Thailand’s banks embrace new technology, but digitalization falls short, say experts at the ENGAGE ASIA 2023 conference
BANGKOK, THAILAND – 28 November 2023 – Banks and financial institutions in Thailand leverage mature technology and incorporate modern features. However, experts at the recent ENGAGE ASIA 2023 emphasized that the challenge stems from the absence of unification across different touchpoints, resulting in fragmented customer engagement.
The majority of the systems within the banks operate in silos and don’t communicate with each other, insiders said. The primary challenge lies in integrating these siloed systems and connecting them to systems of record and the essential fintech ecosystem. Only then will banks properly succeed in their digitalization efforts.
“Banks today operate very inefficiently, however, they remain very profitable. We frequently see banks opting for piecemeal solutions atop their existing technology to introduce new financial services. In contrast, progressive modernization involves banks focusing on enhancing the most critical customer journeys to upgrade their underlying processes and giving priority to integration over simplifying systems. This strategic approach achieves true end-to-end customer engagement and lower the cost to serve,” said Jouk Pleiter, Founder and CEO of Backbase. “The digital revolution in Asia’s banking sector is gaining momentum, and banks find themselves at a crossroads, navigating a dichotomy of traditional and modern practices and strategies that will yield different digital transformation outcomes.”
“When the Bank of Thailand issues digital bank licenses in 2024, it will heighten competition in the banking sector. Banking platforms that can help banks accelerate unique and differentiated customer-centric engagement will play a pivotal role in this evolving landscape,” said Pleiter.
“An industrialized single platform that re-uses data, leverages on repeatable processes, and builds in AI and machine learning can reduce manual processing and friction in customer engagement. This is fundamental for banks to shift from system-centric traditional banking to customer-centric engagement banking,” added Riddhi Dutta, Regional Vice President, Asia of Backbase.
According to recent research by Backbase and IDC, a majority of large-scale banks in APAC decided to build their banking platforms in-house, resulting in 70% of failed digital transformations due to the costly and lengthy effort.
Technology from Backbase, the global leader of the Engagement Banking Platform, is designed to unify siloed systems into a single omnichannel banking platform to rapidly modernize the bank. Its “adopt & build” flexibility is a preferred model for banks to accelerate customer-centric digital transformation. This approach accelerates the implementation and launch of new services and provides each bank the freedom to customize the UI and UX to fit the unique needs of their customers.
Backbase’s solution incorporates Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to enhance analytics and improve the overall experience. A notable case involves a bank with 8.2 million retail customers, 87% of whom are new. This real-world implementation resulted in a 40% increase in transactions, with retail customers now contributing more than 30% to the business’s revenue, all while achieving a 30% reduction in operating costs compared to traditional branches.
