Right-sizing IT spending in Asian banks

Do Asia-Pacific financial services institutions need to spend more on IT operations to avoid losing market share to non-conventional players? Jeffrey Bahar, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, discussed this view in FST Media.

According to a McKinsey report, organizations that provided financial services in emerging markets – especially in the Asia-Pacific region – needed to spend more on IT operations. The study showed a dip in emerging market IT spending out of total operational costs from 9.4% in 2010 to 8.1% in 2012. On the contrary, IT spending in European banks averaged as high as 19% in 2012.

Bahar commented that IT spending in mature markets cannot be compared to emerging markets. This is because stringent regulations had stoked higher IT spending in mature markets as compared to emerging ones.

The report also suggested that spending on IT infrastructure improved overall efficiency; which was why banks in mature markets functioned effectively. Bahar remarked that top-tiered banks in emerging markets would take longer to make IT spending decisions, due to the complexity of operations and business processes. But second-tiered banks might take technology adoption decisions more quickly.

Bahar explained that top-tiered banks should ideally form a working committee or division to push through new technology implementations and to better overcome the challenges of integrating new technologies with old processes and legacy systems.

https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/media/right-sizing-it-spending-in-asian-banks/

Comments

Side Click: Are you under the surveillance camera?

Identifying VIPs with strong purchasing power is crucial to retail success. More often than not, retail staff fail to do this in time. Facial recognition technology can help prevent this. But does it put our privacy at risk? With high-spending customers making out-sized contributions to retail profitability, it is increasingly crucial for retailers to provide personalized customer service the minute a VIP customer sets foot in the store. For instance, Katie Holmes reportedly spent USD100,000 on a fashion makeover and USD14,200 on lingerie alone in 2012! This is where identification technology can play a role. NEC, a Japan-based ICT vendor, has developed an identification application based on a facial recognition system – comparing the individual’s facial features against its database, and sending prompts when a match is identified. The initial purpose of the application was to help identify terrorists and criminals , but it was subsequently adapted to the retail setting....

Android market in India

- Saurabh Sharma, Country Manager, Spire Research and Consulting India can easily be considered as an Android country since 91% of its market share belongs to devices using Google’s mobile operating system. It is an open-source, Linux-based operating system designed specifically for smartphones and computer tablets. This facilitates easy accessibility for programmers to provide enhanced services as well as improve the core functionality of the device. According to statistics, the Android platform has breached 80% market share globally in the third quarter of 2013. With 40 million smartphones in the country, Indian users have an easy access to smartphones to stay connected online. With more consumers wanting to get their hands on smartphones and computer tablets, this has unsurprisingly pushed for the dominance of Androids across markets. Moreover, Androids is adopted by all major smartphone players in India – local players such as Karbonn and Micromax, as we...

Congestion stops traffic in SEA’s megacities

44 million people are being added to Southeast Asia’s urban population each year. As motor vehicle populations keep doubling every 5 to 7 years, what measures are being taken to tackle traffic congestion? Japnit Singh, Senior Director, Singapore and India of Spire Research and Consulting shared his insights in China Daily – Asia Weekly. Southeast Asia’s middle-class continues to boom, fuelling car population increases despite the relative lack of infrastructure. According to the Asian Development Bank, the region’s major cities suffer from some of the highest air pollution levels globally – as much as 80 per cent being attributable to road transport. Singh cautioned that building roads is not a solution, as this region faces severe practical limitations and escalating costs due to shortage of land in urban areas. In Bangkok for example, roads have the capacity for two million motor vehicles whereas five million ply the city’s roads each day. This has led to the military g...

The European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) is set to open doors for Vietnamese exporters

On 30 June, 2019, the European Union signed its first free trade deal with a developing Asian country – Vietnam, one of the fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia. The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) would reduce 99% of tariffs on goods and services traded between European and Vietnamese markets. WVietnam’s exports to the EU were valued at 50 billion euros in 2018. This figure is expected to increase by 40% by 2025 under EVFTA. Between the years 2024 – 2028, the agreement would boost Vietnam’s gross domestic product by 5 to 6% annually. Will the EVFTA herald a closer economic relationship between Vietnam and Europe? For more information : https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/the-european-union-vietnam-free-trade-agreement-evfta-is-set-to-open-doors-for-vietnamese-exporters/

2022: Recovery or Resurgence?

The Covid-19 pandemic officially marks a grim second year this year. Nonetheless, there is some optimism among scientists that while the virus will become endemic, its threat to human life could reduce over time. In the first of a three-part Spirethoughts instalment examining analysts’ predictions for the new year ahead, we look at 3 economic and social trends that are likely to affect the global economy in 2022. Debt and inflation to grow . Global debt accelerated during the pandemic as governments continued to borrow. Twenty-five nations, including the US and China, now have total debt amounting to more than 300% of GDP, as central banks contribute to inflation by printing money, deepening the debt trap. Inflation, while on the rise, seems unlikely to hit the historic double-digit levels of the 1970s, as government spending should ease in 2022. Industries overheat amid global warming “greenflation”. The other continuing story with global imp...

The Knowledge to Decide

Search This Blog