The customer remains a core component driving a lot of the decisions made by institutions in the financial services industry (FSI).
In Asia, much of a bank's spending and strategy are currently driven by a need to satisfy customers. Key IT spending priorities in the region include customer relationship management (CRM) and customer analytics.
Financial institutions cannot ignore the importance of retaining their customers. The integration of technologies such as CRM, data warehousing and data mining, with the automated teller machine (ATM) and the Internet, can help banks to better understand their customers' needs and offer relevant products in a timely and cost-effective manner.
Even legacy systems play a key role in supporting services designed to keep customers happy, where mainframes have been enhanced to provide Web-based offerings.
FSI institutions, boosted by the successes they enjoyed in the first wave of outsourcing, are contracting outsourcers in Asia to undertake functions higher up the value chain--activities that require specialized skills, such as application testing, analytics, security and application development.
Here's a look back at some key headlines relevant to the financial services market:
S'pore banks rush to heed e-commerce call
With the rise in Internet shopping in the country, banks have been tying up with logistics providers to offer one-stop services to attract more credit card purchases.Friday, August 01 2008
Financial techies bank on jobs in Asia
Information technology professionals from downsized banks in Europe and the United States, find new jobs in the finance hubs of Asia.Tuesday, July 29 2008
Banking Web sites, corporate computers are insecure
Separate studies find widespread security design flaws in bank Web sites and internal threats to corporate networks, too.Thursday, July 24 2008
Financial services, government sectors drive outsourcing
The two verticals dominated the outsourcing contract scene last year, and are expected to continue to do so over the next two years, finds a report from IDC.Wednesday, July 16 2008
Mobile banking set to boom
The number of global mobile banking transactions is predicted to reach 37 billion by 2011, and some 612 million users will generate over US$587 billion worth of financial transactions, says analyst house Juniper Research.Thursday, June 19 2008
Banks tighten their IT-spending belts
The economic slowdown is leading banking and insurance organizations to redraft their investment plans, with IT spending expected to fall.Wednesday, April 02 2008
