|
Faced with
unprecedented challenges of adapting to operational
and supply chain changes overnight, remote customer
acquisition and economic uncertainty, going digital
is right back at the top of the agenda for
businesses and corporates in Asia Pacific.
Rewind a year and businesses were still in the early
stages of their digital journey with less than one
in four (24.8 percent) large businesses in the
region having a clearly defined digital strategy,
despite most recognising the
importance of digital
transformation to improve their ability to survive
and thrive.
So where do we stand now with business digital
transformation? The DBS/East & Partners second
“Digital Treasurer” benchmarking research is out.
Businesses Are Making Strides in Their Digital
Transformation Journey
As businesses reshape their overall business
strategy in response to the Covid pandemic, taking
into account the shift in customer behaviour, supply
chain disruptions, business model opportunities and
operational continuity, they are having to take a
step back and reassess their roadmaps. Many
businesses are reporting a shift in their priorities
and resources for the digital roadmap itself.
Despite these challenges, a larger proportion of
businesses in Asia Pacific now have a clearly
defined digital strategy relative to a year ago,
according to insights research conducted by East &
Partners for the DBS Digital Treasurer Index II.
This figure has grown by 7.7 percent to reach 26.2
percent. At the same time, there is a material drop
in the proportion of businesses with no strategy,
falling from 25.1 percent a year ago to 18.7
percent. Taken together, these highlight an
accelerating growth in digital strategy development
among businesses in the region.
Current
State of Digital Roadmap Development
% of businesses
Source: East & Partners insights research for DBS’ Digital Treasurer Index II – H1 2020 (N count = 1,686)
Changing ROIs of Digital Investment
Reducing cost and improving efficiencies in the long
run have always been the emphasis in many business
cases for digitisation. But increasingly, enhancing
customer experience is rising as a key driver and
for good reason. Having a user friendly and seamless
digital platform is now integral to ensuring
business continuity, especially when direct
interactions with customers are becoming
increasingly remote.
In fact, improving customer experience has been
highlighted as the greatest ROI from investing in
technology solutions by treasuries in the region,
alongside reducing cost. Perhaps unsurprisingly, our
research suggests that middle-market enterprises
stand to benefit more relative to the larger
corporates when it comes to customer experience
enhancement, levelling the playing field for market
participants.
“Cost efficiencies
were where we began developing business cases
together for digitisation investments but we’ve
actually found lots of other benefits that flow, in
particular making our customers more sticky and
spending more with us.”
- Treasurer, US$2.5Bn, Hong Kong Regional Hotel
Group
Key Returns to Investment
Rating on a 1-5 scale, with 1= high return and 5=no
return at all
Source: East & Partners insights research for DBS’ Digital Treasurer Index II – H1 2020 (N count = 1,686)
Where Are Businesses
Investing in Treasury Services?
There has also been a shift in
treasury investment focus. Cash management
digitisation has initially led treasury digitisation
in the region, as evidenced by the higher level of
automation reported in cash management for large
Asian businesses relative to other functions such as
trade and supply chain financing, cross-border
payments & FX, and risk & compliance reporting.
But now, businesses seem to
have already eked out efficiencies in their cash
management operations and looking to digitise their
physical and financial supply chains. This is
particularly prominent in Malaysia, India, Japan,
Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Indonesia where a
majority of businesses are investing in new
technology solutions related to trade and supply
chain financing.
“We’ve
currently got 3 supply chain funding and management
development projects happening which will then drive
a redevelopment of our cross-border payment
operations.”
-
Treasurer, US$1.4Bn, Malaysian
Importer/Exporter
Top Investment Area
for Each Market
% of businesses
Source: East &
Partners insights research for DBS’ Digital
Treasurer Index II – H1 2020
What is your
experience implementing digitisation projects in
your organisation? What is the most valuable
learning point that helped you along your journey?
We'd like to hear your thoughts and opinions, get in
touch with us below.
On behalf of DBS, we are delighted to provide you
with access to an interactive benchmarking tool,
where yo u can find out how your organisation
measures up against your peers in digital readiness.
Upon completion of the tool, you will receive an
assessment of your digital readiness via 4 core
digital values. Kindly access the benchmarking tool
here:
https://treasuryprism.dbs.com/digitaltreasurer
|
