The Knowledge to Decide

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 effect...

Experts have commented that the annual fires in Sumatra and haze pro https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/media/sustainable-palm-oil-production-remains-hazy/ blem can be reduced through concerted efforts on the ground. All stakeholders can play a part in adopting sustainable sourcing practices. Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, gave his two cents on how palm oil companies can take the necessary measures to avoid such haze problems. As with previous years, there was much large-scale burning in many parts of Sumatra during this time of the year. With the winds during the Southwest Monsoon, smoke and unhealthy particulates from the burning vegetation would inevitably head towards Singapore and Malaysia. As such, many palm oil and pulp companies were facing increasing pressure to put an end to such traditional slash-and-burn practice – a method to clear land cheaply. Hence, large companies should be responsible for educating and providing the ...

The haze from annual fires in Sumatra, which worsened disastrously in 2013, has focused regional and global attention on making palm oil production sustainable. Industry leaders are facing increasing pressure from governments and consumers to prove that their palm oil sourcing practices are sustainable. Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his views on how the palm oil industry was adapting to these new realities. Large-scale burning in many parts of Sumatra remains an annual affair. The winds of the Southwest Monsoon circulate smoke and unhealthy particulates from the burning vegetation towards Singapore, Malaysia and many parts of Indonesia itself, such as Sumatra and the Riau islands. Aside from the public health problem it creates, the haze has drawn global attention to the environmental disaster of replacing rainforest with palm oil plantations in Sumatra and Kalimantan in an unsustainable way. Palm oil companies are facing increa...

The future of financial services is all about digitalization. This much is well known. What is less well known is that this is also the reason why banking transactions might be driven by non-bank disruptors in the coming years. How well will future innovations such as e-currencies be integrated into the banking industry? Will cash become obsolete? Jeffrey Bahar, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, reflects on the drastic changes happening in financial transactions today. The combination of digital cash and virtual currencies has inevitably curbed the usage of cash in developed markets and across many Asia-Pacific countries. Cash as we know it might lose its status as the dominant form of payment by volume in the coming years – unless banks create innovative new modes of payments to counter the trend. Bahar opined that mobile penetration would continue to rise in the developing Asia-Pacific markets. Unbanked and under-banked market segments would inc...

The banking landscape in Asia has seen more foreign banks expanding in the region. Most recently, the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) – Australia’s third largest bank – was granted a subsidiary banking license to open 20 branches across Thailand; signaling the Thai government’s readiness to accept more foreign bank investment. Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his view on Thailand as an investment banking location. ANZ reckoned that the size of Thailand’s economy, its importance as a regional manufacturing center, as well as its proximity to other South East Asian markets amounted to a positive long-term outlook for the country. Previously, Thailand had opened its doors to other foreign banks, including Japanese banks Mizuho, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and Sumitomo-Mitsui, just to name a few. While mobile banking may become an important channel in future, ANZ and the other foreign banks in Thailand should continue to loo...

Banks in Asia now offer cardless ATM withdrawals, enabling consumers to access their money with only a mobile phone. This is seen as providing not only increased customer value but also brand differentiation. Jeffrey Bahar, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, was invited to share his observations on Asia leading the way in cardless ATM withdrawals. UOB was the first bank in Singapore to offer Mobile Cash – a method of retrieving money without the need for an ATM card. Now, consumers can go to the ATM and top up their pre-paid cards with mobile cash. Subsequently, they access the internet via their mobile device and use that money to perform transactions online. In Malaysia, Maybank was the first bank to offer a similar feature. A PIN would be sent to the recipients’ phone as an SMS, and it would be used to withdraw funds at an ATM. CIMB Niaga launched a service called “Rekening Ponsel” in Indonesia; allowing consumers to use banking services w...

Creating a more supportive environment for persons with disabilities (PWDs) was one of the key thrusts in Singapore’s Budget for 2014. Spire took a closer look at the issue of the employability of PWDs, embarking on a pro-bono study – telephonic interviews with 100 companies listed on the Singapore Exchange – to explore Singapore employers’ practices when it comes to hiring PWDs. The Spire study found that 20% of the surveyed companies expressed willingness to hire PWDs, but 18% would like to explore how they can do better on this front. In addition, 96% revealed that there were no concrete initiatives and policies in place to actively hire and integrate PWDs. This suggests that awareness and best practice knowledge was an inhibitor. As for the remaining 4%, they provided training to all employees, regardless of physical or mental disabilities, in the belief that this would ensure fair career progression and personal development opportunities for all. The survey responden...

With intensifying levels of competition, there is a need for brands to have a strong recall factor, using effective messages that resonate with customers. Inspired by Spire Research and Consulting’s in-house publication,  SpirE-Journal , Marketing Magazine Indonesia invited Spire to comment on the factors that are crucial in establishing as well as maintaining brand recall. No doubt, consumers are spoilt for choice in today’s markets. As brands vie for customers’ attention, it is vital to have strong recall so that your brand gets to the consideration stage – especially since consumers may be influenced to visit websites or social media pages of brands at the point of consideration. And the key to strong recall is a message and positioning that resonates with the consumer. As long as customers are able to connect with the brand, there is a high possibility of an effective brand recall amongst competitors in the same product category. There are various methods that help ma...

Singapore Airlines (SIA) was recently revealed as the new title sponsor for the 2014 and 2015 Formula 1 (F1) Singapore Grand Prix, taking over from Singtel. Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, saw the F1 and SIA partnership as a good fit, given both brands’ appeal to the business community. Perera observed that since both brands share a similar target audience profile, there would be synergies in terms of brand-building. Both brands exert a strong appeal to the business community. Singapore Airlines is a strong performer in Business and First Class travel while the F1 is a major venue for business entertainment. He opined that as the flag carrier of Singapore, SIA can explore co-branded travel packages with fringe benefits for inbound visitors travelling to Singapore specifically for the F1 Grand Prix and the associated events. Perera shared that the improving economic environment in Europe and North America should boost the visitor number...

The Heartbleed vulnerability was a massive wake-up call to the entire business eco-system of the internet – particularly the financial services industry, which transacts billions of dollars every day over internet servers. While many organizations were not compromised by it, some experts feel that the full damage has yet to materialize. What are the lessons from this episode and what more needs to be done? Spire was invited to share its comments in FST Media. Heartbleed was one of the biggest security flaws to hit the internet; open ing doors to the theft of servers’ private keys as well as users’ session cookies and passwords. While some financial services firms felt that escalating innovations had led to “new, previously unthought-of risk scenarios”, others reiterated that much effort had already been put in to ensure that all the relevant risk scenarios had been thoroughly assessed. Banks were also encouraging customers to change passwords regularly and not reuse the same ...