Spearheading Innovation with a Data Driven Approach among ASEAN’s Financial Institutions - Key Takeaways
AIBP Insights is a series of discussions which brings together a focus group of ASEAN stakeholders to discuss topics related to enterprise technology adoption in the region.?
From AIBP’s 2022/23 ASEAN Enterprise Innovation Survey, 73% of respondents in the financial services industry indicated that one of their key priorities for the next 2-4 years is unlocking enterprise data & analytics, and unsurprisingly, big data analytics is the technology that 73% of ASEAN financial institutions are planning to invest in over the next 2-4 years.
You may view more survey results in our 2022/23 ASEAN Enterprise Innovation Market Overview?here.
The Role of Big Data in Improving Customer Experiences & Hyper-personalisation
The digital age has transformed the way businesses operate, with data playing a critical role in driving growth and profitability. For banks, leveraging big data to improve customer experiences has become more critical than ever before. With customers demanding personalised services and experiences, banks need to tap into the wealth of information they have access to in order to provide tailored solutions. In this context, industry experts have emphasised the need for banks to adopt a data-driven approach, one that enables them to derive valuable insights into customer behaviour and preferences. By doing so, banks can not only improve customer satisfaction and loyalty but also drive revenue growth and gain a competitive edge in the market.
Sonny Supriyadi , Head, Pricing and Data Analytics, Maybank Indonesia, highlighted that the type and amount of data required by a bank depends on the specific business questions that need to be answered. It is important to determine the time frame, structure, and source of the data needed. Descriptive analytics can provide quick information on the current situation, but diagnostic analysis requires deeper data analysis to understand why certain trends are occurring. Banks have massive amounts of data, but access to it is regulated and requires data governance. To propel the business, it is necessary to focus on the business case and determine the type of analytics needed - descriptive, diagnostic, predictive or prescriptive - to achieve hyper-personalisation and customer-centricity.
Boon Kim San KS Boon , Head of Digital Business & Innovation, Enterprise Banking, Affin Bank Berhad AFFIN Group , also added that data collection is key to driving competitive advantage against larger global companies. By leveraging data to inform their strategy, banks can better understand customer needs, identify market trends, and differentiate themselves from their competitors, ultimately leading to increased profitability and growth.
Vikas Vadher , Strategic Customer Success Manager, Talend , highlighted some key challenges that organisations face in terms of data governance, risk management, and understanding their customers. Data quality is a big challenge and many organisations struggle with whether they can trust their data. Shadow IT is a common problem where business units try to get their own set of data because they don't trust the data provided. The efficiency and effectiveness of data governance can be seen in whether shadow IT can be eliminated.?
Pak Sonny added that shadow IT is a common issue across various industries, not just in banking and insurance. The root of the problem is not necessarily a lack of trust in the data, but rather a preference for having immediate access to the data whenever needed. However, there is some concern regarding which data to use when trying to determine the profitability of a particular product. Some individuals may use data from their own calculations or sources, which may not be consistent with the data from finance. This behaviour occurs in many industries, and it is not solely due to a lack of trust in the data. Rather, people tend to use data from sources they trust, which can result in multiple "single sources of truth."
Building a Culture of Data Security
Building a culture of data security is crucial for financial institutions to protect their sensitive information and maintain the trust of their customers. As pointed out by Boon, having accurate and clean data is crucial for financial institutions (and any business alike) to make quick and informed decisions. However, they also understand that achieving a clean set of data is difficult and prone to errors, especially when dealing with multiple sources of data. For Affin Bank, they emphasise the importance of data governance and strict access control to ensure data security and privacy. The role of technology, particularly big data and data science, can also be imperative in making data cleaning and analysis more efficient.
Kashif K. , Vice President, Technology Service Management, Corporate, Commercial and Institutional Banking, Standard Chartered Bank, shared four key metrics for assessing the effectiveness of data governance: improvement in data quality score, adherence to data management standards, reduction of data-related risk events, and reduction of data recertification costs. These metrics can provide a good overview of the effectiveness of data governance standards and programs within an organisation.
Vikas highlighted the importance of having a clear objective when implementing data governance and breaking down the objective into short-term goals. He emphasised on the need for feedback mechanisms to ensure that progress is being made and adjustments can be made if necessary. He also stressed the importance of balancing technology and people in the implementation process, as well as involving individuals who understand both the technology and business use case.?
Pak Sonny agreed and added that approaches to measure the effectiveness of data governance policies and procedures is a difficult task to address as people tend to focus on priorities because they are urgent and forget about the important things, which are the foundations of the institution. Once the priorities are established, they can work on the technical aspects and set up KPIs for the team. For example, if the business is being fined by regulators because of data duplication, they can set up a KPI to reduce the penalty by reducing the duplication. However, changing legacy systems is not as simple as it sounds because it involves contracts and financial support related to the old system. It's important to understand the current state and what is expected before setting up KPIs to drive the behaviour of the team and technology to support data governance.
The panel also agreed on the importance of people in business and the scarcity of talent in ASEAN due to higher demand than supply. The demand for AI and data scientists has grown rapidly, but there is a lack of supply from universities. Through collaborations with universities, financial institutions will be able to bridge the gap by providing students with the necessary skills and knowledge for the industry.
In conclusion, the banking industry is increasingly recognising the importance of leveraging big data to achieve hyper-personalisation and drive customer-centricity. However, this also brings with it a set of challenges, particularly around data quality, governance, and risk management. By adopting a data-driven approach and focusing on data governance policies and procedures, banks can overcome these challenges and unlock the true potential of their data. The key is to set clear objectives, involve the right people, and balance technology and people in the implementation process. Ultimately, this will enable banks to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty, drive revenue growth, and gain a competitive edge in the market.
With that, we look forward to continuing our discussions on Unlocking Opportunities in ASEAN’s?BFSI Sector?through Applications of Emerging Technologies (16 May), and Emerging Trends Shaping the Future Financial Services (17 May). Do feel free to reach out to us at [email protected] if you wish to join us, or if there are topics in digitalisation you would like to hear more of!