How did emerging markets in SEA fare in 2020?; While COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the region, with 1.38M confirmed cases in SEA as of December 2020, emerging markets such as Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar have remained relatively unscathed, with Myanmar suffering the greatest impact among the three. More here

Grab demands strong control by founder in gojek merger; Grab is seeking several clauses as condition for merger, including giving CEO Anthony Tan sizeable voting power in the company, veto rights over bard decisions as well as having influence over his own compensation. More here

Can VCs leverage AI to improve the investment process in coming years? Experts speak; In the realm of VC, the notion of applying AI is no doubt attractive; However, the question is where could AI be truly impactful?; Because within early-stage venture investing, very often you are faced with incomplete information and even a lack of data. More here

China’s digital yuan threatens sprawling Alibaba empire; If China introduces the digital yuan, new apps that assist payments will also appear; Even if it does not immediately lead to the strongholds of Alipay and WeChat Pay crumbling, the two companies’ oligopoly might collapse. More here

What the hell is an AI factory?; The key AI technologies used in today’s business are ML algorithms, statistical engines that can glean patterns from past observations and predict new outcomes; Along with other key components such as data sources, experiments, and software, ML algorithms can create AI factories, a set of interconnected components and processes that nurture learning and growth. More here

Indonesia’s digital economy attracting investments from global tech giants; It has been actively trying to attract more foreign companies to set up shop here, as part of these companies’ relocation strategies away from traditional locations like China; To make relocation and establishment more attractive, about 4K hectares in Central Java province has been allocated in the Batang Industrial Park for interested firms. More here

At 19, this Singapore Polytechnic student runs a US$25M tech startup; Harsh Dalal’s software development company Team Labs has clients such as Coca-Cola, Google and Hilton; He manages 120 staff in eight cities while keeping up with schoolwork at the Singapore Polytechnic. More here

Start the year right with a growth mindset; Building a business needs both flexibility and excellent planning for continued success; Thus, it is crucial that the management should be properly organised and should remain focused despite the changing times. More here

Pandemic speeds up digital drive in Thailand; The country has been moving towards becoming a society that uses less cash as consumers use digitised networks and devices, with money transfer stimulus programmes and the pandemic accelerating cashless transactions. More here

Nokia selected by Thailand’s dtac as its first 5G partner; The deal will see an accelerated large-scale deployment of 5G on low-band spectrum and high-capacity mmWave technology, as well as enhancements of the existing networks utilizing 2300MHz, 2100MHz and 1800MHz spectrum; This combination will provide superior coverage and faster data speeds to subscribers. More here

Meet Lucy, the digital bank platform that aims to empower female entrepreneurs; Setting itself apart from other digital banking platforms, the startup focusses on female migrant worker and home business owners as its target audience; While the company aims to expand its service to the whole of Southeast Asia, they start out with Singapore first. More here

For Tony Fadell, the future of startups is connected and sustainable; The man credited with creating the iPod and building the iPhone has identified a few really difficult things that he sees as big investment areas going forward; They include the electrification of everything, the digital connection of everything, the rise of biomanufacturing, and the eradication of waste. More here

Korea’s LG signs US$9.8B deal to produce EV batteries in Indonesia; It will construct an integrated electric battery factory from upstream to downstream; Mines, smelters, precursors, cathodes, cars, recycling facilities will be built in Indonesia; The project will be located in North Maluku and Central Java. More here

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Conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the technology that allows chatbots to respond to natural languages, similar to a human. However, unlike the latter, a chatbot never gets tired and can provide round-the-clock support with fewer errors.

A chatbot powered by advanced conversational AI delivers a better customer experience by helping businesses increase customer engagement and improve operational efficiency.

Bangkok Bank’s innovation programme InnoHub and Singapore-based fintech startup Pand.ai have joined hands to develop TT01, a Thai conversational AI engine. It is the first time such an engine has been built in-house by a Thailand bank.

Development began earlier this year and the engine was fully developed in October. Bangkok Bank will use the engine as a digital sales assistant for its sales and relationship managers. The chatbot is scheduled to launch in Q1 2021.

Pao Sriprasertsuk, Head of Bangkok Bank Innovation Department, and Shin Wee Chuang, Co-founder and CEO of Pand.ai shared in an interview with e27 their take on topics, including developing a Thai conversational AI engine, the keys to ensuring the older generation can benefit from new technologies and future digitalisation trends in the banking industry among others.

Below are the edited excerpts from the interview:

What were the key challenges faced when creating the AI engine and how did the team overcome them?

Chuang: The biggest challenge we faced was that our data scientists were not native Thai speakers. When it came to building a Thai AI engine, this resulted in a loss of efficiency.

The data scientists had to refer back to the Thai speakers in the team to check if everything is correct. Hence, it was not as intuitive and efficient as developing an AI engine in their native language.

Also Read: Artificial intelligence is a key consideration for companies looking to adapt operations to optimise user experience

Since we were collaborating with Bangkok Bank, we had two sets of data scientists, one each from Bangkok Bank and Pand.ai. Therefore, we split the workload; the processes that required the knowledge of the Thai language were handled by the Bangkok Bank team, while we handled those that did not depend as much on the ability to understand the Thai language.

It was a collaborative effort for which both sides pitched in with what they were good at.

Why are there a lack of Thai chatbots in the market?

Chuang: One of the primary factors, I believe, is the lack of market opportunities. There are a lot of people speaking Thai and Thailand itself accounts for close to 70 million people.

However, in the grand scheme of things, when compared to the number of people speaking English, Mandarin or Spanish, the number of people conversing in Thai pales in comparison to these major languages.

That would that limit the commercial appeal of developing a Thai conversational AI engine.

Secondly, AI is a big field, and natural language processing (NLP), which powers conversational AI, is a subsegment of it. Not every data scientist’s speciality is in NLP.

They could specialise in computer vision and be largely clueless about NLP. Therefore, among the data science community, the number working on NLP is small and it is even rarer to find a Thai native speaker among them.

Does digitalisation represent a “must-have” rather than a “nice to have” for banks today?

Sriprasertsuk: Digitalisation has become a must-have, as it drives key competencies for banks in this digital age. Banks are now expected to provide ‘good’ digital services.

Definition of ‘good’ may vary by individual. To some, it may mean ease of usage and real-time support. To others, it might be tailored recommendations and security features.

Ultimately, these services can be only driven by digital technologies such as automation, data analytics, and AI. They also reduce unit costs while allowing banks to serve customers at scale in a wider, faster, and cheaper way.

Also Read: 4 ways the banking sector can respond to the digital transformation

However, that does not mean that traditional relationship-based banking or physical bank branches will disappear completely.

We do believe that human elements, such as relationship and offline services, will still play an important role as one of the key competitive advantages for banks.

How do you ensure a diverse customer base (especially the older generation) can keep up with the rapid introduction of technological solutions?

Sriprasertsuk: Empathy is key. Different customer segments have different needs and these needs are ever-changing.

For the older generation, learning new technologies remains one of the biggest hurdles for them.

However, it may be surprising to find that they manage to use ‘Paotang’, an e-wallet where Thai government provides government subsidies to the public in the form of e-money in order to boost the economic recovery during COVID-19.

The seniors were able to use the e-wallet due to the help of their families, friends and merchants, who helped guide them through the process, and they mastered it after a few tryouts.

Therefore, support from the people around seniors is a helpful enabler for them to learn and adopt new technologies.

Driven by customer research and Big Data analytics, banks will also need to be empathetic and design solutions that are catered to the needs of their customers.

Take the chatbot as an example, where customers may struggle to get the right keyword to ask a chatbot.

By adding human elements to the chatbot such as programming to analyse the intention of a user or remembering the context of a conversation, it can make an educated response to a user’s inquiry and create a better customer experience.

In what areas of banking do you see technology has the greatest impact in the near future?

Sriprasertsuk: AI and Big Data analytics are technologies that would provide big leaps to this digital era for all industries, not only the banking sectors.

For banking, AI has transformed every aspect of bank function, allowing banks to deliver personalised digital banking experiences, which are seamless across touch-points. AI can also enhance the efficiency of banking processes, reduce costs, improve security and strengthen risk management.

Also Read: Reimagining anti-money laundering processes with blockchain technology

Distributed ledger technology (DLT), more commonly known as the blockchain technology, is expected to play an important role in the future of financial services, although it still needs improvement.

DLT helps enhance security, traceability, efficiency and speed of transactions. The technology allows banks to collaborate better with stakeholders in trade flow, from improving traceability to greatly reducing time and costs.

Additionally, DLT also enables the concept of smart contract and programmable money that could lead to a wide variety of new digital financial products.

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Huawei Pay, the mobile payment service by Chinese telecom giant Huawei, has announced a partnership with Aleta Planet and UnionPay International.

The duo will partner to introduce a mobile payment solution combining Near Field Communication (NFC) and QR code payments for Singapore Huawei users.

Launched in May 2020, Huawei Pay allows Huawei users in the city-state to carry out mobile transactions on their smart devices. Users can transact in-store and in-app using the mobile payment solution upon adding their bank card to the Huawei Wallet app.

The mobile payment platform said in a statement it provides an improved in-store payment experience by offering both NFC and QR code payment methods for greater flexibility. Users can choose to pay with either method in retail stores.

Also Read: 4 expected transitions of online payments in Asia in the next five years

Aleta Planet is a virtual card service provider allowing users to pay, remit and collect payments through the UnionPay network. The Singapore fintech firm remarked it is the first partner supporting both NFC and QR code payments via Huawei Pay within Asia-Pacific.

To access the payment service, users are required to download Aleta Planet’s “AP-1” mobile app from Huawei’s app store and apply for an AP-1 virtual card. Upon successful application, users can add their card to their mobile wallet and begin cashless NFC and QR code transactions at various merchant locations.

“By using Huawei Pay, the AP-1 users can handily make NFC and QR code payments, as well as enjoy a slew of exclusive privileges available,” said Shane Shan, Director of Huawei Mobile Services, Asia Pacific.

Aleta Planet’s AP-1 virtual card users will be entitled to a slew of UnionPay promotions and rewards including dining and lifestyle offers as stated on UnionPay’s website.

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Image Credit: Unsplash

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What do startups want the most? Investment? Space? Early adopters?

As someone who has been through the startup journey, I can certainly say that it is neither of these that startups need the most. 

What they need is people. A team of stalwarts who are great at what they do and can solve problems. Now building a team is definitely a big deal for startup founders. It is difficult finding the right mix of technical and non-technical personnel to assemble. 

Also, the chances of finding them all in one place — from the same city or country is even slimmer. 

But, as Bob Dylan once sang: “The Times They Are A Changin.”

When you are running a startup, you no longer need all your team members in one place. You can have them scattered across the globe and still manage to scale your operations. Thanks to countless communication and collaboration software, managing a remote team is a cake walk for startup founders. 

You can have a developer from Japan, a UX designer from Ukraine, a QA tester from India, and a project manager from the US. 

However, there is a catch. Managing a remote team is not the same as managing an in-house team. You need to approach remote team management from a different angle to keep teams motivated, productive, and also to scale your startup. 

Make a management mind shift

At the core of every successful startup is one common trait — a positive management mindset. In management parlance, a positive mindset can be construed as different things: hunger to drive growth, passion to break and build new things, setting new milestones, etc. 

However, while scaling your startup with a remote team, you need a totally different management approach. To begin with, micromanaging is a big no-no. It would be extremely tempting for a startup to track the outcome of every single task assigned to team members. 

It is an activity that shows a lack of trust but also drains the time and energy of the founder. Such time and effort could otherwise be used for strategic thinking and planning. 

So, it is necessary for management to have a mind shift. You must have confidence and trust in your team although they are not physically present in the same building as you. 

At my company Solitaired, where we tie classic games to brain training, we’ve found that avoiding micromanagement and trusting our team has had a profound effect. Our team is taking more responsibility in their work as a result and delivering their best work.

Shifting to remote work is an opportunity to empower your team. 

Measure performance. Not hours spent online.

One question that always comes up when running a remote team is: How will I track the efficiency of my team?

In a startup, resources are precious and the way your team spends their time can make a huge impact on the business. Even the slightest delay from one person can have a snowball effect on the rest of the team. 

As you know, tracking every single task of the team is a futile exercise. Instead, track performance. In a virtual team, the best indicator of productivity and efficiency is results.

For an engineering team this could be feature releases, for a marketing team it could be campaign rollouts, or for a sales team it could be deals closed or pipelines created. 

Prioritising results over time-tracking ultimately leads to a growth and results-driven work culture — a must-have accessory for startups.

Build a virtual team culture

In a remote team, or for that matter, in any team, culture can be the invisible glue that binds together team members. It removes the distance barrier, makes people feel familiar to each other, and builds team camaraderie. 

Also read: Are your influence skills ready for remote work?

The onus is upon the founder to create a remote team culture so that every team member feels an integral part of the team. Virtual team building activities help with that. As a gaming company, we often play games together to improve camaraderie.

A healthy remote culture cultivates strong working relationships where teammates are willing to trust and hold each other accountable.

Lay down clear processes

An F1 pit crew can change a racing car’s tires in 1.923 seconds. Do you know how? They have a process that is meticulously planned. Each team member is trained to do his/her role in the best manner possible. 

A process leaves little room for error. It standardises how everyone in a team works. It brings everyone on the same page and directs efforts in the same direction towards a common goal. 

Similarly, a well-defined process ensures that new employees who are onboarded are also able to ramp up into their roles quickly. It removes the ambiguity that kicks in when there is no direct interaction between team members. 

As a best practice, create a central repository of all process documents. Ideally, they should be created separately for engineering, marketing, finance, IT, and so on. Such practices enable any remote work, new or seasoned, to work independently and effectively. 

Assemble a well-equipped toolkit

Most often, remote team collaboration does not work because team members do not have the necessary tools to communicate. 

It is only recently that tools like Slack, Asana, Trello, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, etc. have become mainstream. These tools are essential if you want to scale your startup with a remote team. 

Also read: Does remote working really work?

A well-equipped toolkit ensures that remote team members are able to perform their duties and deliver work as planned. Here is a list of tools that you can help you manage a remote team of your startup:

• Voice and video communication — Zoom, Slack, Microsoft Team
• Document collaboration — Microsoft Office, Google Suite, Zoho One
• Project management — Asana, Trello, Monday.com
• Web management — WordPress, Wix, GoDaddy, Weebly
• Design — Canva, Snappa, Prezi, Piktochart
• Cyber security — Anti virus programmes, Firewall, VPN, Azure ID
  

Plan for time zone differences

One of the most under-rated challenges of working with a remote team is time zone differences. The challenge of coordinating meetings and working across different time zones can be significant.

While managing a remote team, it is necessary to lay down specific timings during which meetings are feasible for all. Also, it is equally necessary to stipulate non-meeting hours. This will help individual team members to plan their working hours with enough rest hours in between.

For example, at my company, the team that develops our Mahjong and Freecell games is based in Eastern Europe, while the rest of our game is based in the New York area. Given the time zone differences, we always have daily meetings at 9AM EST as a unique window when all our teams are available.

Common meeting hours will ensure that every remote team member is in a productive mindset and willing to contribute to the meeting. Without their active participation, remote teams can feel disconnected to the company’s mission and goals.

Taking your startup from one to 10X

Today, scaling a startup with a remote team is easier than ever before. There are countless tools to facilitate remote work and abundant supply of remote workforce who are talented.

However, it still takes effort and planning to make remote work productive for startups. 

Setting the right management mindset, building a positive team culture, developing processes, and adjusting for time zone differences can all help your remote team function better, improving your chances of success.

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Singapore-based car-sharing platform Tribecar announced today it has partnered with local insurance firm NTUC Income and wholesale automotive marketplace Carro to provide usage-based insurance (UBI) coverage for its fleet of rental cars.

Unlike conventional fixed costs auto insurance premiums, UBI charges are tied to the vehicle’s data, such as mileage, location and timing consumption.

Developed through a joint initiative between NTUC Income and Carro’s leasing arm Carro Leap, the UBI platform combines telematics, insurance and data analytics.

As per a press release, Tribecar has adopted this insurance programme, allowing it to provide car-sharing rentals from S$0.50 (US$0.38) per hour for its “Super Economy” Category.

Also Read: Carro raises US$110M funding as contactless car buying boosts its revenues

“It is very encouraging to see the growing interest in new insurance models like UBI within the motoring community, which is testimony to the value it brings to drivers — customisation and convenience,” said Max Tiong, Head of Digital Transformation at Income.

“With a usage-based model that allows them to pay insurance based only how much they drive, Tribecar’s customers can now enjoy a new level of flexibility with rental cars,” said Aaron Tan, Founder and CEO of Carro.

Existing commercial fleet insurance typically require motor fleet owners to pay a fixed lump sum premium even when their cars are left idle.

In contrast, UBI charges the value of insurance incurred, starting from the first kilometre. With UBI, motor fleet owners can have greater autonomy over their car insurance and have enabled car rental firms to save costs by adopting a ‘drive less, pay less’ business model.

Also Read: The future of insurance isn’t just digital; it’s efficiently digital

Since launching in 2016, Tribecar has invested over S$4 million (US$ 3.03 million) in research and technology initiatives from its profits to accelerate product development.

The startup claims its cars see a strong uptake of about 18 hours of road use every day, an indication that car-sharing vehicles can be used more effectively than privately-owned vehicles. It further remarked its effort in promoting car-sharing is in line with the push by local regulators to reduce car usage in Singapore.

“We’re also experimenting with new ways to deliver greater value for our members. Currently, we’re in talks with authorised car distributors in Singapore to roll out ‘drive before you buy’ schemes for members that may be keen to buy a new car,” said Adrian Lee, Co-founder of Tribecar.

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Image Credit: Tribecar

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