Singapore – The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) has announced the launch of new Advanced Digital Solution categories for retail and security industries to empower SMEs to scale faster and grow in a digital economy. The new solutions are Omnichannel Retail Management (OCRM) and Integrated Security Management (ISM).

The pilot will run for one year and equip 100 SMEs with sophisticated digital solutions to deepen their digital capabilities, drive digital transformation, and build business resilience for growth in a digital economy.

The OCRM and ISM are sector-specific integrated solutions which help SMEs unify various business functions, enabling seamless information flow across their operations to better facilitate operations and enable data analytics and insights. 

Moreover, the solutions will be assessed for their suitability for SMEs’ adoption before they are scaled up through relevant support such as the Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG). This will enable more SMEs to benefit when the successfully piloted solutions are pre-approved by IMDA for mass adoption.

Leong Der Yao, assistant chief executive for sectoral transformation group at IMDA, said, “As SMEs grow their businesses and intensify their adoption of digital solutions, the need for seamless integration becomes an important consideration. The OCRM and ISM solutions, curated with shortlisted solution partners, are integral to the broader DEB strategy to empower SMEs to embrace integrated digital solutions. By leveraging these integrated solutions, SMEs are able to streamline operations, elevate their capabilities, and remain competitive in today’s rapidly evolving market landscapes.”

The OCRM solution category is launched by IMDA in collaboration with Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG). It helps retailers to deliver a unified customer experience across these customer engagement touchpoints, such as physical retail outlets, e-marketplaces and online channels, while at the same time, enables an integrated operations across their back-end functions, such as inventory management and customer relationship management.

Vietnam – Global payment and banking infrastructure provider, Episode Six, has announced a new relationship with Galaxy FinX, Vietnam’s newest fintech builder that is re-shaping the future of money and banking in the country. The deal represents two firsts for Episode Six: a partnership in Vietnam as well as with a pure-play virtual bank builder in the Southeast Asia region.

Galaxy FinX selected Episode Six to provide modern cloud-based card and payment processing, which includes consumer credit and debit card services as well as connections to Vietnam’s domestic financial switch services. Just as Episode Six’s Tritium platform helps traditional banks innovate and offer digital solutions, it is also purpose-built to deliver key capabilities to virtual and digital banks. Tritium offers a multi-asset class digital wallet management system that can open gateways to card scheme processing and transfers across bank networks, including ATMs and Point of Sale (POS) devices.

John Mitchell, CEO and co-founder of Episode Six, “Episode Six is proud to be working with Galaxy FinX, which is our first partnership in Vietnam and our first with an entirely virtual bank builder in Southeast Asia.”

Mitchell added, “There is tremendous growth potential for digital-only banking in Vietnam and across Southeast Asia, where millions of consumers and small businesses remain unbanked or underbanked. Our technology is ideally suited to helping pioneers like Galaxy FinX design and deliver products that meet the needs of digitally-native customers in Vietnam and beyond.”

As a virtual-bank builder, Galaxy FinX will offer financial-service products, such as savings, lending, payments, and insurance, digitally to Vietnam’s growing consumer base. Episode Six will provide a market-tested backbone for Galaxy FinX’s card services, allowing the new company to process payments and configure products to adapt to changing market conditions. Partnering with Episode Six also gives Galaxy FinX the flexibility to grow its business and focus on customers and evolving market dynamics rather than on underlying tech developments.

Marcin Miller, CEO of Galaxy FinX, commented, “Episode Six has a proven track record of its payments technology globally and in Asia-Pacific. Vietnam is growing to become a digital economy and Episode Six’s modern cloud-based card and payment processing platform will enable us to develop better digital propositions to serve the needs of the local market and our customers.”

“We look forward to exploring opportunities with Episode Six as we continue to expand our products and services in Vietnam and across other markets in Southeast Asia in the future,” Miller adds.

Manila, Philippines – B2B tech platform Zilingo which offers commerce solutions to businesses and retailers, has launched Zilingo Digitize in the Philippines. The new solution is a cloud-based SaaS to help brands & distributors digitize their distribution needs. 

Zilingo Digitize adds to the line of product offerings of the tech platform which includes, among others, Zilingo Trade, which aims to bring a seamless process in the bulk-buying and -selling of ready-made (RMG) and made-to-order (MTO) goods as well as Zilingo Factory, an MES software for the garment industry that helps factories increase efficiency and reduce waste.

Shiela Mauricio, the platform’s country manager in the Philippines, said that Zilingo is reimagining the entire supply chain and is aggregating all parties within the same platform by offering services and software that can help businesses do better. 

“This has been the brand’s focus since day one,” Mauricio said.

Meanwhile, Dhruv Kapoor, the co-founder & CTPO of Zilingo, said that the company remains committed to bringing new tools, technology, and innovation that will unleash the entrepreneurial spirit in the Philippines, boost exports from the country and build greater supply chain transparency to reduce cost and wastage.

“With the internet and technology becoming an integral part of our lives, we see a massive opportunity to empower MSMEs across the country and Zilingo is dedicated to being a catalyst for progress and innovation,” said Kapoor. 

The platform further comments that with its direct access to raw material suppliers, manufacturers, and brands, it is able to offer MSMEs the means to achieve product quality, quantity, and availability, and better pricing models.

Singapore – SaaS cloud banking platform Mambu, which has presence in Singapore and Australia, has just recently launched a fully flexible digital solution for SME lenders that aims to cut costs and time to market.

Mambu provides banks and fintechs with loan management technology and access to an ecosystem of partners such as web-based identity authentication, credit checks, and loan origination. These partners are vital to lenders wanting to offer speedy loan approvals which has proven to be a key competitive advantage.

The new SME lending solution by Mambu is designed for fast new product launches and offers flexibility in order to quickly adapt to changes. It offers a variety of options to adjust loan conditions in order to support borrowers that are in financial difficulties. This flexibility helps clients to better serve SME companies and to release financial burdens during pandemic times.

According to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), it is estimated that there is an unmet financing need of US$5.2T every year across 65 million firms or 40% of formal MSMEs globally. At the same time, there is more pressure on SME lenders to deliver low-risk decisions quickly via a fully digital customer experience.

Elliott Limb, Mambu’s chief customer officer, shared that whether it is starting a new company or growing an existing one, there’s never been a bigger requirement for SME lenders to offer the services their customers need. 

“With Mambu’s composable approach, we provide an agile way for our clients to build and shape new financial services around the businesses they want to help,” said Limb.

Singapore – Experience management (XM) company Qualtrics has announced three new customer experience (CX) solutions, specifically designed to attract more customers and increase loyalty to businesses in the mid of a global pandemic.

First on the list is ‘Relationship Health’ which gives companies a continuously updated view of the health of their customer relationships to help them deliver more personalized experiences, improve customer loyalty, and reduce attrition. In addition, organizations can collect feedback consistently across the customer journey to get an up-to-date view of the health of their customer relationships at key milestones. 

As a result, companies can see how overall customer health impacts business metrics, such as share of wallet, so they can quickly adjust strategy. The solution also routes feedback automatically to the right teams, such as customer care or sales, and surfaces recommendations to help them take the right action at the right time.

In terms of a holistic view of an organization’s business-to-business (B2B) relationships, the new solution ‘Account-Based Relationship Diagnostic’ can help them build deeper connections and drive more revenue. Said solution combines experience data from every contact within a customer’s organization to give sales and customer success teams a complete view of the account’s overall health. 

Instead of using just one individual’s feedback as a measure, teams can understand the key drivers for the overall account based on every stakeholder’s point of view of the customer experience. The account-based approach will become the anchor for successful B2B sales and customer success teams to measure relationship risk and generate actionable insights across the entire customer journey.

Lastly, the ‘Digital Support Optimization’ helps companies deliver frictionless customer care through any digital channel. This new solution enables care teams to use feedback to uncover gaps in their digital support experiences that may lead to unhappy customers and increased use of costlier support channels. These teams will also be able to deliver better customer support experiences across digital channels such as their website, text, and automated chat to increase customer satisfaction and reduce call center traffic.

In a press statement, Qualtrics stated that the pandemic has challenged every company to respond to sudden shifts in customer expectations —from the way people want to interact with customer service to their expectations of how brands responded to the crisis.

“As we move into the post-pandemic world, the most successful companies will make their decisions by deeply connecting with their customers to understand changes in their expectations, predict future behaviors, and create great experiences, even in the face of uncertainty,” the company stated.

For Jay Choi, chief product officer at Qualtrics, companies will need to adopt an experience-first approach to customer relationships moving forward due to the fact that the past years had customer preferences and expectations evolved significantly.

“The most successful companies adapt and thrive even during disruptive times by understanding the ‘how’ and ‘why’ behind customer behaviors and using that data to proactively design and deliver the best experiences for their customers,” Choi stated.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – UOB Malaysia and its innovation accelerator arm The FinLab have recently concluded their ‘Jom Transform Programme’, in which 116 local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) received advisory and assistance in digital transformation. 

The program aimed to help improve productivity and grow their revenue to overcome the challenges brought about by the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.

Now in its second year, the program was conducted virtually on UOB’s virtual platform The FinLab Online amid physical distancing restrictions during the pandemic. The regional digital platform enabled SMEs to access online workshops, video tutorials, and webinars in digital marketing, business operations, and e-commerce.

“Through our engagement sessions last year, we found that SMEs have long considered digitalization essential to reinventing their business models. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted these businesses to accelerate their digital transformation efforts as they had to operate with strict standard operating procedures within physical restrictions,” said Wong Kim Choong, chief executive officer at UOB Malaysia.

He added, “By hosting the ‘Jom Transform Programme’ on The FinLab Online, SMEs could access our resources online easily and conveniently, progressing on their digitalization journey from the safety of their own homes and offices.”

During the implementation of the program, it found out that 60% of the participating SMEs expressed the intent to adopt digital marketing to expand their online brand presence. The remaining participants were focused on incorporating digital solutions to improve their operations and integrating e-commerce to boost their sales. 

Since its launch in 2020, The FinLab Online has enabled businesses across Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand to access and to receive guidance on their digitalization journey. In Malaysia, the Jom Transform Programme reached more SMEs outside the Klang Valley last year, including companies in Kedah, Penang, Terengganu, Perak, Johor, Sabah and Sarawak.

The Jom Transform Programme will have another run in 2021, where the first cohort will undergo a business transformation curriculum through The FinLab Online starting 18 May 2021. Interested participants may register at The FinLab website. 

Subang Jaya, Malaysia – Malaysia’s mobile service provider Digi Business has partnered with e-wallet platform Touch ‘n Go (TNG) Digital to help micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) digitalize and grow their business, equipping them with complete digital solutions, and e-wallet facilities.

The partnership seeks to address common digitalization challenges of MSMEs, providing them with the benefits of a Digi Business customer and TNG Digital merchant.

Digi Business customers who choose to onboard their business with TNG eWallet will be featured on TNG’s digital marketing channels, boosting the visibility of their business and reaching out to over 15 million Touch ‘n Go eWallet users nationwide. 

Those who will successfully sign up as a TNG merchant and take up Digi’s Penjana product will also receive an RM50 Touch ‘n Go eWallet reload PIN from Digi Business, as well as a free business starter kit from TNG Digital to kick-start and progress them along in their digitalization journey.

Meanwhile, for Touch ‘n Go eWallet merchants who choose to take up Digi Business’ all-in-one business plans, they can avail up to 30% discount off their bills and claim up to RM6,000 through the Penjana SME Digitalization Grant. Digi Business will also carry out the application process for them from beginning to end to help them focus on the operations of the business.

The customers will only need to mix and match three to five lines from Digi Business’ Postpaid, Fibre or WiFi plans to unlock the savings and get either the Digital Marketing (inclusive of AVANA Social Commerce and dSMS) or Digital Productivity Bundle (inclusive of virtual office hotline Omni and HR management system altHR) for free to be eligible for the Penjana grant.

Digi’s Chief Business Officer, Eugene Teh, commented that a robust digital ecosystem for SMEs includes having access to a fast and secure network connectivity, relevant and best-in-value digital solutions and tools, and a convenient e-wallet platform to facilitate online retail transactions.

“Through this partnership, both Digi Business and TNG Digital will be able to leverage each other’s expertise to provide well-rounded packages for the benefit of MSMEs. This further strengthens Digi Business’ commitment to being a trusted digital partner to MSMEs,” added Teh.

Meanwhile, Ignatius Ong, chief executive officer of TNG Digital, said, “We are honored to team up with Digi Business to initiate solutions for the businesses to grow and expand, leveraging on our over 15 million user base. The Touch ‘n Go eWallet is a brand many Malaysians have ingrained into their daily lives. We will ensure we continuously develop as the rakyat moves into the next era of digitalization – assisting MSMEs to grow, and making it our key focus to elevate the economy by enabling simple and impactful solutions.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Dentsu Malaysia has unified its creative line of service, Lemonade and Isobar, in an aim to enhance and scale its in-house digital experience technology solutions.

Prior to the merge, Dentsu MY tapped Lemonade’s Managing Director Ruhana DaSilva to lead the newly expanded Isobar, as Lemonade’s marketing and social commerce offerings will now reside within Isobar. She will directly report to the CEO of dentsu Malaysia Kien Eng Tan.

During DaSilva’s five years in dentsu, she has played an important role in developing partnerships and effective digital teams driving the growth of Lemonade. She managed to successfully collaborate with international brands Spotify, NBA, Estée Lauder Companies, and Abbott. 

The now expanded Isobar will become the network’s go-to-market brand for experience-led transformation for brands. Dentsu’s modern creativity offering will bring together creative, marketing, and technology services through its new ‘on-demand’ delivery model.

Commenting on her appointment, DaSilva said that with dentsu’s global transformation to simplify and deliver integrated marketing solutions that are data-driven, tech-enabled, and ideas-led, Lemonade was positioned to integrate a hyper-personalized and consumer-first approach to that of Isobar’s global digital experience as a market leader.

“From scaling a team with a variety of clients and partners from sports and entertainment, health and beauty, and more. This represents a meaningful milestone for our teams and partners as we look ahead to forge the way for the new virtual economy,” said DaSilva.

Meanwhile, Tan also commented that the merge is for clients to have easier access to end-to-end creative solutions that are driven by everything from building meaningful brands, driving end-to-end platform experiences, and to innovating products and services, and transformation consulting in an age of inclusive intelligence. 

“Customer experiences have changed in 2020, and we can only expect to see more brands shifting their focus on creating and realizing hyper-transformational customer experiences,” added Tan.