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Tag: asia

  • Vietnam remains among 50 most valuable brands

    Vietnam remains among 50 most valuable brands

    Its brand value is estimated at $235 billion, up $32 billion from the previous year. It has risen two places in the list this year. The global brand valuation consultancy firm evaluates a country’s national brand on the brands based there and the economy as a whole by weighing up various socio-economic factors.

    A “strong” national brand denotes a highly attractive environment for investment, encouraging inward investment, adding value to exports, and attracting tourists and skilled migrants, it explained.

    Vietnam’s continuing rise in the list is primarily due to “Vietnam Value”, a national program to endorse products and services that meet minimum standards set out by the government, and concentrated efforts to promote economic growth by the government, it said.

    In Southeast Asia, Vietnam is only in sixth place in terms of value, below Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand.

    The Top 10 in the world did not see much change with the U.S., China and Germany continuing to lead in terms of value.

    The U.S.’ value has shot up by 23 percent to $25.9 trillion this year as a result of falling tax rates and a more business-friendly environment despite the negative public image that President Trump may have cultivated, the report said.

    Founded in 1996, Brand Finance is the world’s leading independent branded business valuation and strategy consultancy. Headquartered in London, the firm is present in over 20 countries.

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  • Surge in Hong Kong Cybercrime

    Surge in Hong Kong Cybercrime

    Hong Kong has experienced a surge in fraudulent banking websites this year. In August alone, there were 15 reports of such incidents, compared with only two cases of fake websites or phishing attempts in the same month a year ago, according to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). In September, seven incidents were reported, up from one a year ago.

    And the trend seems to continue, with eight cases reported in October so far. Customers of DBS, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, as well as Dah Sing have been among the targets of the criminals. With the rise of financial technology firms and mobile banking apps, experts predict that novice mobile banking users will become prime targets.

    Digital Banks Attract Attackers

    While the use of digital banking tools is spreading quickly, the technology is also attracting the attention of cybercriminals, said cybersecurity specialist Securelist in a report earlier this year. «We are sure that the world of cybercrime will see increasing attacks against this type of banks and their customers,» Securelist said in its report. 

    Fraudsters have long tried to trick users to visit fake bank website via e-mail messages pretending to be from the bank. On these fake websites, they try to trick account holders into revealing their access credentials. On mobile devices, the connection with the bank is typically via an application, rather than a website.

    Tricks Of Criminals

    Banks’ usage of chat applications increases the possibility that criminals could try impersonating the bank in social media chats and try to trick users into downloading and installing an «updated» version of the bank’s app. In reality, such an app would be malicious and could help attackers steal credentials from the phone.

    «Other social engineering scams have emerged which try and trick the genuine user into revealing the authentication code for their chat app and hence lose control of the account. Even if this is only temporary, it may allow enough time for a fraud to be perpetrated,» Jackson said in an interview.

    Attacks Focused On Smaller Vendors

    Experts predicts there could be more attacks on fintechs or payment providers going forward. This is due to lower investments into cybersecurity versus traditional banks, and criminals’ evolving technological skills.

    «Large financial organizations invest considerable resources in cybersecurity, thus the penetration of their infrastructure is not an easy task. However, a threat vector that is likely to be actively used by cybercriminals in the coming year is attacks on software vendors supplying financial organizations,» Securelist said. Most of these vendors have a lower level of protection compared with the financial organizations themselves.

    Attacks Via Software

    For the coming year, the cybersecurity experts expect criminals to stage attacks via software for the finance business, including such for ATMs and PoS terminals. «A few months ago we registered the first attempts of this kind, when attackers embedded a malicious module into a firmware installation file, and placed it on the official website of one of the American ATM software vendors,» Securelist wrote.

    Based on a 2017 study by Accenture, the financial services industry posted annual costs of nearly $18.3 million per firm from cyber attacks.

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  • Vietnam fruits, vegetables struggle to enter overseas market

    Vietnam fruits, vegetables struggle to enter overseas market

    Dragon fruit, which accounts for 40 percent of Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable exports in value, is facing the biggest challenge as China, which used to buy 80-90 percent of Vietnam’s dragon fruit mainly through border gates, has tightened the import through the channel. The importer has also improved standards on quarantine and food safety and origin tracking to Vietnamese fruits, including dragon fruits.

    Facing the difficulties, many traders have recently stopped buying the fruit in some major growing regions.

    As a result, prices of the fruit have plummeted. Recently farmers in Binh Thuan Province told VnExpress that prices are down 90 percent to VND1,500-2,000 ($0.06-0.08) per kilogram.

    Vietnam’s dragon fruit exports might see more pain since China may reduce purchases after expanding its own cultivation, warned by industry insiders. Saigon Giai Phong Online quoted Vietnam’s Plant Protection Department as saying China has planted dragon fruit on 20,000 hectares in places such as Guangxi and Hainan. The department said this area would increase to 30,000 hectares next year. Chili, which accounts for a third of Vietnam’s total vegetable export value, is struggling in the Malaysian market. Malaysia is among the three largest buyers of chili from Vietnam along with South Korea and China.

    But it announced to cease licensing the import of chili from Vietnam from September 14 after detecting excessive residues of plant protection products in chili shipments.

    Together with dragon fruits and chilli, papaya has struggled to enter overseas market.

    The South Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has informed Vietnam’s Plant Protection Department that it discovered genetically modified papaya in shipments from Vietnam.

    South Korea does not allow entry of genetically modified organism (GMO) products.

    A spokesperson for a large papaya exporter in southern Long An Province said that farmers knew about this policy, and some GMO fruits went into the consignments despite their efforts to prevent it.

    It is working with farmers to grow non-GMO fruits, the spokesperson added.

    Nguyen Quoc Vong, a researcher in the GMO fruit industry, said the trend in developed countries is to consume non-GMO products.

    He warned that Vietnam would be shut out of high-end markets if it exports GMO products since food safety standards around the world are rising.

    “Our competitors like Thailand do not grow GMO produce, so they will have an advantage in high-end markets where we cannot compete,” local newspaper Thanh Nien reported him as saying.

    Vietnam earned $3 billion from fruit and vegetable exports in the first nine months of this year, up 15.2 percent over the same period last year, according to the General Statistics Office.

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  • Chatbots: Convenience vs Risks

    Chatbots: Convenience vs Risks

    Banks increasingly are introducing popular messaging platforms to reach their mobile-savvy clients – DBS for instance launched its banking services on WhatsApp and WeChat in September while Citibank added its Facebook messenger banking chatbot a year ago.

    «Banks are caught between a rock and a hard place. The reality is that customers are familiar with these everyday communication tools and would be reluctant to accept bespoke communication apps developed by the banks themselves,» said Paul Jackson, managing director, APAC leader of Cyber Risk at Kroll.

    Banks have little choice but to rely on popular applications, because they help attract customers already familiar with their use. However, the convenience of such communication channels paves the way for fraud, impersonation and even hijacking of WhatsApp/WeChat accounts via social engineering.

    Top Security Risks

    In a 2018 survey undertaken by Synopsys, 36 percent of respondents indicated that customer-facing web applications remain the top security risk to businesses in Asia-Pacific. Last month’s admission by Facebook that a security breach had affected more than 50 million accounts came as a timely reminder that even tech giants aren’t spared.

    Whilst the underlying technology powering chat platforms tend to be secure, criminals are looking closely at how the communication channels work in practice and what information is potentially being transmitted via them, Jackson said.

    Criminal Ingenuity

    Historically, fraudsters have long tried to trick users to visit fake bank website via e-mail messages pretending to be from the bank. In these fake websites, they try to trick account holders into revealing their access credentials. On mobile devices, the connection with the bank is typically via an App rather than a website.

    Banks’ usage of chat Apps raises the possibility that criminals could try impersonating the bank in social media chats and try to trick users into downloading and installing an «updated» version of the bank’s app  but in actuality, such an app would be malicious and could help attackers steal credentials from the phone.

    «Other social engineering scams have emerged which try and trick the genuine user into revealing the authentication code for their chat app (usually sent via SMS) and hence lose control of the account. Even if this is only temporary, it may allow enough time for a fraud to be perpetrated,» Jackson explained.

    A Game of Cat and Mouse

    The introduction of two factor authentication a few years ago was seen as the solution to impersonation in the online banking website world. However, attackers then developed more advanced ways to steal both of the two-factor credentials.

    Other advanced attacks involve creating a layer in the victim’s computer to mask the identity and activities of the impersonator, and make it appear that any transactions were actually originating from the victim’s computer.

    «As a result, security is a constant cat and mouse game that is pitted against the need for customer convenience. Time will tell whether there will be any successful campaigns to process-hack these new initiatives by the banks,» said Jackson.

    Please Confirm

    Following the launch of its banking services via chat, DBS will progressively introduce investment-related transactions in 2019. Hence, it has put in place safeguards to prevent erroneous keying of instructions.

    «Relationship managers and assistant relationship managers will confirm each request with their client before placing an order,» Evy Theunis, head of digital wealth at DBS Private Bank, told.

    While clients and their relationship managers may delete or recall a message on WhatsApp and WeChat on their cellphones, all messages are still archived by the banks for compliance purposes.

    User Beware

    «Anything that makes our lives easier needs to be encouraged but this should come hand in hand with education and awareness. For example, users of legitimate platforms will never be redirected to websites which ask them to confirm their credentials,» said Jackson.

    Neither should users ever be asked to reveal personal information via chat as a means of verification, or go to another site to download an updated version of the app, he added.

    Other Precautions

    Adding the bank’s official verified address in the chat application contacts inside the phone will also help to ensure that the customer knows that communications are with the authorised source and not via a fake forwarded message.

    But this then means that customers must carefully guard access to the device – if physical access can be gained, then the official contact details could be changed to a fraudulent one.

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  • Mahindra Marazzo MPV Gets Apple CarPlay

    Mahindra Marazzo MPV Gets Apple CarPlay

    Mahindra’s latest launch- the Marazzo will now be equipped with Apple CarPlay. The MPV was launched in India on September 3 and it’s infotainment system was Android Auto compatible. The UV maker has now confirmed to carandbike of having received the licence for Apple CarPlay. The company has sold over 4500 units of the Marazzo, which were rolled out of the Nashik plant. All these units did not have Apple Carplay but the company has informed us that all the models sold will be updated with the Apple CarPlay in their schedule service, without any additional cost.

    The timing for the license couldn’t have come at a better time as Mahindra is all set to launch the Y400 in the country in November this year and well, the SUV of course will get both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto now.

    The 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system in the Mahindra Marazzo is claimed to be the most updated unit in Mahindra’s product portfolio boasting of some cool features, for example configurable home screen. Buyers can add personalized images on the infotainment system’s internal memory via the USB socket and select it as the background wallpaper. Moreover, Mahindra has also been innovative with the creature comfort features in the Marazzo.

    The new Mahindra Marazzo is powered by a new 1.5-litre four-cylinder diesel engine that has been tuned to offer a maximum of 121 bhp and develops a peak torque of 300 Nm. The engine only comes mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox, and right now, there is no automatic transmission on offer. Mahindra is also working on the petrol engine and an automatic transmission for the Marazzo and could introduce the same when the BS VI emission norms come into effect from April 2020.

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  • Citi Hires UBS Banker For Taiwan

    Citi Hires UBS Banker For Taiwan

    Citi Private Bank appointed Sally Yeh as global market manager for Taiwan, who joins immediately. She joins the American bank from UBS, where she most recently led a team of offshore bankers working with entrepreneurs from Taiwan.

    She will be responsible for growing Citi’s with ultra-high net worth individuals from Taiwan and manages teams based in both Hong Kong and Singapore. Yeh, who is based in Hong Kong, reports to Rudolf Hitsch, Citi’s head of north Asia.

    Veteran Banker

    Yeh brings with her over 20 years of experience in various financial fields focused on the needs of business owners and investors from Taiwan.

    She started her career in Taiwan in asset management, before moving on to work in investment banking for eight years. In 2009, she joined UBS as a private banker  in Hong Kong for the ultra-high net worth segment.

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  • Honda Active Has Crossed The 2 Crore Sales Milestone

    Honda Active Has Crossed The 2 Crore Sales Milestone

    Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) has announced that the company’s top-selling two-wheeler, the Honda Activa, has recently breached the 2 crore sales mark in India. Evidently, the popular Honda Active is now the first scooter in the country to cross this huge sales milestone. Interestingly enough, it took the Honda 15 years to breach first one crore sales mark, while the next one crore units were sold in just 3 years, which is four times faster than the time taken to acquire the first 1 crore customers.

    Minoru Kato, President & CEO, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. today announced this feat and expressed his gratitude to the 2 crore happy Indian customers, and said “Over 18 years and 5 generations, Honda 2Wheelers India continuously added value to exceed Customers expectations & making Activa the most preferred choice of Indian 2wheeler buyers. We are delighted that Activa partnered over 2 crore Indian families on the move in realizing their dreams. As India’s Love for Activa grows, we remain committed to take on new challenges and bring joy to our customers.”

    2018 Honda Activa 5G was launched at the Auto Expo

    The Honda Active was first launched in the year 2001, and since then we have seen five generations of the scooter in India. The fifth-gen model, the Honda Activa 5G, was launched this year in February, at the 2018 Auto Expo. The Activa was truly a ground-breaking product from the Japanese two-wheeler manufacturer and it has been the country’s top-selling two-wheeler for quite some time now. In fact, in 2017 the Activa becomes not just India’s, but the World’s largest selling two-wheeler.

    The current-generation model – Honda Activa 5G, is powered by a 109 cc, single-cylinder engine which puts out 8 bhp at 7,500 rpm and 9 Nm of peak torque at 5,500 rpm. No other scooter on sale in India has been able to come close to the Activa’s sales success in its segment. In addition to features like Honda’s Combi-break system and HSE technology, the new Activa also comes with a semi-digital instrument cluster with the display showing information like additional service due indicator and ECO options. The scooter also gets a 4-in-1 hook with the seat opener switch like the Grazia and a retractable rear hook.

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  • Vietcombank files for private issue of 360 million shares

    Vietcombank files for private issue of 360 million shares

    The commission (SSC) said the country’s third largest bank by assets proposes to make a private issue of 360 million shares, equivalent to 10 percent of its charter capital. The lender plans to sell nearly 54 million shares to its strategic partner, Japan’s Mizuho Bank, to ensure it retains its 15 percent stake post dilution. It will sell the remaining 306 million shares, or 7.73 percent of its charter capital, to other undisclosed investors. The bank has not disclosed the issue price either. Its shares closed at VND58,000 ($2.5) Friday on the HCMC market.

    The State Bank of Vietnam recently gave Vietcombank approval to increase its charter capital by 10 percent to VND39.58 trillion ($1.69 billion).

    The lender has also received approval from its shareholders to make the private placement. Vietcombank and other top lenders, including BIDV and Vietinbank, have been struggling to increase their capital to meet international capital adequacy norms.

    The second Basel Accords, or Basel II, prescribe minimum capital adequacy of 8 percent of risk-weighted assets for all financial institutions to cover operational risks. In 2016 Vietcombank signed a deal with Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Private Limited to sell a 7.73 percent stake. The deal has yet to be consummated, with the bank’s chairman, Nghiem Xuan Thanh, saying they have been unable to agree on a price.

    As a state-owned bank, Vietcombank’s issue of new shares must not be at a price lower than their current market price or a minimum value set by the government.

    However, the price offered by GIC did not meet this requirement.

    If the private issuance of VND3.6 trillion ($156.5 million) is successful, Vietcombank will have the highest chartered capital in the industry of nearly VND40 trillion ($1.74 billion).

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  • New Hyundai Santro Bookings Cross 14,000 Units

    New Hyundai Santro Bookings Cross 14,000 Units

    The Hyundai Santro is back with a bang. And as if to proclaim that this nameplate still commands the kind of strength it used to, the small car has already garnered over 14,000 bookings. Sources have shared with carandbike that the small car has notched up 14,208 bookings within the first 9 days of pre-bookings having been opened for a token of ₹ 11,000, on October 10 2018. This is even though the variants and prices are not known, and customers have shown a preference for the top spec (Asta) manual variant followed by the top spec (Sportz) AMT version.

    These are pan-India bookings, but sources have shared with carandbike that a large chunk of the bookings are from the southern states, with Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Karnataka and Kerala accounting for just under half the total bookings so far. The above figure does not include bookings taken on Dussehra (celebrated on October 18 in Western India, October 19 in North India), and so the overall number is expected to shoot up with Dussehra bookings and then more so over this weekend too. Bookings are only open online, and not at dealerships since there is no car in showrooms as yet that people can see. But a number of dealers have shared with carandbike that many potential customers have been visiting their showrooms, and then making the bookings online with their help.

    The Hyundai Santro has bagged over 14,000 bookings in just 9 days

    Hyundai had opened online pre-bookings for the Santro the day after it unveiled the car to media at its Chennai plant. At the time, the Hyundai India MD, YK Koo had also announced a price protection for the first 50,000 customers. and had pretty much guaranteed that the prices announced at launch will be hiked soon after. At that preview we had the chance to see and drive the car, and have told you plenty about it. What we have been unable to do is share our pictures and videos. And while that remains embargoed until launch day – i.e. October 23 2018 – a lot of leaked pictures have already emerged that show the car’s exterior and interior in fairly good detail.

    The 2018 Hyundai Santro will get a 6.5-inch touchscreen infotainment system

    We know there will be a base version – most likely the Era variant, followed by the Magna variant, the fairly well-loaded Sportz trim and the top spec Asta. All variants will sport a driver-side airbag and ABS (anti-lock braking) as standard equipment. The Asta will have dual airbags standard. The Sportz will also get the 7-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, MirrorLink and Voice Commands. The car’s cabin will be finished in a dual-tone palette of beige and black. On the outside, buyers will have 7 colours to choose from, though only the green will get a special interior package in its Asta trim.

    Under the hood, the new Hyundai Santro features a 1.1-litre four-cylinder petrol engine that comes from the company’s Epsilon engine family. The motor is capable of churning out a maximum of 68 bhp and develop a peak torque of 99 Nm, and Hyundai says that it’s already BS-VI ready. Additionally, the 2018 Santro will also come with a factory fitted CNG kit, which can hold up to 8 kg of gas, and offer a reduced power output of 58 bhp, while developing the same 99 Nm of peak torque. Transmission duties are taken care of by a 5-speed manual gearbox in both the versions, however, the petrol trim also gets an optional 5-speed automated manual transmission (AMT) unit. The AMT unit is developed by Hyundai in-house and uses an electric actuator instead of a hydraulic, which is controlled by a separate electric unit. The petrol engine offers a mileage of 20.3 kmpl, while the fuel efficiency of the CNG version is yet to be revealed.

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  • HSBC Appoints New Chairman for Singapore

    HSBC Appoints New Chairman for Singapore

    HSBC Singapore appointed Mukhtar Hussain as chairman effective this week, the company said in a statement. The local subsidiary of HSBC  includes the retail banking and wealth management business in the city-state. It was formed when the bank incorporated its retail operations in May 2016.

    «Mukhtar’s presence, experience and counsel will go a long way to support our three-year growth plans – not just for retail banking – but across all of our business lines,» said Tony Cripps, chief executive officer of HSBC Singapore.

    Regional Knowledge

    On the consumer banking side, HSBC will tap on Mukhtar’s regional knowledge to provide oversight of the bank’s strategy to capture the personal wealth that is flowing from Asean markets into Singapore.

    «On the institutional side, his role in spearheading HSBC’s regional activity in support of BRI will be invaluable in advising Singapore on how it can further position itself as a strategic partner of this multi-decade investment programme,» said Cripps.

  • Shopee Sellers in China to use DHL to Delivery across Thailand

    Shopee Sellers in China to use DHL to Delivery across Thailand

    DHL eCommerce, a division of logistics company, Deutsche Post DHL Group (DPDHL), has announced a partnership in China with Shopee, a leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan. The partnership enables sellers in China to access consumers nationwide in Thailand, with an expansion of the partnership to other Southeast Asian markets in the pipeline. According to Statista, the e-commerce gross merchandise revenue in Thailand will exceed US$5 billion by 2022, making it the second largest e-commerce market in Southeast Asia.

    “Direct selling to overseas consumers has never been easier and has become a key growth driver for many businesses, with e-commerce as an easy platform to enable international expansion. With logistics as a key enabler for cross-border retailing, we want to empower our customers to tap into this huge growth opportunity,” says Zhi Zheng, Managing Director, DHL eCommerce Greater China & North Asia.

    “Over the past few years, we have witnessed extremely strong growth of B2C parcels from China, mainly powered by e-commerce. We are pleased to partner Shopee to enable Chinese sellers to easily sell and deliver in Thailand, whether it’s doorstep delivery or for consumers to collect their orders from our growing network of easily accessible ServicePoints — which is set to reach over 1,000 in Thailand by end-2018.”

    With DHL eCommerce integrated on Shopee in China, sellers can easily sell and deliver on one single platform and keep track of all shipments directly on the app.

    “In recent years, we have witnessed the rapid development of Southeast Asia’s e-commerce market, and a growing number of Chinese brands and sellers are staking a claim in this e-commerce goldmine. However, the geographical complexity of this region has created some logistical challenges. As a leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia, Shopee has built its Shopee Logistics Servcies (SLS), a highly efficient logistics delivery network that links China with Southeast Asia. We are delighted to work with DHL, the world’s leading logistics service provider, to grow SLS from strength to strength. Our collaboration will make Shopee the e-commerce platform of choice for cross-border sellers in China who aspire to sell into Southeast Asia,” said Jianghong Liu, Head of Shopee Cross Border eCommerce.

    Currently, Shopee’s SLS is operational in seven markets in Southeast Asia and Taiwan. With shipping costs 20% to 30% lower than typical market rates and better transit times, SLS makes cross border logistics a breeze for Chinese sellers. The collaboration between Shopee and DHL eCommerce will further enhance the capabilities of SLS. DHL will provide Shopee sellers with door-to-door logistics services, ensuring products will reach consumers in Thailand safely and quickly.

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  • Ericsson posts first quarterly profit since 2016

    Ericsson posts first quarterly profit since 2016

    Corrupt business practices dating back to 2007 have led to the dismissal of 50 employees and will likely result in a “material” fine for Ericsson once the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission complete their investigation into the matter, the Swedish company said Thursday.

    During an earnings call with analysts, CEO Börje Ekholm said the company found evidence of corruption during an internal investigation and reported those findings to authorities. “We don’t know how the discussions will go, but we think it is likely that some measures will be taken,” he said.

    Top executives at the company were allegedly involved in a bribery scandal in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Ekholm said the company has declined to make provisions against the expected financial penalties because it’s unsure of the magnitude of what the ongoing investigation will uncover.

    The tempered admission of guilt on the part of Ericsson overshadowed an otherwise successful quarter for the business, its first profitable quarter since June 2016.

    Investments in research and development along with 18 months of cost reductions are finally contributing to the company’s financial performance, according to Ekholm. The company has laid off 22,000 employees since June 2016 and had a total head count of 95,000 workers at the end of September.

    Strong demand for 5G network equipment in the United States also boosted sales to almost $6 billion during the quarter. “There is strong momentum in the global 5G market with lead markets moving forward,” Ekholm said in a statement. “More work remains, however, to get all parts of the business to a satisfactory performance level.”

    Net sales in North America, the company’s biggest regional market behind Europe, jumped 21% year over year and network equipment sales increased 24% in North America during the same period.

    Ericsson banked a net profit of $304 million during the quarter. Sales in North America reached nearly $1.7 billion during the quarter, representing almost 28% of its entire business. The company forecasts a steady research and development cost during the final quarter of 2018 and says it will primarily focus those expenses in the network division.

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  • UOB Launches Southeast Asia eLab

    UOB Launches Southeast Asia eLab

    UOB launches its pan-regional Engagement Lab (eLab) on Thursday, making it the first dedicated unit set up by a Southeast Asian bank that focuses on using the latest technology and behavioural insights to deepen customer engagement.

    «We believe that designing a simple and easy-to-navigate app interface to create an intuitive user experience is just the beginning. We want to build on this and to ensure that every touchpoint – from the on-boarding process to day-to-day banking – at the Digital Bank is relevant to our customers and resonates deeply with their lifestyle needs and priorities,» said Dennis Khoo, head of digital bank at UOB in a press statement.

    eLabs Serves Southeast Asian clients 

    The Bank will set up eLabs across its network of ASEAN countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. UOB’s Digital Bank, set to launch in the next few months, has been modelled such that digital interactions with the customers are designed to deepen client relationships.

    Through the eLab, the Bank will use the insights drawn to design, to test and to trial ways to encourage customers to save and spend more wisely. Given ASEAN’s cultural and linguistic diversity, these conversations will be in the customers’ own mother tongue.

    Digital Capabilities

    In August, the bank had announced plans to introduce a Digital Bank for Asean customers that will use a data-centric business model to understand individual customer banking needs and habits through their digital interactions with the bank.

    «We will use next-generation digital capabilities to anticipate our customers’ needs and to prompt them to make better financial decisions to achieve their goals. This will be done through meaningful real-time digital conversations that guide customers to better financial choices,» Khoo said.

    UOB Accelerates Hiring For Digital Bank

    The Bank aims to increase its Digital Bank team by 50 per cent in the next 12 months. Of these new hires, a quarter will join the eLab. Other roles include those in areas such as user experience and user interface design, behavioural science and research, data analytics and design thinking.

    This helps to accelerate the Digital Bank’s initiatives in the region, it said. The new hires will join the 120-people strong team already working on the roll-out of UOB’s digital bank across ASEAN.

    In addition, it is looking to hire software engineers and architects to develop solutions such as in-house application programming interfaces (APIs) which tap UOB’s secure IT architecture to drive real-time data analytics.

  • Nokia launches Fixed Access Health Index

    Nokia launches Fixed Access Health Index

    Nokia has announced it has developed a new metric for measuring the quality and performance of fixed access networks in a standardized way.

    The Nokia Fixed Access Health Index for service providers uses Nokia’s automation and analytics capabilities to benchmark the performance and health of fixed line networks against those of industry peers.

    It is designed to act as the foundation for network optimization programs, and measure their performance and progress over time through regular performance measurements.

    The index is already in use by multiple operators, including a major Asian service provider that used the tool to optimize the network health and quality of its recently introduced IPTV service.

    “The initial results we saw with our pioneering customers in this domain were so impressive that we decided to go for a ‘standardized’ approach, which can be replicated with other service providers,” Nokia president of fixed networks Federico Guillén said.

    “Based on a series of playbooks, each operator gets a personalized evaluation and improvement plan. To offer this kind of service, we build on our expertise in all 20 of the largest access networks globally, and with more than 300 fixed broadband customers worldwide, which gives us an endless source of knowledge to tap.”

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  • Asian Private Banking Abuzz with UBS China Fiasco

    Asian Private Banking Abuzz with UBS China Fiasco

    Onshore China, and its rapidly growing billionaire population, is a target for most private banks in the region. UBS has arguably the best-established franchise in the competitive onshore market. Chinese regulators require foreign banks such as UBS to obtain licenses in each jurisdiction that they operate. UBS opened branches in both Beijing in 2014 and Shanghai in 2016 offices, amidst much fanfare and presumably at great cost.

    Due for Interview Next Week

    A female relationship manager at Switzerland’s biggest bank this week was detained at the airport in Beijing, according to a source familiar with the matter. The authorities allegedly held the UBS banker on grounds of illegally soliciting business, the source told.

    The relationship manager may have violated stringent Chinese onshore regulations, which declare illegal the marketing and sale of offshore financial products.

    The banker will be interviewed by Chinese authorities next week, according to information obtained. She has however received back her passport, which had been confiscated. The reasons for her detention remain unclear.

    Strong Message

    The Swiss bank will not comment on the detention of one of its bankers, but said that it had very stringent rules set for its bankers. «This is a strong message from the regulator that it will not tolerate fly in banking,» says one senior banker at another Swiss finance firm. The practice of «flying in» bankers, ostensibly for legitimate onshore reasons ranging from client meetings to golf trips – was one favored by many banks in capital controlled markets such as Taiwan and India.

    It was, however, abandoned as banks – Swiss wealth managers in particular – ran into trouble with regulators in these onshore jurisdictions.

    «Breached Lines»

    «Chilling» is how another senior manager at a European bank described the developments. «The fact that it is a UBS banker – and not one at a smaller shop – is indicative of how determined the regulator is,» he explains.

    A head of Taiwan business at another private bank says, «the line continues to be breached several times in onshore markets,» but it is likely there will be systemic reluctance among both bankers and their banks after the latest incidence.

    Hands-Off in China

    What this means for banks that have made deep investments in the China onshore market and are under considerable pressure to «move out of investment phase» is unknown. For the savvier ones, this is likely to be an inflection point.

    «It is certainly hands-off China for the moment and we will implement no-fly restrictions in any case where it is ambiguous whether the purpose of the visit is strictly onshore,» confirms the senior manager.

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