Private banks in Asia are investing more in omni-channel delivery following the maturation of technology security and compliance, according to consulting firm OneAston.

“We see a trend of private banks investing more towards their channels due to the technology being more mature and secure,” Dave White, CEO at OneAston, told Asian Private Banker.

In particular, private banks are increasingly delivering services via smartphones and tablets to Asia’s tech-savvy clientele, from communication channels — such as instant messaging and video chat — to advisory, trade execution, and client onboarding.

“A large number of the projects we undertake are compliance-related, of which we receive a constant flow, and we would expect this trend to continue in the years to come,” said White.

Despite the uptrend of omni-channel delivery, White is sceptical that the strategy will become prevalent when it comes to trading as the stringent suitability checks involved will likely dent customer experience.

“It is uncertain as to whether transaction automation will be a huge success within private banking because — for compliance reasons — the banks require full pre-trade control and it is hard to satisfy compliance checks without impacting the user experience,” explained White.

Although most in the private banking industry agree that multi-channel delivery is a promising way to attract the next generation of HNWIs, the features offered by private banks’ online platforms have some ways to go. A 2018 survey conducted by the Private Wealth Management Association (PWMA) and KPMG China revealed that just over half (54%) of respondents believe the industry’s digital capabilities do not meet clients’ expectations.

Nonetheless, White is optimistic that private banks’ heightened efforts in exploring omni-channel technology will result in the improvement of customer satisfaction.

“You do start to see more effort and money being put into channel delivery, so I think there will be ongoing evolution from a technology point of view,” concluded White.

OneAston has been selected as the implementation partner by the Bank of Montreal for their Temenos T24 implementation in Singapore and Hong Kong. As an existing user of Triple’A Plus, Bank of Montreal will be replacing their existing core banking system with T24 adopting the integrated WealthSuite strategy of Temenos.

With a targeted live date of August 2017, T24 will be implemented as the core transaction processing, settlement and accounting solution of the Private Bank. It will be linked to Triple’A Plus which will perform the client onboarding, order capture and collateral management functions, together with the detailed client reporting. The combined solution will cover the wide range of investment products offered by the Private Bank and will improve the operational efficiency moving forward.

As an existing service provider of the Bank of Montreal for the Triple’A solution, and with their detailed knowledge of the T24 application, OneAston was chosen as the prime implementation partner working together with the Bank of Montreal and Temenos teams to ensure the successful deployment of the solution. OneAston will be responsible for providing the business consultancy, integration and system configuration of the combined solution.

One Aston, which historically provides value added function and services to leading industry software platforms and in-house solutions across the wealth management and corporate banking markets, is extending its activities through a new BI and Big Data subsidiary named BGFI*.

Our intervention will cover the complete BI & Big data scope, from audit and recommendations, to the implementation of tailor-made solutions. Collaborating with certified experts, with a deep understanding of the analytics environment, we guide our clients in implementing the most appropriate solution to meet their needs.

Our expertise is also reinforced by the extension of our historical partnership with one of the markets leader in the software edition industry: IBM Cognos. Partner since 2002, and extended as a Platinum partnership, IBM has decided to go beyond the European border and to keep collaborating with BGFi and OneAston to export its solution through our offer to the Asian market.

Furthermore, thanks to a comprehensive solution built from a new partnership in APAC with Alteryx on Data Preparation, combined with our certification in Tableau Software, we have developed an Advanced Analytics offer, from preparation to Data visualisation, adapted from startups to SME.

Sebastien Peyron and Arnaud Berrier are leading this packaged service through our new Analytics department in Asia, as respectively Technical Leader and Business Development Manager.

For more information visit OneAston Analytics

The Asian-Pacific region has passed both North America and Europe as having the largest HNWI population as outlined in the latest Wealth Report as published by Cap Gemini. It is expected to overtake North America's in HNWI wealth in 2016 and Asia-Pacific to continue to expand more in than any other region of the world. The region is home to many of the fastest emerging economies, such as China, India, Thailand and Indonesia, but it in particular being fueled by the grow of China and India. China and India represent nearly 10% of global HNWI wealth, and account for 17% of the global increase in new wealth since 2006.

With our corporate head office based in Singapore and offices in Hong Kong, Australia and the Philippines, OneAston is established as an Asian based company dedicated to the delivery of quality wealth management solutions. As an Asian company, employing local staff and working with both local and international banks in the region, OneAston has a solid understanding of the local markets.

Having undertaken missions in the Middle East and our experience in Islamic wealth management solutions, OneAston will be opening its presence to Dubai by Q1 2017 to service the growing wealth market in the region.