Qorus announced the winners of its inaugural Qorus Reinvention Awards – Asia Pacific (APAC) during a live ceremony in Bangkok.
These regional awards shine the spotlight on the best ideas and practices transforming the financial services industry in Asia Pacific. They are a spin-off of Qorus’s long-running Banking Innovation Awards and Innovation in Insurance Awards, which collectively attracted more than 800 entries in their 2023 editions. For the first-time, applicants to both these programs can qualify for acknowledgment on a regional stage too.
“We know there is a proliferation of noteworthy innovation happening on the ground in Asia Pacific, and we want to acknowledge and get closer to this cutting-edge work,” says John Berry, CEO at Qorus. “Launching regional awards programs was a natural next step after 10-years of running our global awards programs.”
Michael Grover, regional director for Asia Pacific at Qorus concurs, “The groundswell of support by financial services players in the region has been extremely encouraging, and we want to make these awards even bigger and better in 2023.”
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The winners of the Qorus Reinvention Awards – APAC 2023 are:
• Bank Central Asia (Indonesia) – was named APAC Innovator of the Year. The bank’s Asia’s relentless commitment to innovation across its organisation has fuelled the company’s strong growth and impressive technology capabilities. Recent innovations include the Tolak Dengan Anggun (Reject Fraud Elegantly) fraud awareness programme, the Kredit Multiguna Usaha (KMU) multipurpose loan for SMEs, and the Cash Flow, Current Account and Saving Account Analysis (ANDREA) tool for improving the assessment of loan applications. Runners-up in silver and bronze place were Standard Chartered (Singapore and India) and Aflac (Japan), respectively.
• Income Insurance Limited (Singapore) – received the Customer Experience award for ‘Snack’. This is a lifestyle app to strengthen its presence among digitally savvy consumers. Snack users earn insurance and investment credits by spending at a wide range of affiliated merchants and service providers. They can also make small, incremental contributions to boost their investment funds and extend their insurance cover. Income reports that Snack has attracted more than 100,000 users. Runners-up in silver and bronze place were HSBC (Hong Kong - SAR) for ‘An Insight-led Customer Selection Engine’ and AIA (Hong Kong - SAR) for ‘Super App: A Game-Changing Customer Experience’, respectively.
• Bank CIMB Niaga (Indonesia) – received the Distribution award for ‘OCTO Loan’. This innovation is extending financial inclusivity in Indonesia by offering a Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) product that is accepted by the country’s retailers. The banks’ OCTO loan facility allows customers to access credit when shopping at local stores. BNPL facilities in Indonesia were previously limited to online ecommerce transactions. Runners-up in silver and bronze place were Bank of Ayudhya - Krungsri Bank (Thailand) for ‘Krungsri The COACH: Revolutionizing Financial Inclusion Through Digital Transformation for Exceptional Customer Empowerment’ and Maybank (Malaysia) for ‘MAE by Maybank2u App’, respectively.
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• Alliance Bank (Malaysia) – received the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) award for ‘Sustainability Assistance Programme’. The programme, backed by capital market regulator Bursa Malaysia, the Malaysia Green Technology Corporation and the local network of the United Nations Global Compact, helps companies establish sustainable businesses. It has already boosted the institution’s sustainable banking business and advanced its promotion of ESG in Malaysia. Runners-up in silver and bronze place were Allianz Partners (Singapore) for ‘Electric Vehicle Ecosystem’ and BDO Unibank (Philippines) for ‘BDO’s Blue Bond Issuance’, respectively.
• Bajaj Allianz (India) – received the New Ways of Working award for ‘SkillSity – BAGIC’s Universe of Learning’. To encourage continuous learning among its employees and improve the effectiveness of its instruction, Bajaj Allianz has developed a sophisticated digital learning platform. Its SkillSity platform uses artificial intelligence (AI) to deliver personalized, flexible and intuitive instruction that addresses a wide range of subjects. Users can access the platform using a variety of communications channels. It gives them access to extensive internal and external knowledge repositories. Runners-up in silver and bronze place were Cathay Financial Holdings (Taiwan) for ‘Cathay Digital Bar - Empower You’ and DBS Group (Singapore) for ‘Future Ready Workforce’, respectively.
• 10Life (Hong Kong - SAR) – received the New & Transformed Players award for ‘10Life Insurance Product Decoder’. This online platform enables consumers to compare insurance products. It uses data analytics together with assessments from its team of actuaries and insurance specialists to evaluate around 1,000 products, including medical insurance, critical illness cover, savings and annuities, from more than 50 companies. Around two million consumers used the platform to connect with insurers last year. Runners-up in silver and bronze place were Trust Bank (Singapore) for ‘Trust Bank Digital Bank’ and Digital Agriculture Services (Australia) for ‘Portfolio Geospatial Tool, respectively.
• Bank Indonesia (Indonesia) – received the Operational Efficiency award for ‘Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS)’. The central bank has improved the efficiency of cross-border transactions with the introduction of a QR code digital payments channel. The Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS) payments facility enables fast, efficient and secure transfers between organisations in Indonesia and their counterparts in other countries. Developed with the Indonesian Payment System Association, local companies and various other central banks, the QRIS channel is expected to boost trade and bolster Indonesia’s economy. Runners-up in silver and bronze place were United Overseas Bank (Singapore) for ‘Advanced Cash-in-Transit Planning Application’ and Bajaj Allianz (India) for ‘Anveshak’, respectively.
• Commonwealth Bank of Australia (Australia) – was named SME Bank of the Year. The bank is supporting the country’s extensive SME sector by providing small businesses with a wide range of tailored products and services. The bank recently launched its PayTo facility, which allows SMEs to collect payments in real time, and introduced a cashflow dashboard to its CommBank mobile app that enables business account holders to see monthly cash movements. The bank will soon add its Daily QI business insights dashboard to the CommBank app to help SMEs improve the performance of their businesses. CBA has also developed a range of green finance packages to encourage small businesses to invest in energy-efficient equipment. Runners-up in silver and bronze place were National Bank of Australia (Australia) and Union Bank of the Philippines (Philippines), respectively.
“These awards play a critical role at the center of industry innovation by recognizing and rewarding the best and brightest ideas so others can learn and grow,” said John Berry, Qorus CEO. “No financial services player can afford to stand still with the rate of disruption ever increasing. I am delighted that this year’s submissions show just how the industry in markets like Asia Pacific have too responded and embraced this challenge with fervour. I can’t wait to see to celebrate with European innovators at the Qorus Reinvention Awards - Europe in March 2024! ”
Qorus members can access a complete feature including a detailed presentation of all the winners here
