On the 20th of October 2022, twimbit, in partnership with F5 and Kyndryl, organised the inaugural “Bank of Tomorrow Asia Pacific Summit”. Our hosts, Kuna Nallapan of F5 and Susan Follis of Kyndryl, join Manoj Menon of twimbit to discuss their aspirations and vision for the future of banking.

Session Title: Welcome Address

Speakers:

• Manoj Menon, CEO and Co-Founder of twimbit
• Kuna Nallapan, Vice President of F5
• Susan Follis, Managing Director of Kyndryl

APAC is vast and ripe with opportunities, attracting the biggest investments and best talent from esteemed banks in the banking industry who seek to extend their reach and financial growth further. If the last decade was on e-commerce and transactions, this future decade will be about one key player – financial technology (Fintechs) and how they merge into the BFSI industry to drive and elevate innovation.

Open banking and financial inclusion power the state of APAC banking

Youth looks to dominate the map across APAC, with both experts predicting at least 50% of the population to be millennials or Gen-Z by 2025. Times are changing, and so does demand. Gone are the days when people want to dress up and physically queue in a bank to get their transactions done. Now, it’s all about ease of accessibility to offerings and services.

In response to hyper-accessibility and instant gratification, open banking has boomed across APAC in varying degrees, with each bank undertaking a different approach. Still, in essence, open banking uses APIs to orchestrate the sharing of customer data with third parties. It acts as the stepping stone to building interconnected and intuitive ecosystems for the betterment of the people.

Now more than ever, everyone should be given an opportunity to access bank services. And open banking is the answer to that, enabling the underbanked and unbanked population in APAC to be empowered with access to financial services. Couple open banking and 5G adoption, an emerging technology, and banks can expect to increase their customer base and simultaneously accelerate economic growth.

F5 and Kyndryl – Supporting clients in their digital journeys

Financial inclusion and open banking are no surprise to the experts, F5 and Kyndryl. Masters of the craft in supporting their customers through their digital journey, both experts agree that banks are stuck at a crossroads. On the one hand, banks must innovate to leverage potential opportunities. On the other, consumer trust and a consistent and superior customer experience must be the banks’ top priorities.

In short, no one bank can achieve both aspects alone. Partnerships – this is the answer that both agree with, fully aware that partnerships prove key to value creation and winning in the era of digitalisation. To understand how the experts have reached this level of high stature, it’s best to walk through a brief exploration of who they were and who they are now.

F5

F5 works with leading banks in the APAC region to provide their customers with a secure digital experience. These institutions are exploring API banking to create value while integrating their offerings into a larger ecosystem. With evolving security risks and complexities around digital transformation, F5 can help by safeguarding data, mitigating fraud risks and ensuring that customers feel secure when they bank with these financial services organisations.

Kyndryl

Kyndryl is the world’s largest startup with 19 billion in revenues, 4000 clients worldwide, and 90,000 Kyndryl’s operating across 100 countries. Kyndyrl designs, builds, manages, and modernises the mission-critical technology systems that the world depends on daily. Specifically, in Asia, they partner with 51 of the top leading banks to help them drive change, transform their business and compete aggressively in this extremely competitive market. In addition, the pandemic has accelerated technology adoption and innovation.

As we move forward, differentiation is less about your product or service and more about how you interact with customers to create memorable moments. This is made possible through hyper-personalisation, which requires leveraging your data, incorporating analytics, and integrating the best of the digital and physical worlds to create your unique brand of experiences for every customer.