Time ripe for financial sector to go digital: Microsoft survey

About 81 percent business leaders in Asia Pacific's financial services industry said they believe they need to transform to digital business to enable future growth, according to a new survey.

But only 31 percent said they have a full digital strategy in place now, showed the Microsoft Digital Transformation Asia study.

The business leaders agreed that cloud computing is now an essential part of their digital transformation strategy and data insights can lead to new revenue streams.

The study was shared at a banking sector conference organised by Microsoft Bangladesh, said the company in a statement yesterday.

The conference shed light on digital transformation and productivity in the banking sector, and demonstrated how analytics can help decision-makers and cloud computing can take banking to the next level.

Sessions also included cyber security and trusted cloud. Ways on how Bangladesh's financial services industry could stay relevant amidst digital disruption was also discussed.

In the statement, Rena Chai, chief operating officer of the Southeast Asia New Markets at Microsoft Asia Pacific, said, "As we embrace the fourth Industrial Revolution, cutting-edge technologies are redefining business process and the way how businesses interact with their customers."

Chai said Microsoft wants to empower every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more.

"So, we would like to extend our support to the financial service industry in Bangladesh to capitalise on the value of generating greater insights from new and existing data, to better meet the needs of customers, especially personalised offerings and expansion into digital channels."

Sonia Bashir Kabir, managing director of Microsoft Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Laos, said in the age of digital disruptions, the banking sector can leverage technology to optimise their operations, increase profits by using the right tools, empower employees and build closer relationship with customers.

"As Bangladesh is capitalising on its Digital Bangladesh Vision and people are quickly adapting to new technologies, it is time for the banks to utilise latest technology to turn data into insights, transform ideas into action, and get closer to their customers and become their advisers," said Kabir.

The study surveyed 1,494 business leaders across five industries, including 335 from the financial services industry, from 13 Asia Pacific markets, according to the statement.