The Singapore branch of China Merchants Bank has selected Appway to improve its compliance efficiency. The Singapore team of the workflow orchestration fintech will deliver three of its wealth management solutions: Onboarding for Wealth; Regulatory Review for Wealth; and Appway’s Digital Binder solution for front-to-back office document handling. These solutions will be deployed across CMB Singapore’s corporate banking, financial institution […]

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Wealthtech provider Finantix has announced a strategic merger with InvestCloud to strengthen its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) global wealth solutions platform. Finantix and Tegra118, a US-based wealth tech, will join InvestCloud, as part of the recapitalisation led by private equity houses Motive Partners and Clearlake Capital Group that valued InvestCloud at US$1 billion. Both Finantix and Tegra118 are portfolio businesses under Motive […]

The post Finantix becomes part of InvestCloud to boost SaaS wealth solutions platform appeared first on Asian Private Banker.

This is a sponsored article from Appway Prior to the pandemic the digitalization of client lifecycle management (CLM) matters was not the top priority for the world’s private banks. Most saw it as an approaching chore, many as a nice-to-have luxury. It was costly and it ran counter to their prevailing ethos of high-touch and personal client interaction. This all […]

The post Digitalizing Client Lifecycle Management in the Time of Covid-19 and Beyond appeared first on Asian Private Banker.

Technology solutions digitising existing processes such as record keeping and client onboarding are gaining strong traction amid the global pandemic as they became essential to maintain business as usual in the private banks. After speaking with PBs on how execution, advisory and client communication is done when face to face meetings have become impossible in most countries in the world, […]

The post Pandemic drives PB demand for digital solutions to maintain business as usual appeared first on Asian Private Banker.

In designing platform and business strategies, wealth management firms should emulate the Big Tech firms Amazon, Google and Apple, argues Appway, the digital client lifecycle management (CLM) solution provider. In a newly published report, Appway makes the point that wealth managers’ operational model for client onboarding should incorporate a more diverse suite of products and services (just like Amazon’s broad […]

The post WMs must emulate Amazon, Google and Apple in client onboarding: Appway appeared first on Asian Private Banker.

India’s HNWIs place higher importance on self-service capabilities compared to dedicated time with human advisors, according to a survey conducted by Appway and Aon released today. The report, titled ‘Innovate to Succeed: The Client Call to Action for Wealth Management’, showed 44% of respondents revealed that self-service capabilities are one of the top three factors for wealth managers to focus […]

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Traditionally synonymous with personalised and prestige services, private banks are currently facing hurdles related to the development and improvement of customised digital solutions owing to cost and control constraints. According to a speaker at an Appway closed-door event today, implementing customised functions for digital platforms can be a pricey undertaking even for the region’s leading private banks. “How our bank […]

The post Cost and control hurdles hamper PBs’ digital customisation efforts appeared first on Asian Private Banker.

Zurich-based Appway has launched Client Update — a CLM tool which automatically updates and consolidates client information from multiple sources, complementing the tech vendor’s existing suite of solutions and potentially boosting advisor productivity. “Client Update offers a combination of Appway’s best-fitting business components, workshops, and services to empower financial institutions,” the press release read, adding that end-clients seek “one key […]

The post Appway launches CLM auto-update tool to improve RM productivity appeared first on Asian Private Banker.

A private banking head, at a recently held panel discussion, revealed that using third-party technology providers was more preferable than developing in-house solutions. The reason? Better outcomes through the lock-in of resources. While many have expressed that their private bank has been generous in allocating budgets for digital upgrades, scenarios where internal resources are unexpectedly cut off because of a […]

The post PBs prefer third-party providers for tech budget security appeared first on Asian Private Banker.

The need to digitalise client onboarding has been on the top of many private banks’ tech agendas, but implementation can be as painful as it is essential. In a conversation with Asian Private Banker, Yvonne Mok, APAC director of sales at Appway, summarises the crucial factors that lead to the successful digitalisation of onboarding — and the roadblocks to avoid. Appway […]

The post What makes or breaks PB client onboarding digitalisation: Appway appeared first on Asian Private Banker.

In a bid to improve onboarding processes and “create a cohesive customer experience”, Appway is facilitating collaboration between clients and their financial services providers, the fintech firm’s head of services, APAC told Asian Private Banker. “We have observed recent trends from different private banks globally, looking at ways to allow RMs to guide customers through the self-service channel, aiming to […]

The post Onboarding pain points soothed through collaboration: Appway appeared first on Asian Private Banker.

LGT has selected Appway, the Swiss-based fintech firm, to digitise its operational and client-facing processes globally. The Liechtenstein private bank said today that it will begin the first phase of the project this month by introducing an optimised customer onboarding process for its head office as well as its private banking branches in Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland and Austria. Using […]

The post LGT picks Appway for client onboarding to offboard processes appeared first on Asian Private Banker.

Credit Suisse Private Banking has been working on a trio of tech-related initiatives, including upgrades to its existing digital platform and its new client onboarding project as well as plans to roll out tools for its relationship managers, the Swiss major’s Asia COO, Christian Huber, tells Asian Private Banker. Digital private banking (DPB) volumes quadruple Credit Suisse’s decision to embed […]

The post Credit Suisse PB’s Christian Huber reveals digital platform updates and new RM tools appeared first on Asian Private Banker.

Nearly four years after HSBC Private Banking signed an agreement with Avaloq to use its IT platform in branches around the world, the private bank is close to going live with the system in Asia. The British lender is working towards the launch of the Avaloq banking platform in Asia and other regions, having signed an agreement with the banking software […]

The post HSBC Private Banking to go live with core banking platform in Asia soon, sources say appeared first on Asian Private Banker.

Private banking COOs and risk heads at the Hong Kong Appway Sphere for Banking conference expressed caution when debating whether private banks should incorporate e-signatures into their KYC processes.   While a survey conducted at the conference shows that 68% of respondents believe that private banks would be willing to electronically sign contractual documents when opening accounts, many attendees said that […]

The post Private banks debate the use of e-signatures in KYC process appeared first on Asian Private Banker.

Deutsche Bank Wealth Management (WM) has kept its promise to ramp up its front-office digital offering by unveiling two relationship manager-focused mobile apps in Asia, Asian Private Banker can reveal. The bank will roll out its ECQ Pricer app this month. The solution equips relationship managers with “on-the-go” equity structured product solutions and pricing to “enhance the client engagement process”, a spokesperson […]

The post Deutsche Bank WM unveils two RM-focused apps in Asia appeared first on Asian Private Banker.

Asia’s private banking COOs and heads of technology continue to rely upon manual or semi-automated client onboarding processes and are reticent to adopt a truly human-free – or digital – mode. Three-quarters of attendees polled at a roundtable luncheon hosted by Asian Private Banker and solutions provider Appway revealed that their client onboarding processes are either paper-based or a combination of […]

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Private banking COOs and heads of technology, partaking in a roundtable discussion hosted by Asian Private Banker and Appway this week, expressed scepticism over the deployment of a digitalised client onboarding process, citing a number of hurdles via a live poll.  Is your onboarding process paper-based or digital? The Hong Kong-based COOs and tech heads revealed that they have yet to adopt a […]

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It has been almost a year since Deutsche Bank Wealth Management became the first private bank in Asia to outsource its entire back office operations. Now Sudhir Nemali, the private bank’s COO for Asia, tells Asian Private Banker how the wealth manager is ramping up its front office toolset to “help the bottom line”. Deutsche Bank’s financial health has been under […]

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This report is based on surveys and in-depth interviews with industry experts throughout APAC, with a specific focus on Hong Kong and Singapore. The wealth management industry is in the midst of transformation, the effects of which are particularly palpable in Hong Kong, Singapore and broader Asia. Customers are demanding faster, more seamless service and wealth managers are competing with […]

The post How wealth managers conquer new market segments with digital onboarding appeared first on Asian Private Banker.

As private banks look to improve its compliance processes through digital onboarding solutions, a new Appway function now allows clients to sign electronically, adding more convenience to a due diligence (DD) task that many find tenuous. The integration offers a digital alternative to the manual signature without sacrificing security and regulatory compliance, according to the client onboarding solution. Appway says […]

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Compliance officers at private banks in Asia need not fear, should the industry be able to effectively conquer compliance via streamlined or automated means as this will lead to the evolution of the role to involve much more high-value items, says Andrea Buzzi, global head of business development at Appway. Whilst a variety of questions still loom over the viability of […]

The post Compliance officers in Asia to evolve, not be axed, should compliance be streamlined appeared first on Asian Private Banker.

Swiss bank Pictet is joining the growing league of private banks in Asia launching digital applications – its chief operating officer (COO) says that the bank will roll out front office initiatives, including a mobile app for clients and relationship managers (RM), in the second half of 2016. “The future for Pictet and technology will certainly lie in the front […]

The post Pictet to roll out mobile app in 2016 appeared first on Asian Private Banker.

Striking a balance between keeping pace with an evolving regulatory landscape and rising costs borne from staying compliant is increasingly becoming the norm. With many banks facing multi-million dollar fines for non-compliance, they are quickly realising the need to respond fast and in a more strategic manner. This article first appeared in Issue 91 of Asian Private Banker’s monthly print magazine, published in […]

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Relationship managers (RMs) who use technology to onboard their clients paperless-ly will soon be able to further shorten the cumbersome process through a new video and voice-recognition identification tool. According to the Asia Pacific head of a technology onboarding solutions vendor, the firm is planning a new feature that will help RMs shorten the process. “This is the next step […]

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More than two years after joining software provider, Appway, which aims to lighten the compliance burden especially in client on-boarding, its Asia GM has left to join Standard Chartered. Reto Merazzi leaves the tech provider to private banks to join the British lender head of product engineering in securities. Merazzi first joined Appway in December 2012 to establish the Asia business […]

The post Appway’s Asia GM leaves to join Standard Chartered appeared first on Asian Private Banker.

As private banks continue to experience the symptoms of heavy regulation—clogged pipelines of paperwork, potentially risky form-filling mishaps and souring relationships from one too many requests for information—the industry is turning to technology to help streamline the cumbersome yet unavoidable predicament. “On-boarding processes at private banks are becoming increasingly onerous,” observes Reto Merazzi, general manager of business solutions provider, Appway. […]

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