ABeam Consulting unveiled a study in the digital transformation in Thailand's financial services industry seeing challenges lie ahead forcing to change

Mr. Ichiro Hara, Managing Director of ABeam Consulting (Thailand) Ltd., a subsidiary of ABeam Consulting Ltd., a global consulting company headquartered in Japan with expertise in digital transformation, revealed that financial institutions are facing more competitive pressure today than ever before.  Fintech, blockchain, startups, non-bank financial institution and other non-financial institutions are entering different industry verticals at an increasing rate.  One of ABeam’s expert areas is digital transformation in financial business sector, therefore, the company has studied a White Paper regarding “Digital Transformation in Financial Services Industry (FSI) –Challenges Lie Ahead”.  According to the study, a major driver for digital transformation is the need to adapt and evolve as competitors enter the market or to stay ahead of peers who are also implementing digital strategies.

“In more developed markets, new entrants have been at the forefront of the industry and left traditional businesses behind.  They are exerting real change on the industry by virtue of their digital-first approach, offering more sophisticated technology that increases the digital expectations of customers.  From the White Paper, three quarters or 75% of insurers surveyed fear competition from data-driven digital competitors,” said Mr.Hara.

Mr. Hara continued that from their experience providing consultancy on digital transformation to enterprises, ABeam has designed 3 approaches as Digital Transformation Roadmap:

Approach #1 for Incremental Goal: Digitization/ Process transformation.  This approach is the transformation of manual processes into digital processes, colloquially referred to as “turning paper into digital”. Though this is essential for existing firms in digital era, it is often overlooked or considered a basic exercise. Recognizing the limitations of existing IT infrastructure, many institutes are choosing to deploy modern platforms that can wrap around their legacy systems.  Others are choosing to do complete core replacements to become more agile. Either solution can be the foundation for a company’s digital transformation strategy as they develop products to become tomorrow’s market leaders.

Approach #2 for Ultimate Goal: Creating a new business model by improving the value chain.  This is the development of new business model that are enabled by digitization/ process transformation throughout the value chain. The introduction of new tools and systems brought about by digitization will enable various improvements to existing product and service mixes.

Approach #3 for Ultimate Goal: Developing an entirely new digital business model.  This is the development of entire new business models, similar to the disruptive products and services developed by fintech startups.  This allows existing financial service institution to rethink elements of their business and adapt them to a changing world.

Mr. Hara explained that what is the final goal of the transformation project depends on enterprises’ decision.  The end goal of digital transformation can be either an Ultimate Goal –a brand new digital business model—or an Incremental Goal –an improvement of current business, either through sales expansion or the digitization and improvement of current processes. The vast majority of financial service companies surveyed have acknowledged the need for investing modernizing their internal systems.  More than 90% said they plan to increase spending in digital investments in 2019 from 1% to more than 10% of the digital investment increase. 

Financial service companies having started implementing digital transformation projects are already seeing improvements in various metrics including higher profit margin improved customer advocacy, and faster customer acquisition rates.  For instance, Lenders such as Capital One have seen an 87% improvement in customer retention and as 83% reduction in the cost per customer acquisition after investing in digital systems, insurers making investments in digital modernization strategies are 63% more profitable on average than their competitors who do not.

“We suggested financial service firms to take decisive actions toward digital transforming their operations and develop a roadmap and begin their digital transformation.  Moreover, throughout the entire process, we must not forget employee engagement levels are just as important as customer engagement levels.  A highly engaged employee is better able to utilize the digital tools they are given, and quicker to adapt to industry changes.  A truly transformed financial institution should delight customers as well as enhance the employee experience.  This can be challenging, particularly for employees who are accustomed to the status quo.  Companies investing in the employee experience enjoy more than 4 times the average profit and twice the average revenue per customer.  Technology plays a pivotal role, but it only works if it supports the changing needs of a workforce that’s increasingly demanding a more mobile, fluid, “anytime, anywhere” approach to work.  At the same time, it must also help fuel a culture of innovation and changes,” concluded Mr. Hara.

About ABeam Consulting (Thailand) Ltd.

ABeam Consulting (Thailand) Ltd. is a subsidiary of ABeam Consulting Ltd. –headquartered in Tokyo having 6,000 people serve more than 700 clients throughout Asia, the Americas and Europe providing consulting services in Thailand since 2005, ABeam Consulting (Thailand) has 350 professionals serving more than 180 clients in Thailand with expertise in digital transformation services that create strategic advantage, improve business processes, leverage technology innovation and enhance organizational performance with ERP and all other solutions including Management Consulting, Digital BPI, Data Analysis, IT project management and outsourcing for leading companies in Thailand.  Moreover, ABeam has been in a strong partnership with SAP and provided services by SAP-certified consultants to achieve clients’ transformation. ABeam partners with clients to diagnose and solve their real challenges with solutions that combine industry and operational best practices with technical expertise. Pragmatic approaches ensure that clients gain measurable value more quickly. With the management philosophy to be "Real Partner", ABeam provides real people, real solutions, and real results to ensure clients' success. For more information, please visit https://www.abeam.com/th/en.

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