Last year was all about fintech rising to the digital demands of financial services, and this year the trend will continue, but with a tweak of technologies that are developing fast.

Fintech startups have gained more traction in these parts of the world, and during the first nine months of the last year, a record of US$735 million was invested in fintech ventures for Singapore alone. 

It is indicative of the larger investment interests in the fintech industry of Southeast Asia. Though there has been a remarkable development in different fintech sectors, there is a need to tap into some new technological domains for better business prospects.

Many of the countries in Southeast Asia are still developing their bandwidth capabilities, and it is the reason why there has been a considerable lapse in digital financial growth in some parts of the region.

Let us explore some technologies that can affect Southeast Asia’s fintech industry.

Smart devices

Smart devices such as health trackers, smartwatches, smart speakers, etcetera have been in the market for quite some time now, and last year, intelligent devices saw exponential growth with US$73,719 million in 2019 with a compound annual growth rate of 16.6 per cent for the forecast period of 2019-2024.

In 2020, this market will further rise and will allow new ways to provide digital financial services.

Asian markets saw a steep soar of smart device revenues last year, with US$35,756 million and a CAGR of 15.9 per cent. But, when we look at the stats, mainly for Southeast Asia, the smart device revenue sums up to US$1,429 million. Though there is a promising growth rate of 22.5 per cent, there is still a technology gap to be overcome.

Smart devices can affect the fintech industries in the following ways:

• Smart devices can be excellent platforms to support digital transactions and payments.
• These devices can promote financial products through digital marketing.
• Smart Speakers can help encourage speech-to-text transactions.
• There has been a voice commerce market already generating buzz.
• Smart health trackers can help in digital payments and health-related financial services.

The 5G bliss

 

We all are familiar with the 5G networks to hit most of the parts of the world this year, and Southeast Asia is no different. For the Association of Southeast Asian countries or ASEAN, 5G has a potential market that can benefit both the consumers and enterprises.

For fintech platforms 5G can boost the transaction speeds to help them garner more digital financial services in the region. 

With 5G networks, businesses can look to rack up the revenues by almost 18-22 per cent for a forecast period up to 2025, and that can lift the fintech industry to the next level. 

Also Read: The proliferation of 5G will transform businesses and societies: Here’s how

The impact of 5G on the ASEAN countries can be a reason to cheer for the fintech industry, with Indonesia set to have the most revenue share followed by Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. To deliver such 5G capabilities, operators must oblige a contribution of about US$10 billion into the region’s 5G infrastructure.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning algorithms can help these fintech platforms use the digital data of users to analyse several spending patterns and spending powers to design personalised lending and credit financial products. As these products are exactly according to the needs of the consumers, they can boost digital front of transactions and money lending for the fintech industry.

ASEAN lags in AI-related technologies, and yet countries such as Singapore have made the most incredible advances in AI-based fintech and machine learning usages in the financial offerings. Still, there are other promising attempts in places like Malaysia and Vietnam. 

But, as Mckinsey’s report on Artificial Intelligence and Asia’s future suggests, there will be beneficial advancements in the computational powers of the digital infrastructure, and more data will be available for machine learning algorithms to be applied on from hyperconnectivity.

Voice bots

 

Voice bots or chatbots have already revolutionalised the customer service paradigm, and many financial institutions and banking industry are already digitising the consumer services more efficiently through the chatbots. Fintech platforms are already relying heavily on the use of such programmed software that can learn from the user data and recommend effective services through the replication of human-like interactions. 

But other than consumer support applications, how these chatbots can shape the future of fintech industry in Southeast Asia for 2020? 

• These chatbots can be used to achieve relatively important user data through a questionnaire.
• Data received can be analysed for the economic and social backdrop of a consumer.
• We can use algorithms to predict the needs of consumer design specific financial packages.
• These financial products will be an exact match to the need of users.
• And as the chatbots discover need to recommend such products during the conversation.
• It can do so in the most humanised form due to its programming.

Exploring AR

Fintechs and AR (Augmented Reality) may seem a mismatch. But that is not the case. Augmented Reality has been the prime focus for media and marketing purposes these days, and the same can be explored by the fintech industries too. Fintechs can benefit from AR in the following ways.  

• Developing apps and AR software using software development that can use AR for transactions.
• Use of AR on Social Media platforms for financial product promotions.
• AR can also be used to provide product demos and live conversations.
• Consumer support capabilities can also be achieved through interactive AR in digital platforms.

It is 2020, and the business world is already looking forward to maximising technologies for higher productivity and revenues.

In this quest for the best, there is no way that fintech can ignore the importance of technologies in their growth and exponential profits in this coming 2020.

Southeast Asian region has the potential consumer setup to explore such technologies and advance successfully.

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ZA Bank in Hong Kong derogates established banks by offering a 6 per cent deposit rate [Bloomberg News]

As eight companies are granted digital banking licenses, ZA Bank becomes the first digital bank to offer a 6 per cent deposit rate for selected clients, compared to 1.9 per cent to 2.3 per cent granted by Standard Chartered, HSBC and BOC Hong Kong, according to Bloomberg News.

ZA bank, co-owned by online insurer ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance and Sinolink Group, started a pilot programme last month and has said that it will provide users with a ‘full suite of services 24/7’, allowing customers to open an account in five minutes with just a Hong Kong identity card.

Also Read: Things startup founders can learn from the 10 most powerful people in the world

Some industry experts have expressed their concern and doubts over the low rates stressing that new banks might not be able to match it. “This is more of a gimmick, which shouldn’t become a norm,” said Terry Siu, treasurer at CMB Wing Lung Bank Ltd “But competition for funds is indeed getting higher as eight more banks are coming out.”

India’s Ankur Capital raises US$34M [press release]

Ankur Capital, an Indian early-stage venture capital fund, has raised US$34 million from CDC Group Plc, The Dutch Good Growth Fund, and SIDBI.

The VC firm was first incorporated in 2014 by Penn/INSEAD alum Ritu Verma and ex-COO of Zee e-learning Rema Subramanian and has a diversified fund investment across 14 companies covering agritech, food, healthcare and vernacular technologies. Some of the companies include Cropin, Niramai, Healthsutra, ERC, and StringBio, 

AI company from NZ, Soul Machines, raises US$40M in a round led by Temasek [DealStreet Asia]

Soul Machines, an AI company developing digital avatars has secured US$40 million in a round led by Singaporean investment company Temasek.

This funding round saw participation from European VC Lakestar, Salesforce Ventures, Horizons Ventures, University of Auckland Inventors Fund and others, according to a statement.

The fresh capital will be used by the company for research and development and global expansion.

The company in its own words which develops “life-like digital humans that can talk to people face-to-face” has been trusted and used by corporates like Procter & Gamble, Mercedes-Benz, The Royal Bank of Scotland, ANZ and Sony

Pando raises US$9M Series A round led by Chiratae Ventures [press release]

Pando, an Indian company providing networked logistics management solutions, has raised INR 64 crore (US$9 million) in a Series A funding round led by Chiratae Ventures.

Other participants of this round were Nexus Venture Partners and Next47.

Also Read: Reefknot Investments, SGInnovate enter into partnership focussing on logistics innovation

“Global Logistics is going through a disruption, and large enterprises require a platform that can help them leverage these market changes to scale faster. Pando has helped shippers and transporters address this need through a full-stack solution. Their quality of execution at marquee customers, where Pando has become indispensable within a few months of adoption is remarkable. This convinced us to partner with them,” said TC Meenakshisundaram, Founder MD, Chiratae Ventures.

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Image Credit: Nattu Adnan

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Grab has announced the appointment of Nguyen Thai Hai Van as Managing Director of Grab in Vietnam, effective February 1, 2020.

In this role, she will oversee business strategy and operations across all of Grab’s businesses in the country. Van will continue to drive the growth of ride-hailing, on-demand food delivery, logistics and fintech across Vietnam.

Also Read: The factors driving the success of Grab and what it took to become a market leader

With Grab’s recently announced US$500 million more investment into Vietnam over the next five years, Van will tap and invest in new opportunities emerging from the fintech, mobility and logistics space. She will also drive the ‘Grab for Good’ roadmap for Vietnam.

Van joined Grab Vietnam on November 01, 2019, after a 17-year-long career at Unilever Vietnam. At Unilever, she ran P&L and marketing in Vietnam and regionally across varied product lines.

She is also Co-Chair of the Vietnam Mobile Marketing Association.

Van succeeds Jerry Lim, who will return home to Singapore-based role as Regional Head of Customer Experience. He will lead Grab’s customer experience teams across eight Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam.

Also Read: Grab reveals details of Vietnam investment plan, to invest US$500M over 5 years

Lim is credited with building GrabFood in Vietnam from scratch, empowering Vietnamese micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses to digitize and grow.

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Image Credit: Grab

 

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The word brand or logo is often cast-off in the technological world and though it is one of the most important factors to work on digitally. Branding has been stated to companies for a long time, but nowadays almost every next person has its own brand. Not the majority of the people know about that but they’re there nonetheless.

A footmark marked digitally in the shingle of time and technology is crowdsourced by the top managers and supervisors.
In this digital world, your own branding ties you with the world and your online presence is the essence if you want to grow your brand. Besides, every company is based on branding like a brand is an identity for their business.

Making a personal brand can help you reach your goals of success but it takes a lot of enthusiasm and dedication. Marketers every so often market those services and products that are needed to be market for themselves too.

If you’re having a goal for 2020 to enhance your brand name and identity then try to stay focused. Make sure you’re paying full attention and a special dedication to your brand or blog to get success. To enlighten your brand name in google insights, polish your digital skills, and work on marketing the most.

There are 7 ways to build a better brand that can define you in 2020, let’s just make your year’s resolution and work on it:

Work with a designer

Thousands of graphic designers are working in the digital industry for sure but to make your brand worthy, try to hire a skillful designer for your brand as designing is one of the most important factors to work on.

However, very few of the designers have an understanding of branding and the importance of it for real. Consistency is one of the most critical steps to take when you’re building a brand of your own.

Convey your brand message

You know that you need to clearly define your brand’s strategy and identity to your consumers. The font you choose affects your brand and the message you want to convey through the image. The right font can help you deliver the accurate message and the wrong font can mess up the whole business of yours.

Professionally, it is a basic rule to have an authentic brand font that attracts the naked eye and catches the message that what you’re selling and what your product is all about to the clients. Use something that is high in energy and would work in a better way for your business.

Emotions are coloured

We, in this era of technology, should know this how much it is valuable to understand that colors have psychological impacts on our brain and sight. Also, they’re connected with the emotions and can give us the ultimate direction.

Certain colors convey certain emotions to the audience and a large corporate world has devoted significant resources to run the market test just to extract out accurate emotions of the audience to colors.

For instance, the red color used to show intensity, yellow is for joy, orange is for creativity, and black is all about boldness and seriousness. Try to choose the right color for your branding and take it as a top strategy to put effort into.

Use social media correctly

You’re already spending much time on social media so why not make those minutes worthy enough to give your brand the identity it requires. No matter how your clients are reaching you and what platform they are trying to find your business on the most, try your best to expel your business’s magic on all platforms.

Dedicatedly, work on consistency and maintenance of your daily activity. Customers are trying to find you or listen from you but you’re not answering them then they lose their interest in your brand and move to the place where engagement and insights are amazingly driven.

Stick to your brand specification

Start thinking about what your brand is all about and how it can change your business growth. Like, which colors should be used to convey the message with correct emotions and what font uplifts your brand identity.

Being specific about the message you want to deliver and select your targeting audience to work on the niche explicitly. This strategy will help you drive more customers towards your business and do not forget to make deals for your loyal customers.

Attract your customer’s brain not only eyes

It is necessary to drag yourself and slip into the brain of your customers. While we’re talking about the mission statement, try to figure out what values and conclusions your business is based on.

It is really to get into their brain just by prospecting your target. Whenever you figure out what your customers are thinking and why you are considered about this then your brand will make you lots of money and success. As this begins to happen, your conversion rates are going to go through the roof on top of the moon and you will spend less time talking to customers lately.

Get inspired

If you find that you are having a problem with your business that the conversion rate is not growing up and you need to target almost thousands of audiences this month then make sure to follow the correct footsteps.

You can take inspiration from any other brand but try to follow possible branding strategies that other top brands are using. More often than not, what you’re going to discover is that they have dedicated their sweats towards curtailing their brands to make it look more appealing and interesting.

Start looking for their foundation they have made and built their business on, tighten up your business, and target the audience with better connectivity.

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Grab announced today that it has officially launched its 6 months pilot programme for motorcycle drivers in Klang Valley, Malaysia.

Singapore’s leading ride-hailing app is promoting safety by leveraging on many of its already inbuilt features which include passenger selfie verification, safety centre, and driver safety toolkits, into the GrabBike system in order to promote security. Since after dark hours from 9pm to 2am is not seen as safe in the country, the service will be blocked during then.

Apart from that Grab has also declared that it will be offering safety training lessons and practical riding assessments to its drivers, for safety being one of Grab’s prime concern.

According to the press release statement, the major objective of the pilot is also to evaluate the feasibility and cultural fit of bike-hailing in a local context.

Also Read: Grab, Singtel form consortium for Singapore digital banking license

The programme has already been commenced since January 3rd and is collaborating with the government on “gathering data and evaluating demand for the service, while working on drafting legislation to govern bike-hailing according to Loke, Minister of Transport.

“Safety continues to be Grab’s main priority. All GrabBike motorcycles are equipped with helmets for driver-partners and passengers, as well as reflective jackets for drivers. As with all Grab rides, both drivers and passengers are covered by personal accident insurance,” quoted Sean Goh, Country Head of Grab Malaysia according to KrAsia.

Also Read:  Breaking down the hiring process for early-stage founders : team or product first?

Gojek has reportedly also affirmed its plans of bringing in the same service to Klang Valley on January 2020 and has already received approval from the Malaysian Cabinet.

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Image Credit: Grab

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The #ThaiCaveRescue event provides lessons in product development, publicity, and dealing with failures

Last week, the world held its breath as they watched 12 members of a Thailand junior football team, and their coach, be successfully rescued after having been trapped in a flooded cave for weeks.

For a few days, it was the biggest story in the world.

There were also several side incidents that grabbed attention during this period — particularly the behaviour of tech billionaire Elon Musk.

As soon as rescue plan was executed, Musk announced plans to build a mini-submarine that would help the rescue process by carrying the children out of the cave one-by-one.

What seemed like a good idea with well-meaning intention was soon hit with a wave of criticism from both internet-users and experts.

The mini-submarine ended up unused as the rescue team decided to complete the rescue mission in a more traditional fashion.

The situation was got more tense when Vern Unsworth, who was involved in the rescue effort, dubbed Musk’s idea as “just a PR stunt.”

“It just had absolutely no chance of working. He had no conception on what the cave passage was like. The submarine … was about five-foot-six long, rigid, so it wouldn’t have gone around corners or any obstacles,” he told CNN.

Things took a turn to the worse when Musk fired a baseless accusation at Unsworth, calling him a paedophile on his personal Twitter handle which has 22.3 million followers.

The tweet has since been taken down, but reports have coming in that Unsworth is considering a legal action against Musk.

Also Read: Facebook is shameless and Elon Musk wants your brain, your essential weekend reading courtesy of e27

Despite temptations to dwell on the dramatic side of the incident, there are actually some useful lessons to take from the whole debacle. .

Here are the three major lessons that startup founders can learn from this mishap:

Don’t try to solve a non-existing problem

Tech innovation was built on top of the idea that existing solutions no longer work.

But in the case of the #ThaiCaveRescue, existing solutions did work. Yes, it was tough and a Thai Navy SEAL member lost his life in the process.

But the effort ended in a happy ending and it’s not clear how the submarines would have many chances of success more likely.

The challenges that the team met along the way did not signify that the rescue process was flawed or in dire need of “disruption”. It was a complicated rescue process, which has never been a walk in the park.

Any startup founder who had participated in a Lean Startup Methodology workshop – or at least had read the book– understands that the failure in identifying customers’ pain points is one of the reasons why many startups fail.

Engineers and developers often insist on building a sophisticated tech to solve a problem, while all that the users would need is actually a simple tool. Instead of solving a problem, they build a platform that nobody needs.

Musk fell into this trap and built a submarine that essentially performed the same task as a breathing tube.

Beware in how you use publicity

Publicity is a nice thing –but as many startups have proven it, it can be very tricky.

Does that mean that being silent about plans and milestones is the way to go? For some startups, yes. It is also the reason why they opt for stealth mode.

But the point here is not to say silence is better/worse than speaking up. The point is to be mindful of the consequences of your choices. If you decide to go public, remember that you will be held accountable for every claim that you make, so make sure you are prepared. Think of what happened to Theranos.

There will be times when you fail to keep up with your own promises; but even then, know how to deal with your failure.

Because it leads to the final lesson …

Fail like a startup founder

Compared to other industries, tech has a relatively open-minded attitude towards failure. It was treated as part of the development process, even sometimes as a necessity, instead of an abomination or a shame.

Personally, I would go as far as claiming that if you are still afraid of failure, or being seen making one, then perhaps you should avoid working in a startup.

Understanding this, it would be natural that the world would expect a startup founder to deal with failure gracefully. To bravely admit to themselves (and the world) that they have made mistakes, even apologise to involved parties for any detrimental effects, before heading back to the drawing board.

Essentially, it’s the old adage of “don’t be a jerk” because accusing a rescuer of being a paedophile for criticising your idea sounds as mature as spreading nasty rumours about a person for declining your offer to go to prom together.

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Image Credit: Bruno van der Kraan on Unsplash

The article was first published on July 16, 2018.

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As a country with just over 50 years of independence, Singapore has, for many decades, punched above her own weight on the international stage. We’re one of the most successful cities in the world, and we have the education to thank for that. 

Much of Singapore’s success has been deeply rooted in our ability to survive against the odds. However, one may question how far this survivalist mentality can take us forward into SG100, after decades of trudging through excellence.

Against the unprecedented socio-environmental challenges of our shared future, we have to begin asking what a thriving nation will look like, and how we can create a culture for that to happen. 

Finding roots in creativity 

For a long time, the streets were crying out for help in the arts. As a growing nation, our government had its initial priorities placed in the fundamental societal needs– housing, healthcare, education.

Many of our artists were silenced and shackled, many literally behind bars. Even up till the early 21st century, Singapore continued to debate whether creativity was an “unaffordable luxury” in a society like ours.

Today, we see a huge shift in the narrative– Singaporean local theatre productions capture full-house audiences, Singaporean films are up on Netflix, our local bands play at international music festivals and visual artists have galleries that are displayed across the globe.

We have come a pretty long way. 

What used to be associated with the bourgeoisie has largely made its way into the masses. Music and art lessons are even compulsory in schools. In fact, we’re beginning to see creativity not just as a form of expression in the arts, but also in the frontiers of technology, education, and policy.

Earlier this year, we had the opportunity to be selected as one of the twenty teams to join the *SCAPE Create Fellowship – a programme supported by Startup X that supports budding entrepreneurs through mentorship and guidance in the creative scene.

Also read: Three *SCAPE judges offer advice for young startups

We met passionate individuals and teams determined to make an impact in the arts — Musicians and producers for bespoke music, production houses designed to digitalise plays, dancers using tech to facilitate the creative process, ideas for the local literature scene to build community, and everything in between. 

Clearly, creativity is no longer the debate it used to be. What has changed, and what’s next?

Where creativity meets innovation meets entrepreneurship

At the launch of an art exhibit just last year, former Minister of Education Heng Swee Kiat spoke of how collaboration between STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and the arts results in “the best ideas”. 

Citing key leaders in the science industry and how the arts had influenced the way they saw the world, Heng raised the value of multidisciplinary learning in an increasingly global world.

The best Ideas. What do you think about when you think of the best ideas in the modern world? Is it Grab and how it married transport and food? Or Apple and how they managed to weave clean, aesthetic typography and functionality into the palm of our hand?

In a world where startups pop up every other day, and where schools prepare their students with Entrepreneurship Minors (and even majors), what really sets people apart? 

Innovation has always been seen as a key part of entrepreneurship. Learning from the past to make the future better. But we also often forget that innovation is, after all, derived from the spirit of creativity. 

At its root, creativity is simply the act of putting non-obvious connections together. Take apart the divide between the arts and sciences, and all the other differences we may have, we’re all problem-solvers and creatives at heart. We are people. 

The question then shifts: how do we tap into the creative process to expand our minds beyond what we already know? How might we creatively problems solve? 

In the schools and partners that we’ve worked with at The Maju Collective, we see things through a similar lens. 

Through our eyes, the unprecedented challenges our population faces require, more than ever, collaboration and creativity. Collaboration between people who see the world differently – problem-seekers and critical minds – with those that thrive on thinking of ways to tackle things differently. 

Which brings us back to education

In our start-up journey bringing quality education to developing regions, while allowing for corporates to have a stake in these areas, we have learned so much about people and the ecosystems within which they exist. 

Looking at, and tackling, the socio-environmental challenges we face today is not the job of any one person, organisation or generation. It’s not about pointing fingers or feeling burdened to change the world alone. Creativity isn’t just about thinking outside of the box. It’s about thinking beyond borders, or any dimension at all.

We do what we do because we believe that education creates space. Space for creative minds, problem-seekers, problem-solvers, but also space for collaboration, friendships, empathy, values, identity-building, ownership. 

Also read: 7 must-have apps to inspire entrepreneurial creativity

At the end of the day, much of who we are is a sum of our parts. What would it look like if we could nurture a generation of youth who understand the global issues they face?

How would things be different if they could own these problems and innovate through the creativity of their childhood? What would our next generation look like if their space of education could bring together problem-solving skill sets that integrate math with geography, physics with history, biology with literature, and everything else in between? 

How differently would we solve the issues we face today if we could think creatively, collaboratively?

In the words of Dr. Paul Kalanithi, a promising neurosurgeon who held a Master of Arts in English Literature,

“In the end, it cannot be doubted that each of us can see only a part of the picture. The doctor sees one, the patient another, the engineer a third, the economist a fourth, the pearl diver a fifth, the alcoholic a sixth, the cable guy a seventh, the sheep farmer an eighth, the Indian beggar a ninth, the pastor a tenth. 

Human knowledge is never contained in one person. It grows from the relationships we create between each other and the world, and still, it is never complete.”

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas and earn a byline by submitting a post.

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US-based flexible housing platform Anyplace announced its entry to the Southeast Asian market with a partnership with coliving spaces operators in Singapore and Indonesia.

Those coliving operators are Lyf (Singapore), MetroResidences (Singapore), Outpost (Bali, Indonesia), and Hustlers Villa (Bali, Indonesia).

Speaking in an interview with e27, Anyplace CEO and Co-Founder Satoru Steve Naito explained that the startup is currently in talks with at least five other operators in Jakarta, Bali, and Singapore, as part of its strategy to enter the Southeast Asian market.

The startup aims to have at least 10 properties in each city.

“Coliving companies are emerging everywhere as it has become a trend –not only in the US. We aim to build a global network for coliving businesses and flexible housing provider,” he said.

Also Read: 13 top marketing and sales tools for entrepreneurs who want to gain more traction

Founded in 2016 by Naito and co-founder Koichi Tanaka, Anyplace is a B2C platform that helps digital nomads to search and book for temporary housing arrangements during their travels.

The platform focusses on mid-term stay (more than 30 days but under a year) and works with coliving spaces, hotels, and apartments to provide options for their customers.

With the goal to ease the process of finding and securing accommodation for digital nomads, Anyplace linked customers to fully-furnished facilities on monthly-based rents.

Being a digital nomad is a concept that is related to the so-called startup culture around the world, and this is the audience that Anyplace is tapping into.

The startup is particularly focussing on US-originated digital nomads looking for accommodation in Europe or Southeast Asia.

Also Read: Panoplaza goes global, partners with BrowseWell LLC in America

The founding of the startup was based on the needs and challenges experienced by Naito himself, who identified as being a digital nomad. Originating from Japan, Naito moved to the US after graduation and changed his location on a regular basis.

According to Naito, the difference between Anyplace and other popular platforms such as Airbnb is their focus on B2C segment.

In June 2019, the startup announced a US$2.5 million seed funding round from Jason Calacanis, FundersClub, UpHonest Capital, East Ventures, Keisuke Honda, Kenji Kasahara Bora Uygun and Global Brain, according to this report by TechCrunch.

In the near future, Anyplace plans to introduce weekly rental offerings and open offices in the market it operates in.

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Image Credit: Anyplace

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Fintech and e-commerce are two branches of the tech industry that are often intersecting with each other. However, there are ways that these two sectors are operating differently.

Despite their differences, Liam McCance, Chief Marketing Officer at Singlife, believes that there are several points that fintech companies can learn from their e-commerce counterpart, particularly in the matter of customer retention and engagement.

“They have experienced teams who analyse vast collections of purchase data and have a deep understanding of how and why people buy things online. Even with consumers having a plethora of places to order food and groceries, or buy apparel and gadgets, these insights produce effective marketing campaigns that pull customers back to their platforms time and again,” he explains to e27.

“E-commerce companies are also effective at offering seamless purchase experiences across devices, especially with mobile-first strategies in mind,” he added.

In this interview, McCance further elaborates the challenges that fintech companies face nowadays in customer retention –and how learning from e-commerce companies can give them an advantage.

Also Read: Paul Ark is departing from SCB’s fintech investment arm Digital Ventures

The following is the edited excerpt of the interview.

What are the challenges that fintech companies face in customer retention and engagement?

As a financial institution, we are much more regulated than e-commerce companies. The nature of our products and the space we operate in requires a massive effort of due diligence with an extensive amount of work that goes behind each product we launch.

Also, in contrast to e-commerce, fintechs don’t have an exhaustive supply of new financial products to offer and pull customers back to their platforms frequently.

Fintech companies typically have inventories that are limited to the same types of products and services. As most financial products are intangible, communicating the real value of products to customers before they buy and finding ways to purchase more can be a challenge.

This means strategies for promoting products and services must be creative, responsive, and relevant in order to attract customers who aren’t actively looking for new offerings.

What exactly can fintech companies learn or copy from e-commerce companies? Do you have any examples of success stories in your company?

It all starts with the team you hire. Insurance companies hire people who know insurance, but a digital-first insurance company also needs specialists in digital innovation. We need a team who understands how to deploy best-in-class analytics tools and to uncover insights on customer behaviour and demand. These experts must then translate this information into a user-driven purchasing experience that offers continuous value for new and existing customers alike.

Also Read: Think like a fintech company: How banks can capitalise on the digital banking revolution

Fintechs have plenty to learn from e-commerce businesses. For a start, a sales process and product that is portable to other marketplaces through APIs is a strategy worth exploring and building up, so that the full journey is not limited to just one domain. Singlife, for instance, works with PolicyPal to sell a select range of our financial products on their platform. Offering Singlife’s product via PolicyPal’s website and app makes our products more accessible to a wider audience – especially so if they have not interacted with us before.

In certain cases, this method of customer acquisition may be more cost-effective than paying for advertising dollar to get online conversions.

What are the factors that fintech companies need to keep in mind before implementing such a strategy?

Be realistic.

You cannot expect insurance and financial services or products to generate the same levels of enthusiasm that e-commerce sites or super apps achieve.

Having said that, taking on successful e-commerce strategies can still benefit fintechs and their businesses. Fintechs should aim to make a product or technology relevant to customers’ lives.

For us, that meant introducing the Singlife Account, a life insurance savings product. We’ve heard from Singaporeans that what stops them from maximising the potential of their money, is the reluctance to be locked-in to a financial product. Designing with customers in mind by shaping product features to their needs and delivering the solution with the focus on user experience is what Singlife sets out to do.

What is the most unique user behaviour in Asia that you learned recently?

In Singapore, many people simply leave their money in current or savings account. This is due to their reluctance of being locked-in and prefer to keep their money accessible. Unfortunately, this way might not be able to meet their future needs.

Also Read: Razer Fintech leads consortium for youth-targeted bank as part of digital banking license bid

Singlife wants to help people get more out of this money they have with the Singlife Account, an everyday insurance account. Our customers can earn up to 2.5 per cent per annum returns, and always have access to these funds with no lock-ins. In future, customers will even be able to invest within the Singlife app, as well as to enhance their insurance coverage seamlessly, making it a one-stop solution for customers to manage, grow, and protect their money.

What are the most notable trends in marketing in 2019? What is going to be big in 2020?

We see a decline in the effectiveness of social media advertising. People are bombarded with ads from the moment they log onto their social media accounts, and most of these ads are ineffective. Modern consumers are looking for authenticity and transparency, and chats and messengers will help offer that.

Through real-time chats and interaction with the business, customers can resolve their immediate pain points, technical issues or give thoughtful feedback, while companies can keep in touch with the customers. Increasingly, companies will want to establish a presence on popular messaging platforms, like the Dutch airline, KLM, that sends customers booking information, check-in times, and flight delay notifications over WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, and WeChat. Through feedback gathered through this communication channel, companies can shape future products and even enhance existing services to deliver quality for customers.

While we have been offering life insurance solutions since 2017, we are a fintech company, and by virtue of that, a digital-first financial services provider in the eyes of customers. As an innovative financial provider, we have the opportunity to work in tandem with our customers to develop products that they genuinely want and need.

Some brands have built a cult following because of this simple customer-focused strategy, and I expect more businesses will be trying to create products that actually resonate with consumers instead of pushing products they already have.

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Image Credit: Artificial Photography on Unsplash

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Netflix Indonesia just announced in a Twitter statement today that it will partner with the country’s Ministry of Education and Culture to support the local film industry.

The California-headquartered streaming company aims to empower local filmmakers through a series of programmes which includes filmmaking workshop with both local and international filmmakers, short film competition, online safety training programme, and Agile Government Workshops along with the World Economic Forum.

“We appreciate Netflix for their support for Indonesian film industry growth,” said Minister of Education and Culture Nadiem Makarim.

“This partnership is meant to support and internationalise our local films,” he added.

Makarim had recently made headlines with his appointment as minister after leaving the position of CEO of ride-hailing unicorn gojek.

Also Read: Why Netflix and Amazon may face difficulties claiming pole positions in Southeast Asia

gojek itself has also launched its own on-demand video streaming platform GoPlay, which includes original content developed by an in-house production company.

Netflix has already been growing rapidly regionally in different countries, where local filmmakers are releasing local independent movies.

“We believe that there’ll be many great stories coming from Indonesia. Through these initiatives, we aim to contribute in the growth of the creative community,” said Kuek Yu-Chuang, Managing Director, Netflix Asia Pacific.

The company also hopes that these stories can come up with unique themes about Indonesia for the world to enjoy.

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Image Credit: Thibault Penin

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