Asia 2020 Mr. Hisham Itani,Resource Group Technology CEO of the Year Middle East 2020 Agricultural Development Bank

Best Agri Business Bank Ghana 2020 Unity Bank Plc Best Agri Business Bank Nigeria 2020 Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank

Best Agri Business Bank Tanzania 2020 Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank Co., Ltd Best Bank for Corporate Credit Cards Taiwan 2020 Arab African Investment Management (AAIM)

Best Bank for Corporate Investment Management Services Egypt 2020 Absa Bank Moçambique, SA Best Bank for Corporate Investment Management Services Mozambique 2020 Banco de Fomento-BFA-Angola Best Corporate Bank Angola 2020 Belagroprombank Best Corporate Bank Belarus 2020 First Capital Bank Botswana

Best Corporate Bank Botswana 2020

Global Banking & Finance Awards® 2020 AWARD WINNERS

Banco Interatlântico, S.A. Best Corporate Bank Cape Verde 2020 Societe Generale Tchadienne de Banque Chad Best Corporate Bank Chad 2020 UniCredit Bank Czech Republic Best Corporate Bank Czech Republic 2020 QNB Alahli Best Corporate Bank Egypt 2020 Ecobank Gambia Best Corporate Bank Gambia 2020 BANK OF AFRICA GHANA Best Corporate Bank Ghana 2020 Standard Chartered Bank Best Corporate Bank Jordan 2020 Standard Chartered Bank Best Corporate Bank Kenya 2020 OJSC Commercial Bank Kyrgyzstan Best Corporate Bank Kyrgyzstan 2020 First Capital Bank Best Corporate Bank Malawi 2020 Trade and Development Bank of Mongolia Best Corporate Bank Mongolia 2020 PRABHU BANK LTD Best Corporate Bank Nepal 2020 EcoBank Nigeria Best Corporate Bank Nigeria 2020 Ahli Bank Best Corporate Bank Oman 2020 Development Bank of the Philippines Best Corporate Bank Philippines 2020 Banco Finantia Best Corporate Bank Portugal 2020 Mashreq Qatar Best Corporate Bank Qatar 2020 Vista Bank Romania SA Best Corporate Bank Romania 2020 JSCB Avangard Best Corporate Bank Russia 2020 Orabank Best Corporate Bank Senegal 2020 Seylan Bank Best Corporate Bank Sri Lanka 2020 1st National Bank St. Lucia Limited Best Corporate Bank St Lucia 2020 JOINT-STOCK COMMERCIAL ALOQABANK Best Corporate Bank Uzbekistan 2020 Asia Commercial Bank Best Corporate Bank Vietnam 2020 Absa Bank Zambia PLC Best Corporate Bank Zambia 2020 Nedbank Zimbabwe Best Corporate Bank Zimbabwe 2020 The Black Sea Trade & Development Bank Best Development Bank South Eastern Europe 2020 National Development Bank PLC Best Project Finance Bank Sri Lanka 2020 ICBC Dubai(DIFC) Branch Best Project Finance Bank UAE 2020 Warba Bank

Fastest Growing Corporate Bank Kuwait 2020 Vattanac Bank Best Bank for Corporate Governance Cambodia 2020 Public Bank Malaysia Best Bank for Corporate Governance Malaysia 2020 uab bank Limited Best Bank for Corporate Governance Myanmar 2020 Banco Interatlântico, S.A. Best Corporate Governance Bank Cape Verde 2020 Access Bank Gambia Best Corporate Governance Bank Gambia 2020 Pan-African Savings and Loans Co. Ltd Best Corporate Governance Bank Ghana 2020 Bank OCBC NISP Best Corporate Governance Bank Indonesia 2020 Nedbank Lesotho Best Corporate Governance Bank Lesotho 2020 Bank One Limited Best Corporate Governance Bank Mauritius 2020 Asia Commercial Bank

Best Corporate Governance Bank Vietnam 2020 Saksa OOD Best Corporate Governance Company Bulgaria 2020 South Pacific Stock Exchange

Best Corporate Governance Company Fiji 2020 Guotai Junan International Holdings Limited Best Corporate Governance Company Hong Kong 2020 SEDCO Holding Best Corporate Governance Company Middle East 2020 SEDCO Holding Best Corporate Governance Company Saudi Arabia 2020 KwaZulu-Natal Joint Municipal Pension/Provident Funds Best Corporate Governance Company South Africa 2020 Aramex Best Corporate Governance Company UAE 2020 Republican Stock Exchange Toshkent Best Corporate Governance Company Uzbekistan 2020 Vingroup

Best Corporate Governance Company Vietnam 2020 Credit Andorra Best CSR Bank Andorra 2020 Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD) Best CSR Bank Brunei 2020

Global Banking & Finance Awards® 2020 AWARD WINNERS

Maybank Cambodia Best CSR Bank Cambodia 2020 Scotiabank Chile Best CSR Bank Chile 2020 Banque MISR Best CSR Bank Egypt 2020 Ecobank Ghana Limited Best CSR Bank Ghana 2020 Standard Chartered Bank Best CSR Bank Jordan 2020 Al Baraka Banking Group Best CSR Bank MENA 2020 Moza Banco Best CSR Bank Mozambique 2020 uab bank Limited Best CSR Bank Myanmar 2020 Alizz Islamic Bank

Best CSR Bank Oman 2020 Bangko Kabayan Inc. Best CSR Bank Philippines 2020 Doha Bank Best CSR Bank Qatar 2020 RHB Singapore Best CSR Bank Singapore 2020 SANASA Development Bank PLC Best CSR Bank Sri Lanka 2020 HSBC Taiwan Best CSR Bank Taiwan 2020 Türk Ekonomi Bankası Best CSR Bank Turkey 2020 Absa Bank Uganda Limited

Best CSR Bank Uganda 2020 Asia Commercial Bank Best CSR Bank Vietnam 2020 Absa Bank Zambia PLC Best CSR Bank Zambia 2020 Solidarity Bahrain

Best CSR Company Bahrain 2020 Smart Axiata Co., Ltd.

Best CSR Company Cambodia 2020 Grupo Aval Best CSR Company Colombia 2020 JSC MFO CRYSTAL Best CSR Company Georgia 2020 SANNE Mauritius Best CSR Company Mauritius 2020 Saudi Telecom Company Best CSR Company MENA 2020 Home Credit Philippines Best CSR Company Philippines2020 JAT Holdings (Pvt) Ltd. Best CSR Company Sri Lanka 2020 Fubon Financial Holding Best CSR Company Taiwan 2020 Phanes Group Best CSR Company UAE 2020 ICU Best CSR Company Ukraine 2020 ZB Financial Holdings Best CSR Company Zimbabwe 2020 Bank of Jordan Best Custodian Bank Jordan 2020 Bank One Limited Best Custodian Bank Mauritius 2020 Cecabank Best Custodian Bank Spain 2020 Mash World Advertising & Marketing Customer Satisfaction & Happiness MENA 2020 FOCUS Marketing & Advertising Advertising and Marketing Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Middle East 2020 Vision Concept Aviation Training Institute Aviation Training Customer Satisfaction & Happiness UAE 2020 Cavmont Bank Banking Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Awards Zambia 2020 Bank of Baroda (Botswana) Ltd Banking Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Botswana 2020 Vattanac Bank Banking Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Cambodia 2020 Scotiabank Chile Banking Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Chile 2020 OmniBank Ghana Banking Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Ghana 2020 Tengri Bank 2020 Banking Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Kazakhstan 2020 National Bank of Kenya Banking Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Kenya 2020 Šiaulių bankas Banking Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Lithuania 2020 United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Berhad Banking Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Malaysia 2020 SIB (Mauritius) Ltd Banking Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Mauritius 2020 Khan Bank Mongolia Banking Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Mongolia 2020 Bank Dhofar Banking Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Oman 2020 Alfa Bank Banking Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Russia 20202 KEB Hana Bank Banking Customer Satisfaction & Happiness South Korea 2020 SANASA Development Bank Banking Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Sri Lanka 2020

Global Banking & Finance Awards® 2020 AWARD WINNERS

South East Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SeABank) Banking Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Vietnam 2020 Joint-Stock Commercial “Microcreditbank” Banking Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Uzbekistan 2020 Bank of Baroda (U) Ltd Banking Customer Satisfaction and Happiness Awards Uganda 2020 PEB Steel Buildings Construction Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Vietnam 2020 Diners Club International MAK Credit Card Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Macedonia 2020 ADVENTZ Digital Marketing Service Provider Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Oman 2020 FINESSE Digital Transformation Technology Company Customer Satisfaction & Happiness UAE 2020 EgyptEvent.com Event Management Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Egypt 2020 Blue Drum Events Event Management Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Northern Europe 2020 Jesmond Mizzi Financial Advisors Ltd Financial Advisory Firm Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Malta 2020 Yandex.Money Fintech Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Russia 2020 CBL Natural Foods Pvt Ltd Food & Beverage Supplier Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Sri Lanka 2020 Global Prime Forex Brokerage Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Australasia 2020 Mitrade Forex Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Australia 2020 Fubon Insurance General Insurance Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Taiwan 2020 SeamlessHR.com Limited HR&RecruitmentTechnologySolutionsCustomerSatisfaction&HappinessNigeria2020 Metropolitan Botswana Insurance Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Botswana 2020 Atradius N.V.

Insurance Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Europe 2020 National Life Insurance LLC Insurance Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Mongolia 2020 Generali Osiguranje Srbija Insurance Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Serbia 2020 People’s Insurance PLC Insurance Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Sri Lanka 2020 Oman Insurance Company Insurance Customer Satisfaction & Happiness UAE 2020 BaoViet Insurance Corporation Insurance Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Vietnam 2020 GULF ELECTRONIC MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS COMPANY W.L.L Insurance TPA Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Bahrain 2020 Islamic Bank of Thailand Islamic Bank Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Thailand 2020 Metropolitan Tanzania Insurance Company Limited Life Insurance Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Tanzania 2020 Sheffield Cargo Logistics Limited

Logistics Company Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Kenya 2020 Oman Exchange L.L.C. Money Exchange House Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Oman 2020 IBG Real Estates Ltd Real Estate Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Bulgaria 2020 Gebeily Real-Estate Real Estate Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Lebanon 2020 Harbor Real Estate Real Estate Customer Satisfaction & Happiness UAE 2020 COMFORT360 Real Estate Services Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Egypt 2020 Wallchase Recruitment Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Brazil 2020 Solid Soft Software Solution Provider Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Jordan 2020 Finco Technologies Technology Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Sri Lanka 2020 Siam Commercial Bank Plc

Deal of the Year Award Thailand 2020 Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited Deal of the Year Nigeria 2020 Procreate Design Decade of Excellence Advertising & Marketing India 2020 Talks Agency Decade of Excellence Advertising & Marketing Oman 2020 Media Lux Decade of Excellence Advertising & Marketing Uzbekistan 2020 Black Dot Decade of Excellence Advertising & Marketing Zambia 2020 NICE Actimize Decade of Excellence Anti-Fraud / Security Solutions Provider EMEA 2020 NICE Actimize Decade of Excellence Anti-Fraud / Security Solutions Provider USA 2020 Public Mutual Berhad Decade of Excellence Asset Management Malaysia 2020 Philequity Management, Inc. Decade of Excellence Asset Management Philippines 2020 Whitestar Asset Solutions S.A. Decade of Excellence Asset Management Portugal 2020 Vietcombank Fund Management Decade of Excellence Asset Management Vietnam 2020 HLB HAMT Chartered Accountants Decade of Excellence Audit & Tax Advisory UAE 2020 Amanie Advisors Astana Ltd Decade of Excellence Awards Kazakhstan 2020 NBFI Luis Carlos Sarmiento Gutiérrez, Grupo Aval Decade of Excellence Banking CEO Latin America 2020

Global Banking & Finance Awards® 2020 AWARD WINNERS

Société Générale Cameroun Decade of Excellence Banking Group Cameroon 2020 Grupo Aval Decade of Excellence Banking Group Latin America 2020 Al Baraka Banking Group Decade of Excellence Banking Group MENA 2020 ABC Banking Corporation Ltd Decade of Excellence Banking Mauritius 2020 Access Bank Decade of Excellence Banking Nigeria 2020 JSCB Avangard Decade of Excellence Banking Russia 2020 Turkiston Bank Decade of Excellence Banking Uzbekistan 2020 BAKU STOCK EXCHANGE CJSC Decade of Excellence Capital Markets Consulting Services Azerbaijan 2020 Bahrain MOTORS Company Decade of Excellence Construction Bahrain 2020 Iacovou Group Decade of Excellence Construction Cyprus 2020 Hindustan Construction Company Limited Decade of Excellence Construction India 2020 Akerton Partners Decade of Excellence Corporate Advisory Spain 2020 Wisdom Business Academy Decade of Excellence Education Sri Lanka 2020 HotForex Decade of Excellence Forex Brokerage Asia 2020 Mercuria Investment Company Ltd Decade of Excellence Fund Management Japan 2020 Forte Insurance (Cambodia) Plc Decade of Excellence General Insurance Cambodia 2020 Brandexports Philippines Inc. Decade of Excellence Grocery Exporter Consolidator Philippines 2020 Stanbic IBTC Holdings Decade of Excellence Holding Group Nigeria 2020 Ambeon Holdings PLC Decade of Excellence Holding Group Sri Lanka 2020 Ilani Concepts Decade of Excellence ICT Firm Kenya 2020 Access Spectrum Company Limited Decade of Excellence ICT Solution Provider Myanmar 2020 Millennium Insurance Brokers Co LLC Decade of Excellence Insurance Brokerage UAE 2020 SENARATNE INSURANCE BROKERS (PVT) LTD Decade of Excellence Insurance Broking Sri Lanka 2020 Gulf Insurance Group K.S.C. P (gig) Decade Of Excellence Insurance MENA 2020 Bodi Insurance Co LTD Decade of Excellence Insurance Mongolia 2020 Fubon Insurance Decade of Excellence Insurance Taiwan 2020 Banco de Fomento Internacional S.A

Decade of Excellence Investment Banking Cape Verde 2020 CITITRUST HOLDINGS PLC Decade of Excellence Investment Holding Company Africa 2020 Saturna Sdn Bhd Decade of Excellence Islamic Asset Management Malaysia 2020 Amal Bank Somalia Decade of Excellence Islamic Banking Somalia 2020 Macro Software Systems LLC Decade of Excellence IT Service Provider Middle East 2020 FirePro Decade of Excellence Manufacturing Europe 2020 Global Rubber Industries (Pvt) Ltd. Decade of Excellence Manufacturing Sri Lanka 2020 Mongolian Marketing Consulting Group Decade of Excellence Marketing Research Mongolia 2020 Mercantile Investments and Finance PLC Decade of Excellence NBFI Sri Lanka 2020 Property Hub Sdn Bhd Decade of Excellence Real Estate Malaysia 2020 Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC Decade of Excellence Retail Banking Sri Lanka 2020 Amanie Advisors Sdn. Bhd.

Decade of Excellence Shariah Advisory & Consulting Malaysia 2020 Amman Stock Exchange Decade of Excellence Stock Exchange Jordan 2020 Synechron Decade of Excellence Technology Europe 2020 JMR Infotech Decade of Excellence Technology MENA 2020 Smart Axiata Co., Ltd. Decade of Excellence Telecommunications Cambodia 2020 FAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS W.L.L.

Decade of Excellence Telecommunications MENA 2020 Human Resource Innovations and Solutions, Inc.

Decade of Excellence Training Philippines 2020 theSOFTtribe Ltd Software Development Decade of Excellence Awards Ghana 2020 Doha Bank Banking Group Decade of Excellence Awards Qatar 2020 Garantia Seguros Decade of Excellence Insurance Awards Cape Verde 2020 ECOBANK Best Bank for Digital Banking Services Benin 2020 QNB Alahli Best Bank for Digital Banking Services Egypt 2020 Equity Bank Rwanda plc Best Bank for Digital Banking Services Rwanda 2020 Al Rajhi Bank Best Bank for Digital Banking Services Saudi Arabia 2020

Global Banking & Finance Awards® 2020 AWARD WINNERS

BANCO SANTANDER Best Bank for Digital Banking Services Spain 2020 Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Albania Best Digital Bank Albania 2020 Credit Andorra Best Digital Bank Andorra 2020 Banco Millennium Atlântico Best Digital Bank Angola 2020 Evocabank Best Digital Bank Armenia 2020 Kuwait Finance House Bahrain B.S.C. (c) Best Digital Bank Bahrain 2020 Belgazprombank Best Digital Bank Belarus 2020 ACLEDA Bank Plc. Best Digital Bank Cambodia 2020 Banco Santander Chile Best Digital Bank Chile 2020 ING Bank Czechia Best Digital Bank Czech Republic 2020 Ecobank Gambia Best Digital Bank Gambia 2020 Ecobank Ghana Limited Best Digital Bank Ghana 2020 SBI Sumishin Net Bank, Ltd. Best Digital Bank Japan 2020 Safwa Bank Best Digital Bank Jordan 2020 AsiaCredit Bank JSC Best Digital Bank Kazakhstan 2020 Standard Chartered Bank Best Digital Bank Kenya 2020 OJSC Optima Bank Best Digital Bank Kyrgyzstan 2020 Nedbank Lesotho Best Digital Bank Lesotho 2020 Ecobank Liberia Limited Best Digital Bank Liberia 2020 Ecobank Mali Best Digital Bank Mali 2020 Qatar Islamic Bank Best Digital Bank MENA 2020 BC Moldova Agroindbank Best Digital Bank Moldova 2020 Banco Único SA Best Digital Bank Mozambique 2020 United Bank for Africa Plc Best Digital Bank Nigeria 2020 CIMB Bank Philippines Best Digital Bank Philippines 2020 Qatar Islamic Bank Best Digital Bank Qatar 2020 JSCB Avangard Best Digital Bank Russia 2020 Ecobank Sierra Leone Best Digital Bank Sierra Leone 2020 Nations Trust Bank PLC Best Digital Bank Sri Lanka 2020 STANDARD CHARTERED BANK TANZANIA Best Digital Bank Tanzania 2020 Universal Bank PJSC

Best Digital Bank Uzbekistan 2020 Standard Chartered Bank Vietnam Best Digital Bank Vietnam 2020 Access Bank Zambia Limited Best Digital Bank Zambia 2020 Steward Bank

Best Digital Bank Zimbabwe 2020 Daviplata Best Digital Wallet Colombia 2020 Kinerjapay Best Digital Wallet Indonesia 2020 Saudi Telecom Company Best Digital Wallet MENA 2020 Yandex.Money Best Digital Wallet Russia 2020 Alif Bank Tajikistan Best Digital Wallet Tajikistan 2020 Banco Santander Chile Fastest Growing Digital Bank Chile 2020 Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank Co., Ltd Most Innovative Corporate Banking App Taiwan 2020 Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Albania Most Innovative Digital Branch Design Albania 2020 Alinma Bank Most Innovative Digital Branch Design Saudi Arabia 2020 Nedbank Ltd Most Innovative Digital Branch Design South Africa 2020 Sai Gon J.S. Commercial Bank Most Innovative Mobile Savings App (SCB S-Connect) Vietnam 2020 Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation Most Innovative Mobile Savings App Philippines 2020 Singlife Most Innovative Mobile Savings App Singapore 2020 Nedbank Ltd Most Innovative Retail Banking App (Nedbank Money App) South Africa 2020 Qatar Islamic Bank

Most Innovative Retail Banking App (QIB Mobile App) MENA 2020 Kuwait Finance House Bahrain B.S.C. (c)

Most Innovative Retail Banking App Bahrain 2020 Sathapana Bank Most Innovative Retail Banking App Cambodia 2020

Global Banking & Finance Awards® 2020 AWARD WINNERS

Fidelity Bank Ghana Ltd Most Innovative Retail Banking App Ghana 2020 Standard Chartered Bank Most Innovative Retail Banking App Kenya 2020 AS Citadele Banka Most Innovative Retail Banking App Latvia 2020 Kuwait Finance House Bahrain B.S.C. (c) Most Innovative Retail Banking App Middle East 2020 Al Rajhi Bank Most Innovative Retail Banking App Saudi Arabia 2020 Megabank Most Innovative Retail Banking App Ukraine 2020 Nam A Bank Most Innovative Retail Banking App Vietnam 2020 FriMi Digital Bank Best New Digital Bank Sri Lanka 2020 CIMB Vietnam Best New Digital Bank Vietnam 2020 JSC MFO CRYSTAL Best Finance Education & Training Georgia 2020 Dubai Center for Islamic Banking and Finance HBMSU Best Finance Education & Training MENA 2020 Institute of Banking and Business Management Best Finance Education & Training Papua New Guinea 2020 Admiral Markets Group AS Best Forex Education & Training Germany 2020 trading.md Best Forex Education & Training Moldova 2020 Learn to Trade Best Forex Education & Training Provider Australia 2020 Learn to Trade Best Forex Education & Training Provider Europe 2020 PT. Didi Max Berjangka Best Forex Education & Training Provider Indonesia 2020 Learn to Trade Best Forex Education & Training Provider Philippines 2020 Learn to Trade Best Forex Education & Training Provider South Africa 2020 Learn to Trade Best Forex Education & Training Provider United Kingdom 2020 IBIFIM – Islamic Banking and Finance Institute Malaysia Best Islamic Finance Education & Training Malaysia 2020 Warwick Business School Best Online Financial Education & Training Europe 2020 McGill Personal Finance Essentials in collaboration Best New Online Financial Education & Training Canada 2020 with RBC FutureLaunchand The Globe and Mail JFD GROUP LTD Fastest Growing Forex Broker Europe 2020 Alkhair Capital Fastest Growing Securities Brokerage Middle East 2020 A2X Markets Fastest Growing Stock Exchange South Africa 2020 Joint Development Bank Fastest Growing corporate Bank Lao People’s Democratic Republic 2020 Sparkasse Bank Makedonija AD Skopje Fastest Growing Corporate Bank Macedonia 2020 Credit Bank Fastest Growing Corporate Bank Mongolia 2020 1st National Bank St. Lucia Limited Fastest Growing Corporate Bank St Lucia 2020 ICBC Dubai (DIFC) Branch Fastest Growing Corporate Bank UAE 2020 National Investments Company Fastest Growing Fund Management Company Kuwait 2020 Coronation Asset Management Fastest Growing Fund Management Company Nigeria 2020 Saudi Kuwaiti Finance House Fastest Growing Fund Management Company Saudi Arabia 2020 Sovannaphum Life Assurance Public Limited Company Fastest Growing Life Insurance Company Cambodia 2020 AGROS HAYOT Fastest Growing Life Insurance Company Uzbekistan 2020 Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited Fastest Growing Investment Bank Nigeria 2020 Bank Nizwa Fastest Growing Islamic Corporate Bank Oman 2020 Credit Bank Plc Fastest Growing Micro Finance Bank Kenya 2020 Banco Internacional Fastest Growing SME Bank Chile 2020 Maybank Singapore Limited

Fastest Growing SME Bank Singapore 2020 VietinBank Fastest Growing SME Bank Vietnam 2020 Maha Agriculture Microfinance Fastest Growing Agricultural Lending Company Myanmar 2020 Flywire Singapore Pte Ltd Fastest Growing Fintech Company Asia 2020 PPRO Fastest Growing Fintech Company Europe 2020 Fosun Hani Securities Limited Fastest Growing Fintech Company Hong Kong 2020 Gyals Tugrug

Fastest Growing Micro Finance Company South East Asia 2020 Active People’s Microfinance Institution Plc. Fastest Growing MicroFinance Company Cambodia 2020 Hayman Capital Company LTD

Fastest Growing MicroFinance Company Myanmar 2020 Home Credit Philippines Fastest Growing Online Finance Company Philippines 2020

Global Banking & Finance Awards® 2020 AWARD WINNERS

Saradar Bank Fastest Growing Private Bank Lebanon 2020 United Bank for Africa Plc Fastest Growing Retail Bank Africa 2020 Artsakhbank Fastest Growing Retail Bank Armenia 2020 Yelo Bank Fastest Growing Retail Bank Azerbaijan 2020 Cambodia Post Bank Plc. Fastest Growing Retail Bank Cambodia 2020 UOB China Fastest Growing Retail Bank China 2020 Targobank Fastest Growing Retail Bank Germany 2020 Capital Bank of Jordan Fastest Growing Retail Bank Jordan 2020 Sparkasse Bank Makedonija AD Skopje Fastest Growing Retail Bank Macedonia 2020 Banco Único SA Fastest Growing Retail Bank Mozambique 2020 Sterling Bank

Fastest Growing Retail Bank Nigeria 2020 Cogebanque Plc Fastest Growing Retail Bank Rwanda 2020 Alif Bank Tajikistan Fastest Growing Retail Bank Tajikistan 2020 National Citizen Bank

Fastest Growing Retail Bank Vietnam 2020 1st National Bank St. Lucia Limited Fastest Growing Retail Banking Awards St Lucia 2020 Robinsons Bank Corporation Fastest Growing Retail Banking Philippines 2020 SAIB Fastest Growing Retail Bank Egypt 2020 Banque MISR Fastest Growing Trade Finance Bank Egypt 2020 Softlogic Life iIsurance PLC Fastest Growing Life Insurance Company Sri Lanka 2020 Maisarah Islamic Banking Services Fastest Growing Islamic Retail Bank Oman 2020 Stanbic Bank Botswana Best Forex Bank Botswana 2020 Bank OCBC NISP Best Forex Bank Indonesia 2020 National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited Best Forex Bank Jamaica 2020 Absa Bank Moçambique, SA Best Forex Bank Mozambique 2020 PRABHU BANK LTD Best Forex Bank Nepal 2020 Sacombank Best Forex Bank Vietnam 2020 Crown Agents Bank Fastest Growing Forex Bank Africa 2020 Banque Du Caire Fastest Growing Forex Bank Egypt 2020 Amonis OFP Pension Fund Provider of the Year Belgium 2020 BNP Paribas Asset Management Brazil Asset Management Company of the Year Brazil 2020 Asuka Asset Management Co. Ltd Asset Management Company of the Year Japan 2020 Saudi Fransi Capital Asset Management Company of the Year Saudi Arabia 2020 Sanlam Investments Asset Management Company of the Year South Africa 2020 NDB Wealth Management Ltd Asset Management Company of the Year Sri Lanka 2020 Eric Sturdza Investments Asset Management Company of the Year Switzerland 2020 China Asset Management Co., Ltd. Asset Management Company of the Year 2020 Capital Asset Management CJSC Asset Management Company of the Year Armenia 2020 Mirae Asset Global Investments Asset Management Company of the Year Asia 2020 SICO BSC (c)

Asset Management Company of the Year Bahrain 2020 LOM Financial (Bermuda) Limited Asset Management Company of the Year Bermuda 2020 Concord Asset Management Asset Management Company of the Year Bulgaria 2020 Erste Asset Management Asset Management Company of the Year Croatia 2020 Erste Asset Management Asset Management Company of the Year Croatia 2020 Concord International Investments Asset Management Company of the Year Egypt 2020 Trigon Asset Management AS Asset Management Company of the Year Estonia 2020 Mirabaud Asset Management Asset Management Company of the Year Europe 2020 Columbia Threadneedle Investments Asset Management Company of the Year Germany 2020 Columbia Threadneedle Investments Asset Management Company of the Year Germany 2020 Bosera Asset Management International Co.,Ltd Asset Management Company of the Year Hong Kong 2020 PT Sucorinvest Asset Management Asset Management Company of the Year Indonesia 2020 Columbia Threadneedle Investments Asset Management Company of the Year Italy 2020

Global Banking & Finance Awards® 2020 AWARD WINNERS

Halyk Global Markets

Asset Management Company of the Year Kazakhstan 2020 FIRST INVESTMENT COMPANY KUWAIT Asset Management Company of the Year Kuwait 2020 Principal Islamic Asset Management Sdn Bhd

Asset Management Company of the Year Malaysia 2020 PLEION Investment Adviser Asset Management Company of the Year Mauritius 2020 SHUAA Capital psc Asset Management Company of the Year MENA 2020 HSBC Global Asset Management Mexico Asset Management Company of the Year Mexico 2020 Philequity Management, Inc. Asset Management Company of the Year Philippines 2020 Whitestar Asset Solutions S.A. Asset Management Company of the Year Portugal 2020 The First Investor Asset Management Company of the Year Qatar 2020 AMUNDI ASSET MANAGEMENT S.A.I. S.A Asset Management Company of the Year Romania 2020 PT Sucorinvest Asset Management Asset Management Company of the Year South East Asia 2020 ASSETPLUS Investment Management Asset Management Company of the Year South Korea 2020 Cobas am Asset Management Company of the Year Spain 2020 Krungsri Asset Management Company Co. Ltd. Asset Management Company of the Year Thailand 2020 Tunisie Valeurs Asset Management Company of the Year Tunisia 2020 Yapi Kredi Asset Management Asset Management Company of the Year Turkey 2020 ICU

Asset Management Company of the Year Ukraine 2020 Uzbek Oman Investment Company LLC Asset Management Company of the Year Uzbekistan 2020 Baoviet Fund Management Company Asset Management Company of the Year Vietnam 2020 NBC Holdings Best Pension Fund Administrator South Africa 2020 Concord Asset Management Fastest Growing Fund Management Company Bulgaria 2020 China Asset Management Co., Ltd. Fastest Growing Fund Management Company China 2020 Maybank Asset Management Malaysia Fastest Growing Fund Management Company Malaysia 2020 SICO Funds Services Company BSC (c) Fund Administration Company of the Year Bahrain 2020 Servfund

Fund Administration Company of the Year Egypt 2020 SANNE Mauritius Fund Administration Company of the Year Mauritius 2020 GEN2 PARTNERS LTD Hedge Fund Provider of the Year Asia 2020 Arca Fondi SGR Pension Fund Manager of the Year Italy 2020 Fidelity Pension Managers Limited Pension Fund Provider of the Year Nigeria 2020 KwaZulu-Natal Joint Municipal Pension/Provident Funds Pension Fund Provider of the Year South Africa 2020 Tisco Asset Management Co LTD Pension Fund Provider of the Year Thailand 2020 United Pension Trustees Pension Fund Trustee Company of the Year Ghana 2020 Aown Al Bahrani, Uzbek Oman Investment Company LLC Asset Management Company CEO of the Year Uzbekistan 2020 Albsig Invest Sh.a

Best New Asset Management Company Albania 2020 Ostoul Capital Group Best New Asset Management Company Egypt 2020 Standard Investment Bank Best New Hedge Fund Management Company Kenya 2020 Moonfare GmbH New Asset Management Company Germany 2020 Goldilocks Fund Best Fund MENA 2020 Alter Securities Most Innovative Investment Product (TRANCHED VALUE SECURITY™) Asia 2020 Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Limited Asset Management Company of the Year Nigeria 2020 Norron Asset Management

Hedge Fund Provider of the Year Sweden 2020 Azinka HR&CC Agency Recruitment Leader of the Year Azerbaijan 2020 Jobfinders Agency Recruitment Leader of the Year Lebanon 2020 Randstad Pte Ltd Agency Recruitment Leader of the Year Singapore 2020 Huxley Best Banking & Finance Recruitment Company GCC Randstad Pte Ltd

Best Banking & Finance Recruitment Company Singapore 2020 Huxley Best Executive Recruitment Company GCC Potentia HR Consulting Best Executive Recruitment Company Indonesia 2020 KTI RECRUITMENT CONSULTANTS CO.,LTD Best Executive Recruitment Company Thailand 2020 Nicholson International Turkey Best Executive Recruitment Company Turkey 2020

Global Banking & Finance AwardsÂŽ 2020 AWARD WINNERS

Huxley Best Fintech Recruitment Company GCC Makro Best In-House Recruitment Team Uzbekistan 2020 Huxley Best IT/ Technology Recruitment Company GCC Randstad Pte Ltd Best IT/Technology Recruitment Agency Singapore 2020 DOROOB HR Consulting & Recruitment Best New HR & Recruitment Company Jordan 2020 Creative Diamond Links (CDL HR) Best Professional Services Recruitment Agency Cambodia 2020 Randstad Pte Ltd Best Recruitment Agency For Permanent Staffing Singapore 2020 Charterhouse Consultancy Best Recruitment Agency For Permanent Staffing UAE 2020 Randstad Pte Ltd Best Recruitment Agency Marketing Team Singapore 2020 Gloria Michelle Otieno Muka, Recours Four Kenya Consultants HR & Recruitment CEO of the Year Kenya 2020 Dr. Chetanya Singh, Cserve Group HR & Recruitment CEO of the Year Mozambique 2020 Nusky Adam, Lucky HR Solution Pvt Ltd. HR & Recruitment CEO of the Year Sri Lanka 2020 gig Insurance – Egypt Best Auto Insurance Company Egypt 2020 Gulf Insurance Group – Jordan

Best Auto Insurance Company Jordan 2020 Nomad Insurance Best Auto Insurance Company Kazakhstan 2020 WINNER – Vienna Insurance Group Best Auto Insurance Company Macedonia 2020 Tawuniya Insurance Best Auto Insurance Company Saudi Arabia 2020 National Takaful Co.- Watania Best Auto Insurance Company UAE 2020 Uzbekinvest Export-Import Insurance Company Best Auto Insurance Company Uzbekistan 2020 Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) Best Bank Takaful Provider United Arab Emirates 2020 JSC International Insurance Company Irao Best Business Insurance Provider Georgia 2020 Sanasa Life Insurance Company Ltd

Best Employee Benefits Provider Sri Lanka 2020 Garantia Seguros Best General Insurance App Cape Verde 2020 Ulaanbaatar City Insurance

Best General Insurance Product Mongolia 2020 Etiqa Insurance & Takaful Bhd Best General Takaful Provider Malaysia 2020 Noor Takaful Best General Takaful Provider UAE 2020 Gulf Insurance Group – Jordan Best Group Health Insurance Company Jordan 2020 JSC “Kazakh Corporation of Health and Medical Insurance “Interteach” Best Group Health Insurance Company Kazakhstan 2020 JSC Kazakh Corporation of Health and Medical Insurance “Interteach” Best Group Health Insurance Company Kazakhstan 2020 APRIL International Care Best Health Insurance App (Easy Claim) Asia Pacific 2020 APRIL International Care Best Health Insurance Product (MyHEALTH) Asia Pacific 2020 AAFIYA MEDICAL BILLING SERVICES Best Health Insurance TPA Service Provider UAE 2020 APRIL International Care Best Individual Health Insurance Company Asia Pacific 2020 Zurich Insurance (Hong Kong) Best Insurance Company Claims Management Team Hong Kong 2020 Generali Thailand

Best Insurance Company Claims Management Thailand 2020 AYA SOMPO Insurance Company Limited Best Insurance Company Digital Transformation Myanmar 2020 MAPFRE Middlesea plc Best Insurance Underwriting Malta 2020 GFA Insurance Ltd Best Insurance Underwriting Mauritius 2020 AROPE Insurance S.A.L. Best Insurance Underwriting MENA 2020 Qatar Insurance Company (QIC Insured) Best Insurance Website Middle East 2020 Al Hilal Takaful B.S.C (C) Best Life & Health Takaful Provider Bahrain 2020 PT Axa Mandiri Financial Services Best Life & Health Takaful Provider Indonesia 2020 FWD Life

Best Life Insurance App Philippines 2020 Pasha Life Best Life Insurance Company Azerbaijan 2020 Dai-ichi Life Insurance (Cambodia) PLC Best Life Insurance Company Cambodia 2020 Arpico Insurance PLC Best Life Insurance Company for Innovation Sri Lanka 2020 Halyk-Life JSC Best Life Insurance Company Kazakhstan 2020 Vanguard Life Assurance Company Ltd Best Life Insurance Company Malawi 2020 FBNInsurance Best Life Insurance Company Nigeria 2020 Oman United Insurance Company Best Life Insurance Company Oman 2020 Pacífico Seguros Best Life Insurance Company Peru 2020

Global Banking & Finance Awards® 2020 AWARD WINNERS

AIA Insurance Lanka Limited Best Life Insurance Company Sri Lanka 2020 Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. ltd Best Life Insurance Company Taiwan 2020 Muang Thai Life Assurance Public Company Limited Best Life Insurance Company Thailand 2020 MetLife Turkey Best Life Insurance Company Turkey 2020 Alliance Insurance Company PSC Best Life Insurance Company UAE 2020 Sanlam Life Insurance Best Life Insurance Company Uganda 2020 O’zbekinvest Hayot LLC IC Best Life Insurance Company Uzbekistan 2020 Metropolitan Life Insurance Zambia Best Life Insurance Company Zambia 2020 Aljazira Takaful Taawuni Co Best Life Takaful Provider Saudi Arabia 2020 Al-Bahriah Insurance & Reinsurance S.A.L. Best Marine Insurance Company Lebanon 2020 Grand Guardian Tokio Marine General Insurance Co., Ltd. Best Marine Insurance Myanmar 2020 Solidarity Bahrain

Best Motor Insurance Company Bahrain 2020 Solidarity Bahrain

Best Motor Insurance Company Bahrain 2020 Fairfirst insurance Limited Best Online Insurance Company Sri Lanka 2020 Gross Insurance LLC Best Online Insurance Company Uzbekistan 2020 Oman Reinsurance Company Best Reinsurance Company MENA 2020 Thaire life assurance PCL Best Reinsurance Company Thailand 2020 Euler Hermes Asia Pacific Best Trade Credit Insurance Company Asia Pacific 2020 Atradius N.V.

Best Trade Credit Insurance Company Europe 2020 Coface Best Trade Credit Insurance Company Italy 2020 Euler Hermes Sigorta Best Trade Credit Insurance Company Turkey 2020 Jubilee Insurance Best Travel Insurance Company Burundi 2020 Gross Insurance LLC Best Travel Insurance Company Uzbekistan 2020 PT. Asuransi Etiqa Internasional Indonesia Best Commercial Lines Insurance Provider Indonesia 2020 Enterprise Life Best Life Insurance Company Ghana 2020 Dhofar Insurance Co. SAOG Best General Insurance Products Oman 2020 FWD Insurance Most Innovative Insurance Process Asia 2020 (FWD Affiliates Programme) Tuk Tuk, People’s Insurance PLC Best General Insurance Product of the Year Sri Lanka 2020 Uzbekinvest Export-Import Insurance Company Best Insurance Product (KASKO 2.0) Uzbekistan 2020 Abu Dhabi National Insurance Company Most Innovative Insurance Product (ADNIC’s Wedding Insurance Policy) MENA 2020 Think Insurtech Best Cloud Based Insurance Solution Provider France 2020 AETINS SDN BHD Best Core Insurance Technology Transformation Asia 2020 Qatar Insurance Company (QIC Insured) Best Core Insurance Technology Transformation MENA 2020 SIGAL UNIQA Group Austria Best Insurance Company Digital Transformation Albania 2020 Qatar Insurance Company (QIC Insured) Best Insurance Company Digital Transformation MENA 2020 National Life and General Insurance Co.SAOG

Best Insurance Company Digital Transformation Oman 2020 Qatar Insurance Company (QIC Insured) Best Insurance Company Digital Transformation Qatar 2020 Shin Kong Life Insurance Co Ltd Best Insurance Company Digital Transformation Taiwan 2020 BaoViet Insurance Corporation Best Insurance Company Digital Transformation Vietnam 2020 FWD Life

Best Life Insurance Company for Digital Transformation Philippines 2020 SICO BSC (c) Best Investment Bank Bahrain 2020 Banco de Fomento Internacional, SA

Best Investment Bank Cape Verde 2020 Arab African International Bank (AAIB) Best Investment Bank Egypt 2020 JSC Halyk Finance Best Investment Bank Kazakhstan 2020 Sterling Capital Limited Best Investment Bank Kenya 2020 National Investments Company Best Investment Bank Kuwait 2020 CDH Investment Bank Best Investment Bank Malawi 2020 Maybank Investment Bank Berhad Best Investment Bank Malaysia 2020 SHUAA Capital psc Best Investment Bank MENA 2020 GIB Capital Best Investment Bank Middle East 2020

Global Banking & Finance Awards® 2020 AWARD WINNERS

Chinggis Khaan Bank Best Investment Bank Mongolia 2020 Banco BiG Moçambique, S.A. Best Investment Bank Mozambique 2020 Standard Bank Namibia Best Investment Bank Namibia 2020 Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited Best Investment Bank Nigeria 2020 Banchile Inversiones Best Investment Bank South America 2020 Zagrebacka Banka Best Investment Bank South East Europe 2020 NDB Investment Bank Ltd Best Investment Bank Sri Lanka 2020 Carnegie Investment Bank Best Investment Bank Sweden 2020 Vontobel Best Investment Bank Switzerland 2020 Bank of SinoPac Best Investment Bank Taiwan 2020 Bualuang Securities Public Company Limited

Best Investment Bank Thailand 2020 Dragon Capital Best Investment Bank Ukraine 2020 Asaka Bank Best Investment Bank Uzbekistan 2020 BIDV Securities Company (BSC) Best Investment Bank Vietnam 2020 Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe Ltd

Best Investment Bank Zimbabwe 2020 uab securities Best New Investment Bank Myanmar 2020 Credit Bank of Moscow Best Bank for Investor Relations Russia 2020 Bosna Bank International Best Investor Relations Bank Bosnia and Herzegovina 2020 Banco BMG Best Investor Relations Bank Brazil 2020 Ceskoslovenská obchodní banka, a.s.

Best Investor Relations Bank Czech Republic 2020 Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Best Investor Relations Bank Hong Kong 2020 Blom Bank

Best Investor Relations Bank Lebanon 2020 Al Baraka Banking Group Best Investor Relations Bank MENA 2020 Standard Bank Group Best Investor Relations Bank South Africa 2020 Al Baraka Bank Best Investor Relations Bank Turkey 2020 KDB Bank Uzbekistan Best Investor Relations Bank Uzbekistan 2020 National Citizen Bank Best Investor Relations Bank Vietnam 2020 United Bank for Africa Plc Best Investor Relations Bank Western Africa 2020 Mota-Engil Africa Best Investor Relations Company Africa 2020 BOC Aviation Limited Best Investor Relations Company Asia 2020 China Shenhua Energy Company Limited Best Investor Relations Company Asia Pacific 2020 Value Partners Group Best Investor Relations Company China 2020 SimCorp Best Investor Relations Company Denmark 2020 Worldline Best Investor Relations Company France 2020 National Investments Company Best Investor Relations Company GCC 2020 Piramal Enterprises Limited Best Investor Relations Company India 2020 Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Best Investor Relations Company Japan 2020 National Real Estate Company Best Investor Relations Company Kuwait 2020 Grupo Aval Best Investor Relations Company Latin America 2020 Ooredoo Maldives Plc Best Investor Relations Company Maldives 2020 Emaar Economic City Best Investor Relations Company Saudi Arabia 2020 ESR Funds Management (S) Limited

Best Investor Relations Company Singapore 2020 NH Investments & Securities Best Investor Relations Company South Korea 2020 Energy Absolute Public Company Limited Best Investor Relations Company Thailand 2020 Waha Capital Best Investor Relations Company UAE 2020 Mota-Engil

Investor Relations Awards – Construction Portugal 2020 Eqhwan Mokhzanee, AmBank Islamic Berhad

Islamic Banking CEO of the Year Malaysia 2020 Mr. Khalid Jamal Al Kayed, Bank Nizwa Islamic Banking CEO of the Year Oman 2020 Banque MISR

Best Islamic Corporate Bank Egypt 2020 AmBank Islamic Berhad Best Islamic Corporate Bank Malaysia 2020 Islamic Bank of Mauritania (BIM) Best Islamic Corporate Bank Mauritania 2020

Global Banking & Finance Awards® 2020 AWARD WINNERS

Wifak International Bank Best Islamic Corporate Bank Tunisia 2020 Warba Bank Best Digital Islamic Bank Kuwait 2020 Kuwait Finance House Bahrain B.S.C. (c) Best Digital Islamic Bank Bahrain 2020 ADIB Egypt

Best Digital Islamic Bank Egypt 2020 AmBank Islamic Berhad Best Islamic SME Bank Malaysia 2020 HelloGold Sdn. Bhd. Most Innovative Gold Savings App South East Asia 2020 Amlak Finance – Egypt Best Islamic Mortgage Financing Company Egypt 2020 Islamic Bank of Mauritania (BIM) Best Islamic Bank for Auto Loans Mauritania 2020 Al Salam Bank Bahrain

Best Islamic Retail Bank Bahrain 2020 First Community Bank

Best Islamic Retail Bank Kenya 2020 Islamic Bank of Mauritania (BIM) Best Islamic Retail Bank Mauritania 2020 Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC Best Islamic Retail Bank UAE 2020 Bank of Industry Best Micro Finance Bank Africa 2020 Fiji Development Bank Best Micro Finance Bank Fiji 2020 Caritas Microfinance Bank Best Micro Finance Bank Kenya 2020 Mainstreet Microfinance Bank Best Micro Finance Bank Nigeria 2020 Oman Development Bank Best Micro Finance Bank Oman 2020 Bangko Kabayan Inc. Best Micro Finance Bank Philippines 2020 OJSC Bank “Bai-Tushum” Best Microfinance Bank Kyrgyzstan 2020 Alfa-Bank Belarus

Best Mobile app for Micro & SME Belarus 2020 Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank Co., Ltd Best Mobile app for Micro and SME Taiwan 2020 Alfa-Bank Belarus

Best Online Services for Micro & SME Belarus 2020 Tirana Bank Best SME Bank Albania 2020 AccessBank Azerbaijan Best SME Bank Azerbaijan 2020 Alfa-Bank Belarus

Best SME Bank Belarus 2020 Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD) Best SME Bank Brunei 2020 Equity Bank Best SME Bank Congo 2020 QNB Alahli Best SME Bank Egypt 2020 Bank OCBC NISP Best SME Bank Indonesia 2020 JSC Bank CenterCredit

Best SME Bank Kazakhstan 2020 SAIGON THUONG TIN BANK LAO CO., LTD. Best SME Bank Lao People’s Democratic Republic 2020 LGB Bank Best SME Bank Lebanon 2020 AmBank Group Best SME Bank Malaysia 2020 Bank One Limited Best SME Bank Mauritius 2020 TransBank Best SME Bank Mongolia 2020 Asian-Pacific Bank Best SME Bank Russia 2020 ABSA Bank (Seychelles) Limited Best SME Bank Seychelles 2020 National Development Bank PLC Best SME Bank Sri Lanka 2020 SEKERBANK Best SME Bank Turkey 2020 Alfa Bank Ukraine

Best SME Bank Ukraine 2020 BANK FOR INVESTMENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF VIETNAM JSC. (BIDV) Best SME Bank Vietnam 2020 Maybank Singapore Limited Best SME Bank Singapore 2020 Resource Group Most Innovative Holding Group Middle East 2020 GBE Brokers Most Innovative Online Broker Germany 2020 Arviem AG Best New Supply Chain Finance Provider – Nonbank Europe 2020 Agroleasing Leasing Credit Company Best Agricultural Lending Company Armenia 2020 KazAgroFinance JSC Best Agricultural Lending Company Kazakhstan 2020 BOC Aviation Limited Best Aircraft Leasing Company Asia 2020 CIAF Leasing Corp Egypt Best Aircraft Leasing Company Egypt 2020 Pristine Global Finance Best Auto Finance Company Myanmar 2020 Muscat Finance (S.A.O.G) Best Auto Finance Company Oman 2020

Global Banking & Finance Awards® 2020 AWARD WINNERS

Tasheelat Car Leasing Company Best Auto Leasing Company Bahrain 2020 UniCredit Leasing Croatia d.o.o.

Best Auto Leasing Company Croatia 2020 Leasafric Ghana Limited

Best Auto Leasing Company Ghana 2020 Automak Automotive Company Best Auto Leasing Company Kuwait 2020 RSLC Qurilishmashlizing JSC Best Auto Leasing Company Uzbekistan 2020 First Standard Finance Corporation Best Business Funding Company Philippines 2020 Factoring KB a.s.

Best Factoring Company Czech Republic 2020 Yapı Kredi Faktoring A.Ş.

Best Factoring Company Turkey 2020 African Guarantee Fund Best Financial Guarantee Provider Africa 2020 Amret Microfinance Institution Best Financial Institution for Empowering Women in Business Cambodia 2020 Guotai Junan International Holdings Limited Best Financial Services Group Hong Kong 2020 National Development Bank Group Best Financial Services Group Sri Lanka 2020 MoneyMatch Brunei (MMB Transfer Sdn Bhd) Best Fintech Company Brunei 2020 Temenos Best Fintech Company Denmark 2020 Zeepay Ghana ltd Best Fintech Company Ghana 2020 Privé Technologies Limited

Best Fintech Company Hong Kong 2020 Tap Payments Best Fintech Company Kuwait 2020 Bluering S.A.L Best Fintech Company Middle East 2020 LendMN NBFI JSC Best Fintech Company Mongolia 2020 Cellulant Best Fintech Company Nigeria 2020 Singlife Best Fintech Company Singapore 2020 EPIC Lanka (Pvt) Ltd Best Fintech Company Sri Lanka 2020 Fondi Besa SH.A Best Micro Finance Company Albania 2020 SEF International Best Micro Finance Company Armenia 2020 AMK Microfinance Institution Plc Best Micro Finance Company Cambodia 2020 Ellinas Finance Public Company Limited Best Micro Finance Company Cyprus 2020 Tamweelcom Best Micro Finance Company Jordan 2020 KMF Best Micro Finance Company Kazakhstan 2020 Maha Agriculture Microfinance Best Micro Finance Company Myanmar 2020 Bimputh Finance PLC

Best Micro Finance Company Sri Lanka 2020 BAHRAIN EXCHANGE COMPANY W.L.L Best Money Exchange / Best Money Transfer Kuwait 2020 Suria Muhabat SDN Berhad Malaysia Best Money Exchange Malaysia 2020 Unimoni Exchange LLC Best Money Exchange Oman 2020 Uzbek Republican Currency Exchange Best Money Exchange Uzbekistan 2020 First Standard Finance Corporation Best Mortgage Financing Company Philippines 2020 Cashalo Best New Fintech Company Philippines 2020 GLOBAL CREDIT UCO CJSC Best Online Finance Company Armenia 2020 Validus Capital Best P2P Lending Platform Singapore 2020 Aditya Birla Financial Services Best SME Finance Company India 2020 Gulf Finance Company Saudi Arabia

Best SME Finance Company Saudi Arabia 2020 Siraj Finance PJSC Best SME Finance Company UAE 2020 Mohamed Rusan Fyroze, Siraj Finance PJSC Non-Banking Financial Institution CEO of the Year UAE 2020 Siegfried Kofi Gbadago, Hayman Capital Company LTD Non-Banking Financial Institution CFO of the Year Myanmar 2020 Fineon Exchange Best New Fintech Company Europe 2020 Moonfare GmbH Best New Fintech Company Germany 2020 Sarwa Best New Fintech Company UAE 2020 TASLIF SAL Best New Microfinance Provider Lebanon 2020 ORIX Asia Limited

Best Japan Mortgage Service Provider Hong Kong 2020 Vallibel Finance PLC Most Innovative Finance Product Sri Lanka 2020 Global Money Express Co., Ltd. Best Money Exchange South Korea 2020 Arab Financial Services Best Fintech Company Bahrain 2020

Global Banking & Finance Awards® 2020 AWARD WINNERS

Gyals Tugrug Best Micro Finance Company Mongolia 2020 LADOL Most Innovative Oil & Gas Service Company Nigeria 2020 Omise Best Payment Solution Provider Thailand 2020 Commercial Bank of Dubai Best Payment Solutions UAE 2020 EveryPay Ltd Best New Payment Solution Provider Central Europe 2020 EasyPay Best Payment Solution Provider Albania 2020 AsiaPay Best Payment Solution Provider Asia Pacific 2020 CRDB Bank Plc Best Payment Solution Provider Eastern Africa 2020 LIMONETIK Best Payment Solution Provider France 2020 JCB International Co., Ltd. Best Payment Solution Provider Japan 2020 MobileCard Best Payment Solution Provider Latin America 2020 MANGOPAY Best Payment Solution Provider Luxembourg 2020 Paysera LT Best Payment Solution Provider Northern Europe 2020 Hightech Payment Systems Best Payment Solutions Asia 2020 Hightech Payment Systems Best Payments Solution Provider MENA 2020 GAINDE 2000 Best Payments Solution Provider Senegal 2020 Daviplata Fastest Growing Payment Solution Provider Colombia 2020 BPC

Fastest Growing Payment Solution Provider Europe 2020 FSS (Financial Software and Systems) Fastest Growing Payment Solution Provider Middle East 2020 Yapı Kredi Bank Best Private Bank Turkey 2020 Andbank Best Private Bank Andorra 2020 Banco Millennium Atlântico

Best Private Bank Angola 2020 Kathrein Privatbank Aktiengesellschaft Best Private Bank Austria 2020 Credit Suisse Best Private Bank Brazil 2020 Deltec Bank & Trust Best Private Bank Caribbean 2020 Bank of Cyprus Best Private Bank Cyprus 2020 Banque de Luxembourg Best Private Bank Luxembourg 2020 Maybank Islamic Berhad Best Private Bank Malaysia 2020 Qatar National Bank Best Private Bank MENA 2020 Compagnie Monégasque de Banque

Best Private Bank Monaco 2020 Banco Finantia Best Private Bank Portugal 2020 Al Khalij Commercial Bank “al khaliji”

Best Private Bank Qatar 2020 Bank AlJazira Best Private Bank Saudi Arabia 2020 Banque SYZ Best Private Bank Switzerland 2020 Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank Co., Ltd Best Private Bank Taiwan 2020 Emirates NBD Best Private Bank UAE 2020 Scotiabank

Best Private Wealth Management Company Cayman Islands 2020 X Spot Markets (EU) Ltd Best Private Wealth Management Company Greece 2020 Synergy Asset Management Best Private Wealth Management Company Switzerland 2020 Gulf International Finance Limited (GIFL) Best Private Wealth Management Company UAE 2020 Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank Co., Ltd Most Innovative Private Bank for Intergenerational Wealth Management Taiwan 2020 iWealth Management Best New Private Wealth Management Company Poland 2020 OPTIVEN LIMITED Best Commercial Real Estate Developer Kenya 2020 UMLand Berhad Best Commercial Real Estate Developer Malaysia 2020 Colomboland and Development Company plc

Best Commercial Real Estate Developer Sri Lanka 2020 NAI Ukraine Best Commercial Real Estate Developer Ukraine 2020 The Tower Mall Management Group Best Commercial Real Estate Developer Uzbekistan 2020 The Sustainable City, Diamond Developers Best Environment Friendly Residential Project of the Year MENA 2020 Sobha Realty Best Luxury Real Estate Developer UAE 2020 Muscat Bay Best Luxury Real Estate Development Oman 2020

Global Banking & Finance Awards® 2020 AWARD WINNERS

Al Mamsha, Alef Group Best Mixed-Use Commercial Development of the Year UAE 2020 NAI RCL Philippines Best Real Estate Consultant Philippines 2020 Anchor Antigua Realty LTD Best Real Estate Consultants Antigua and Barbuda 2020 Barbados Sotheby’s International Realty Best Real Estate Consultants Barbados 2020 FOX Smart Estate Agency Network Ltd Best Real Estate Consultants Cyprus 2020 Trust for Real Estate Best Real Estate Consultants Egypt 2020 Ghana Prime Properties Best Real Estate Consultants Ghana 2020 Israel Sotheby’s International Realty

Best Real Estate Consultants Israel 2020 Azizi Realtors Best Real Estate Consultants Kenya 2020 CBRE Limited Best Real Estate Consultants Middle East 2020 Mongolian Properties Best Real Estate Consultants Mongolia 2020 Dream Estates Montenegro Best Real Estate Consultants Montenegro 2020 Golden Peacock Real Estate Best Real Estate Consultants Myanmar 2020 ONE Estate Romania Best Real Estate Consultants Romania 2020 JONES LANG LASSALLE Best Real Estate Consultants Saudi Arabia 2020 Ceylon Investment Group (Pvt) Ltd Best Real Estate Consultants Sri Lanka 2020 Knight Frank Chartered Thailand Best Real Estate Consultants Thailand 2020 AL AYAN REAL ESTATE BROKER Best Real Estate Consultants UAE 2020 Seide Ltd Best Real Estate Consultants Uzbekistan 2020 NAI Ukraine Best Real Estate Consulting Company CIS & Eastern Europe 2020 Atlantis Bulgaria Holding Best Residential Real Estate Developer Bulgaria 2020 PT PP Properti Tbk Best Residential Real Estate Developer Indonesia 2020 Cayan Group Best Residential Real Estate Developer Middle East 2020 Kan Development Best Residential Real Estate Developer Ukraine 2020 Right Touch Engineering Group Best Residential Real Estate Development ( Ohana Hills Villas) Lebanon 2020 TONG ENG GROUP Best Residential Real Estate Development Singapore 2020 Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited Most Innovative Fintech Hub Hong Kong 2020 Technology Park of Software and IT (IT-Park Uzbekistan) Most Innovative Fintech Hub Uzbekistan 2020 REOS Bilisim Teknolojileri AS Most Innovative PropTech Brand Turkey 2020 Propy Most Innovative PropTech Brand USA 2020 Frederick D Go, CEO, Robinsons Land Corporation Real Estate CEO of the Year South East Asia 2020 Qurat Ul Ain Wani , Drehomes Real Estate Real Estate Chairman of the Year UAE 2020 CBRE Limited Real Estate Consultant CEO of the Year Sri Lanka 2020 Mainstreet Microfinance Bank Best Bank for Auto Loans Nigeria 2020 Thanachart Bank Plc. Best Bank for Auto Loans Thailand 2020 Asaka Bank

Best Bank for Auto Loans Uzbekistan 2020 Tien Phong Commercial Joint Stock Bank (TPBank) Best Bank for Auto Loans Vietnam 2020 Oromia International Bank Best Bank for International Services Ethiopia 2020 POSB Zimbabwe Best Bank for International Services Zimbabwe 2020 The National Commercial Bank Best Bank for Remittance Saudi Arabia 2020 Al Baraka Islamic Bank Best Bank for Social Media Bahrain 2020 Sohar International Best Bank for Social Media Oman 2020 PJSCB “Orient Finans” Best Bank for Social Media Uzbekistan 2020 National Development Bank PLC Best Bank Transformation Sri Lanka 2020 Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation Best Green Bank Philippines 2020 Pan Asia Banking Corporation PLC Best Green Bank Sri Lanka 2020 Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank Best Mortgage Bank Nigeria 2020 Oschadbank Best Mortgage Bank Ukraine 2020 Saigon-Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) Best Mortgage Bank Vietnam 2020 Saigon-Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) Best Remittance Bank Vietnam 2020 Converse Bank CJSC Best Retail Bank Armenia 2020

Global Banking & Finance Awards® 2020 AWARD WINNERS

Ahli United Bank B.S.C. Best Retail Bank Bahrain 2020 Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz Best Retail Bank Bolivia 2020 Maybank Cambodia Best Retail Bank Cambodia 2020 Equa Bank a.s.

Best Retail Bank Czech Republic 2020 QNB Alahli Best Retail Bank Egypt 2020 Cooperative Bank of Oromia Best Retail Bank Ethiopia 2020 Trust Bank Ltd Best Retail Bank Gambia 2020 Absa Bank Ghana Limited Best Retail Bank Ghana 2020 Credito Emiliano spa Best Retail Bank Italy 2020 JSC Halyk Bank Best Retail Bank Kazakhstan 2020 CJSC Demir Kyrgyz International Bank Best Retail Bank Kyrgyzstan 2020 Standard Lesotho Bank Best Retail Bank Lesotho 2020 Halkbank AD Skopje Best Retail Bank Macedonia 2020 United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Berhad Best Retail Bank Malaysia 2020 SBM Bank (Mauritius) Ltd Best Retail Bank Mauritius 2020 CKB Best Retail Bank Montenegro 2020 uab bank Limited Best Retail Bank Myanmar 2020 Bank Windhoek Best Retail Bank Namibia 2020 First Bank of Nigeria Limited Best Retail Bank Nigeria 2020 Union Bank of the Philippines Best Retail Bank Philippines 2020 Santander Bank Polska Best Retail Bank Poland 2020 Banco Santander Totta-Portugal Best Retail Bank Portugal 2020 Doha Bank Best Retail Bank Qatar 2020 Riyad Bank Best Retail Bank Saudi Arabia 2020 ABSA Bank (Seychelles) Limited Best Retail Bank Seychelles 2020 Rokel Commercial Bank (SL) Ltd Best Retail Bank Sierra Leone 2020 Nedbank Ltd Best Retail Bank South Africa 2020 National Development Bank PLC Best Retail Bank Sri Lanka 2020 1st National Bank St. Lucia Limited Best Retail Bank St Lucia 2020 The First MicroFinance Bank

Best Retail Bank Tajikistan 2020 Ziraat Bankasi Best Retail Bank Turkey 2020 OTP Bank Ukraine

Best Retail Bank Ukraine 2020 Agrobank JSV Best Retail Bank Uzbekistan 2020 VietinBank Best Retail Bank Vietnam 2020 Banco Interatlântico, S.A. Best Retail Bank Cape Verde 2020 Saigon-Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) Best Savings Account Vietnam 2020 Validus Capital Best Supply Chain Finance Company Singapore 2020 Taulia Best Supply Chain Finance Provider – Nonbank Europe 2020 Fred Swanepoel, Nedbank Ltd CIO of the Year South Africa 2020 Natalia Karayaneva, Propy PropTech CEO of the Year USA 2020 Pinak Vedalankar, Publicis Sapient Technology Vice President of the Year UK 2020 Saudi Telecom Company 5G Innovator of the Year MENA 2020 Kalaam Telecom Best Telecommunications Company Bahrain 2020 Smart Axiata Co., Ltd. Best Telecommunications Company Cambodia 2020 Safaricom Limited Best Telecommunications Company Kenya 2020 Saudi Telecom Company Best Telecommunications Company MENA 2020 Ooredoo Oman Best Telecommunications Company Oman 2020 Singtel Mobile Pte Ltd Best Telecommunications Company Singapore 2020 Dialog Axiata PLC

Best Telecommunications Company Sri Lanka 2020 Kalaam Telecom Fastest Growing Telecommunications Company Bahrain 2020 Fastweb SpA Fastest Growing Telecommunications Company Italy 2020

Global Banking & Finance Awards® 2020 AWARD WINNERS

Mr. Thomas Hundt, Smart Axiata Co., Ltd.

Yogendra Katiyar, Founder and CEO, WE NETWORK LLC Veer Passi, Kalaam Telecom Bangkok Bank PLC African Export-Import Bank

Converse Bank CJSC QNB Alahli K&H Bank Zrt

Bank of Valletta Danske Bank

HSBC Taiwan Maritime Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MSB) Anglo-Gulf Trade Bank

Grand Hyatt Dubai SIXT Rent A Car Grand Hyatt Dubai Golden Tulip Nizwa Hotel The Shilla Seoul Al Bait Sharjah Fujairah Holidays Halyk Bank Kyrgyzstan Ahli Bank Q.S.C. Citibank Nigeria Limited Union Bank of the Philippines Union Bank of Colombo PLC Banque MISR

QNB Alahli Commercial Bank of Dubai

CEO of the Year Telecommunications Cambodia 2020 Telecom Network & Infrastructure CEO of the Year Oman 2020 Telecommunications CEO of the Year Bahrain 2020 Best Trade Finance Bank Thailand 2020 Best Trade Finance Bank Africa 2020 Best Trade Finance Bank Armenia 2020 Best Trade Finance Bank Egypt 2020 Best Trade Finance Bank Hungary 2020 Best Trade Finance Bank Malta 2020 Best Trade Finance Bank Nordic 2020 Best Trade Finance Bank Taiwan 2020 Best Trade Finance Bank Vietnam 2020 Best New Trade Finance Bank UAE 2020 Best Business Hotel Middle East 2020 Best Car Rental Website Bahrain 2020 Best Conference Hotel Middle East 2020 Best Hotel Customer Service Oman 2020 Best Hotel Customer Service South Korea 2020 Best Hotel Customer Service UAE 2020 Best Travel Agency United Arab Emirates 2020 Best Cash Management Bank Kyrgyzstan 2020 Best Bank for Treasury Services Qatar 2020 Best Cash Management Bank Nigeria 2020 Best Cash Management Bank Philippines 2020 Best Cash Management Bank Sri Lanka 2020 Fastest Growing Cash Management Egypt 2020 Best Bank for Treasury Services Egypt 2020 Best Cash Management Bank UAE 2020

Global Banking & Finance AwardsÂŽ 2020 AWARD WINNERS

Global Banking & Finance Awards® Top Next 100 Global Awards 2020

The Next 100 Global Companies to watch highlights some of the most exciting, innovative, and promising businesses from around the world. The list recognizes companies at the forefront whose strategy, achievements, dedication, and leadership of those who demonstrate outstanding achievement and are committed to delivering the products clients need and the results clients want, acting as a catalyst for the industry.

AWARD WINNING COMPANY NAMES

AWARD TITLES

SmartCharts The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Trading Platform Learn to Trade The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Forex Education The National Commercial Bank The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Remittances Tien Phong Commercial Joint Stock Bank (TPBank) The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Digital Banking National Investments Company The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 -Real Estate Kuwait Finance House Bahrain B.S.C. (c) The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 -Islamic Retail Bank Forte Insurance (Cambodia) Plc

The Next 100 Global Awards 2020- Insurance Trade and Development Bank of Mongolia The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Commercial Bank Halkbank AD Skopje The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Banking Group Kuwait Finance House Bahrain B.S.C. (c) The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Digital Banking App (KFH Jazeel Banking) uab bank Limited The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Retail Banking Ziraat Bankası AŞ The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Banking Technology PT Sucorinvest Asset Management The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Asset Management Smart Axiata Co., Ltd. The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Telecommunications Banco de Fomento Internacional, SA The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Structural Project Financing Altacode The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Technology PayX LLC. The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Fintech Company Electric Networks of Armenia The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Energy & Natural Resources Anchor Antigua Realty LTD The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Real Estate Consultants Nucleus195 The Next 100 Global Awards 2020- Technology Western International Group The Next 100 Global Awards 2020- Holding Group MobileCard The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Payment Facilitator Fiji Development Bank

The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Development Bank POTENZA The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Banking Technology Bualuang Securities Public Company Limited The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Investment Banking

Global Banking & Finance Awards® Top Next 100 Global Awards 2020

Crown Agents Bank Ahlibank QSC Naouri Group Zagrebacka Banka FAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS Belgazprombank Kalaam Telecom Noor Takaful UAE Tech Garden Concord Asset Management Ascent Technology Consulting SICO BSC (c) Synechron Arab African International Bank Syskode Technologies

Crowe Mak

iWealth Management Ecobank Sierra Leone Limited Ooredoo Oman Whitestar Asset Solutions S.A. Maybank Islamic Asset Management Sdn Bhd Unimoni Exchange Yapi Kredi Asset Management Stanbic IBTC Holdings

Imperial Investments LLC Pacífico Seguros RMA Cambodia Westpac Banking Corporation

Flying Colour Business Setup Services, LLC Stimes Technologies WLL Siraj Finance PJSC ABSA Bank (Seychelles) Limited Islamic Banking & Finance Institute Malaysia (IBFIM) AJM Kooheji Group BSC (c) JFD Group Ltd Aafiya Medical Billing Services LLC (Aafiya TPA) Varchev Finance Ltd

Propy QNB Finansinvest Galt and Taggart JSC frank.co.th

National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited Transcapital NBFI A Plus Insurance Company Ltd Ambeon Holdings PLC STelligence Co., Ltd Balfin Finance Investment Group Tap Payments The First Investor

The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Forex Bank The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Treasury The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Transportation The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Investment banking The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Telecommunications The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Retail Banking The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Telecommunications The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Insurance The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Technology Innovation Cluster The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Asset Management The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Technology Consultants The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Investment Banking The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Technology The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Investment Banking The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Technology The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Tax & Audit advisory The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Investment Banking The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Retail Banking The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Telecommunications The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Asset Management The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Islamic Asset Management The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Money Transfer & Forex The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Pension Funds Management The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Holding Group The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – NBFI The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Insurance The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Transportation The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Banking Group The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Licensing & Business Registration The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – IT Service Provider The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Islamic NBFI The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Corporate Banking The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Islamic Finance Education The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Retail The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Investment Services The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Insurance TPA The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Brokerage The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – PropTech The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Brokerage The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Investment Banking The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Insurance Brokerage The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Banking Group The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – NBFI The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Insurance The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Holding Group The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Technology The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Holding Group The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Fintech The Next 100 Global Awards 2020 – Asset Management

Global Banking & Finance Awards® Top Next 100 Global Awards 2020

AMEN BANK Dubai Center for Islamic Banking and Finance HBMSU Istanbul Portfoy HAYMAN CAPITAL COMPANY LTD Allied Transport Sterling Bank Nigeria Tisco Asset Management Co LTD Eurofast Global SLTD Alliance Insurance Company PSC Abacus Securities Corporation SICO BSC (c) Ernst & Young Lao Co., Ltd

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2021

EMEA BUSINESS

A human touch will be key post pandemic

Although COVID-induced lockdowns have accelerated digitization in many sectors, customers still want to interact with other human beings.

Lloyds Bank, roughly 9 million people in the UK are unable to use the internet without help from someone else.

this, users have to simplify their commands, hyper-articulate them, or repeat themselves, creating a new layer of inconvenience.

Could technology lend a helping hand?

Oscar Wilde once said, “When most people agree on something, they are usually wrong”. That sentiment struck me as I walked past a bank branch recently on a rainy winter morning. There was a long line of customers outside the bank, and it was at a standstill.

How wrong they were, I thought, for wasting their time in a queue. We have mobile-only banks, so why don’t they just bank online?

Then it struck me that these people may not have had a choice. Yes, tech-savvy consumers use banking apps, but not everyone is willing, or able, to do that.

In fact, according to a recent study by

132 | Issue 22

A human touch will help No doubt, technology can help some of those people. For example, USbased D3 Banking Technology has built a voice-based banking interface on Amazon’s Alexa. With their voice, customers can check account balances, move money, and review their financial goals. This spares them the hassle of using a screen-based interface, which may be particularly welcome to less tech-savvy consumers, such as the elderly.

However, digital innovations are rarely without problems. In the case of voice assistants, they sometimes mishear user inputs. To address

Providing a human touch during these interactions makes good business sense. According to some research, user journeys that involve contact with other human beings exhibit higher rates of customer retention than those that do not.

That said, such contact does not always have to involve a human being: images of people influence user behaviour too. This is why politicians put pictures of themselves in their electoral propaganda. Adding a face to a name builds trust.

EMEA BUSINESS

This intervention does not even require the image of a person either. In some instances, a mere trace of humanity is enough to affect customers. For example, one study found that placing an image of a pair of eyes above the moneybox in a self-service coffee bar increased payments almost threefold.

Thus, any financial innovation worth its salt should employ a human touch as part of the customer journey.

Where to find the staff According to McKinsey, tasks consuming 45% of staff time across all professions are fully automatable.

This means that financial institutions will soon need to redeploy otherwise redundant staff. How about using these people to improve user experiences across the board and increase customer loyalty?

To be effective in this undertaking, financial institutions must deploy staff to those parts of the user journey where customers feel the greatest uncertainty. In this regard, ‘customers’ can be internal to. When deploying innovations within organizations, endusers that are employees may also need personal support.

Human interaction in the new normal With the accelerating digitization of the economy, there is a greater need for a human touch in many domains. The use of new technologies and faster pace of change creates uncertainty, which, in turn, increases this need.

What’s more, because of the lockdowns, digital fatigue has increased. When consumers already spend a lot of time in front of screens for work, their appetite for doing this in their free time has decreased. Thus, by providing a human touch, there is an

opportunity for financial institutions to differentiate themselves in the eyes of their customers.

Moreover, as similar design interventions are used to optimize digital engagement across the industry, there is a risk of overuse. Consumers notice patterns. Exposing them to engagement techniques that they have seen before will turn them off.

This is the reason you are hesitant to open emails with the word ‘FREE’ in the subject line. When too many digital interfaces use the same tricks to engage customers, these start to feel disingenuous – in an increasingly cynical age, many consumers have become very efficient at spotting this.

Not everyone is the same It’s time for the financial sector to recognize that change is needed.

Spare your customers the marketing platitudes and corporate speak, because they’ve heard it all before.

Instead, delight them with a well-placed human touch.

For different consumers that can mean different things. I, for instance, bank with First Direct because they pick up the phone any time of day. And when it comes to mobile banking, I type all day, so what makes them think I want to bank via a chat bot?

Niels Pedersen Senior lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University and the author of ‘Financial Technology: Case Studies in Fintech Innovation.’

Niels Pedersen is a Chartered Accountant and Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University, the home of England’s first, and longest-running, postgraduate financial technology course. Before coming to academia, he worked at PwC and the Bank of England. His thoughts have been featured in Newsweek and on BBC Radio Scotland. His first book, Financial Technology: Case Studies in Fintech Innovation was released on December 3 2020.

However, I am not every consumer.

Everyone is different. Therein lies the key challenge for financial institutions: personalizing their solutions to cater to individual needs, while providing just the right amount of human contact.

In addition to segmenting customers by their income, age, and location, is it time to classify them according to how much of the human touch they require?

Issue 22 | 133

EMEA FINANCE

Is MiFID II still fit for purpose in a post-COVID financial landscape?

January 2nd, 2021 was the third anniversary of the implementation of MiFID II, a legislative framework instituted by the European Union (EU) to regulate financial markets in the bloc and improve protections for investors. This second iteration of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive includes a range of binding obligations for financial traders, including the need to record and store any/all external communications that could result in a trade, for a minimum of five years.

MiFID II is a complex piece of legislation to put it mildly and compliance requires a great deal of time and effort. Despite this, its ‘real-world’ value currently remains subject to debate. While the EU Regulator recently stated 1 that rules around investment research and analysis had been a success, it has previously conceded 2 aspects of MiFID II targeting marketing data costs have been less so. In a wider sense, industry professionals affected by the new legislation

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have extremely mixed feelings about its benefits and detriments 3, both to their work as individuals and to the financial sector as a whole.

However, one thing that is clear is the imposition of financial penalties associated with non-compliance to MiFID II is likely to increase significantly in the near future. Under the original MiFID legislation, many high-profile organisations, including Goldman Sachs International 4 , received fines running into tens of millions of pounds for failing to report transactions in an accurate and timely fashion. Conversely, less than â‚Ź2 million in fines were handed out under MiFID II in the whole of 2019. Many industry commentators attribute this low figure to a grace period for the new legislation, with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) giving firms some wiggle room as they acclimatise to it. But as this period ends, fines and penalties are expected to skyrocket.

EMEA FINANCE Applying pre-COVID legislation in a post-COVID landscape Of course, to say the financial landscape has changed somewhat in the last twelve months is a bit of an understatement, which makes adherence to MiFID II even harder than it was previously. In particular, the massive shift to home working has rapidly accelerated the adoption of new innovations and technologies aimed at making remote collaboration more effective, but not necessarily MiFID II compliant.

Organisations with well-established processes and methodologies have been forced to rapidly rethink their strategies. In many cases, the speed at which they’ve been able to achieve this has been extremely impressive, but it’s come at the expense of compliance. After all, MiFID II is applicable to any communication that may result in a trade. In a lockdown environment, where finance professionals are collaborating and screen sharing to make decisions, they are still operating under the compliance rules set out and their interactions should be recorded and stored. But how many organisations have actually put processes in place to meet these obligations as part of the ‘new normal’?

As the rollout of multiple COVID vaccines gets underway around the world, there’s growing hope of a return to more traditional working environments in the not-too-distant future. But with the popularity of home working leading to many organisations saying it’ll become a permanent fixture, where does that leave MiFID II compliance?

A complex compliance challenge For compliance officers looking to shore up their organisation’s post-COVID remote work environment against MiFID II breaches, there are numerous concerns. For example, how can they ensure every pertinent conversation across numerous digital platforms, being used by hundreds of traders, is

correctly managed and recorded? The issue can be broken down into two main categories. The first is the management of tools and services in question, and the second is management of the data being shared across them.

that has sufficient capacity to retain all types of electronic communications data, including uncompressed stereo voice recordings, for at least five years after they are recorded, as stipulated

by MiFID II.

Technical complexity requires a proactive, technology-led response.

Disjointed, reactive compliance is becoming increasingly unfeasible, given the depth and breadth of tools now being used. For instance, if trading professionals use Microsoft Teams, but their client prefers Skype, how can compliance officers ensure that each and every recording is properly maintained, regardless of which platform is used each time? The answer may lie in unified solutions, which provide a central platform to take advantage of these best-of-breed technologies and provides resources such as search-and-replay, e-discovery and end-to-end trade reconstruction across a diverse technical ecosystem.

Unified solutions may allow firms to develop cost effective, enterprise-wide compliance and data management policies that are fit for purpose in the post-COVID landscape.

The ability to comply with legislation such as MiFID II remains a key priority for every business within its scope.

However, adhering to pre-COVID legislation in a post-COVID landscape is a lot easier said than done for many. Whether the creation of MiFID III will ultimately be required remains to be seen. Until then, it’s clear that successful compliance will rely on the effective implementation of technologyled solutions capable of overcoming the new barriers created by such a fundamental shift in work practices over the last 12 months.

Effective data management and analytics will play pivotal role One thing becoming increasingly clear is that the ability to manage and analyse datasets in their entirety, rather than relying on random manual sampling, will play a pivotal role in eliminating dangerous reporting gaps. Today’s analytics solutions and advanced speech-to-text technologies have already proven invaluable over the last ten months of restrictions and will continue to set the benchmark going forward. Tools such as universal search not only give compliance officers the visibility they need to do their jobs properly, they also help maintain effective standards across all relevant stakeholders.

However, such solutions have requirements of their own, particularly when it comes to robust data and storage. Firms must ensure that their systems utilise compliant data storage,

Martin Taylor Deputy CEO and Co-Founder Content Guru

1

To read the full article log in. To learn more about a subscription click here. (n.d.). MiFID Research Rule Has Been a Success, EU Regulator Says (1). Retrieved January 21, 2021, from https://news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/mifidresearch-rule-has-been-a-success-eu-market-regulator-says

2

Stafford, P. (2019, December 05). EU regulator says Mifid II rules have failed on market data costs. Retrieved January 21, 2021, from https://www.ft.com/content/0f7669f8-1756-11ea9ee4-11f260415385

3

MiFID II: One Year On. (1970, January 01). Retrieved January 21, 2021, from https://www.cfainstitute.org/en/research/ survey-reports/mifid-II-one-year-on

4

FCA fines Goldman Sachs International £34.3 million for transaction reporting failures. (2019, March 28). Retrieved January 21, 2021, from https://www.fca.org.uk/news/pressreleases/fca-fines-goldman-sachs-international-transactionreporting-failures

Issue 22 | 135

EMEA TECHNOLOGY

Why facial recognition is a way to tackle fraud and be a hero for Financial Services Facial recognition is a divisive technology.

Some see it as an everyday mechanic to open their phone or pay for shopping, whereas others see it as an invasion of their civil liberties – another step closer to an Orwellian society tracking their every move.

When it comes to financial services and the technology specifically, again, there seem to be differences of opinion in terms of acceptance.

Using facial recognition is now commonplace for verification purposes, in terms of ensuring the correct person is logging on to their internet banking via two-factor authentication. Using this extra layer of biometric information is a way for banks to ensure accounts are safe and sensitive information has not been stolen. However, whilst this is seen as a positive, it also presents more questions. Why, if banks are storing this biometric data and using it on a daily basis, do they not use the technology further? Why not use it to match customers as they walk in the door to local branches? This not only saves time as they don’t need to confirm their identity, but can also help staff manage who might be the best person to help them with their query. Considering retail banking is now about experiences and consultancy, leveraging technology which can enable this efficiently makes sense.

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Privacy and data are an issue for two-factor authentication This concept does in fact bring us onto another key point surrounding the technology – data usage. As banks use facial recognition more, they house more personal data – but there are no frameworks or regulation by which to process this information. We know that organisations such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Fast IDentity Online (FIDO) Alliance are looking to develop frameworks that could be adopted at a national level, and no doubt provide strict governance as to how banks store and protect their customers’ data. However, until then, there is no specific information. In the UK, we know that guidelines are coming as to how the Police and private sector companies should apply facial recognition as a technology, but we are lacking specific regulation around biometric data aside from the GDPR and Data Protection Acts. For the technology to provide more business benefits, the data it harnesses needs to be defined and protected.

EMEA TECHNOLOGY

In-branch approvals could be dissuading customers Another issue the pandemic really has brought to the fore for financial service firms is that banking in particular is still very manual – many providers require a face-to-face meeting to set up new accounts. Some, newer brands such as Monzo are able to open accounts based on a selfie, but in the UK it’s still in-branch driven. However, with facial recognition, this could change.

This year, increasing numbers of regulators including countries such as Hong Kong, Greece and Mexico have authorised remote account openings.

This acceptance that this digital and touchless approach works could soon move to the financial heavyweight countries, and facial recognition could be a key enabler in ensuring the correct person is in fact opening the account. Keeping staff safe should be of paramount importance to financial service firms, so why not leverage technology which supports this?

It’s not just in-branch that we could see the technology deployed as a force for good, too.

Banks and retail can both benefit from leveraging facial recognition Banks will have seen spend patterns shift from in-store to online, which often prompts extra verification methods, with two-factor now commonplace when checking out.

When consumers do return to physical stores, facial recognition could help provide this confirmation as a way of preventing fraud, especially considering credit card use will decrease in the future, as easier, more secure payment methods will be adopted. For example, when checking out, facial identifiers could be analysed to check it is in fact the correct person and card holder.

If one were to then lose a card, they

138 | Issue 22

can rest assured knowing their card can’t be used in stores that validate payments via face-rec technology.

With the number contactless payments increased due to the pandemic, thieves could easily tap away hundreds of pounds before the card is blocked.

Facial recognition could prevent this.

Additionally, it also decreases the likelihood of shoplifting. Employees and managers can be notified when someone with a proven track record of crime is flagged in the system, thus enabling them to guarantee they are not susceptible to additional crimes or shrink losses.

It should also be mentioned that this specific use of data can be GDPR compliant. All that is accessible in the database is an image of a face – no name, no transactional history or private information. Data that is stored is that of known criminals, or those who have opted in to being on watchlists (such as due to alcohol or gambling addiction); and is vetted to ensure no one is entered maliciously or in error. Faces can also be blurred out so operators only see faces which might present a threat – such as a known shoplifter – placed on a watchlist to alert retailers to potential loss. The images are indexed through a procedure that is irreversible, decentralised, and stored on edge devices - fully safeguarding consumers’ private information. Even further, although technology can initially identify a person, it requires human confirmation to guarantee the information is correct before any actions can be taken.

Customer sentiments towards inperson interactions and technology’s role in society is changing, so my view is, as long as the application of the technology is transparent and legal, then why shouldn’t it be used to enhance operations? Facial recognition has the chance to revolutionise commerce – notably surrounding fraud, so it makes sense to allow the technology to do a lot of heavy lifting, safe in the knowledge there is always a person there to make the final decision but in a way which ultimately respects peoples’ privacy and personal data. We are entering a brave new world in which we will need technology to help free humans up to add value where required.

Whilst facial recognition may seem like a step towards a Stalinist state, it is anything but, and it’s how financial institutions choose to apply it which will make or break its success.

Correct application will speed adoption From the above, it’s clear to see how banks and financial institutions could benefit from leveraging facial recognition, via reduced risk, enhanced customer service and loss prevention.

Rob Watts CEO Corsight AI

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