With greater digitisation across industries and new technological developments, the creative use of fintech has been gaining traction. From creating innovative data storage solutions to harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI), financial institutions are increasingly using fintech to streamline business processes and improve the customer experience.

To get the latest on fintech, we caught up with Medhy Souidi, Head of Fintech and Startup Xchange at DBS Hong Kong to share more about his fintech journey, and some of the exciting innovation initiatives he has led. Recently recognised as Asian Private Banker Technology Award’s ‘Tech Changemaker of the Year’, he also dishes valuable insights into the future of fintech in banking.

Medhy Souidi as a panellist at the DBS Asia X Creativity & Innovation Day 2019 in Singapore

Congratulations on being named Tech Changemaker of the Year by Asian Private Banker! How do you feel about the win?

Thanks a lot! I’m very fortunate to have had a long history with the tech community, so I’m truly honoured to be named Tech Changemaker of the Year. Since 2016, I have created and organised over 50 events and have helped start-ups in the community on several occasions in a variety of areas, including consultancy, marketing and product development. I am also a proud member of the Fintech Association of Hong Kong, as co-lead of the Blockchain committee and a Board Member since July 2019.

We’ve seen positive developments in the tech community that have been brought about by DBS Startup Xchange and the DBS Fintech team, with multiple proof-of-concepts and experiments with Asian start-ups, as well as the creation of new events that bring the bank, local start-ups and other members of the Tech community together. The DBS Innovation and Ecosystems team has helped make numerous fintech projects and concrete partnerships possible, more so than anyone else, and I am very fortunate and proud to have been a part of it all.

What were some highs and lows in your fintech journey?

I experienced many disappointments during my first experience in blockchain start-ups. Unfortunately, the management team made some poor decisions which eventually resulted in bankruptcy despite all the hard work the team put in. Nevertheless, I didn’t let that stop me. I eventually joined the DBS Innovation team, which has since proved to be a great decision. Besides having the amazing opportunity to lead numerous projects in the technology sphere, I also had the opportunity to speak at several major industry events such as RISE, the Asian Financial Forum and Hong Kong Fintech Week, and have been able to produce some cool videos to demystify fintech and spread awareness on exciting developments in the field.

Tell us more about some of the exciting fintech initiatives you’ve led in DBS the past year.

DBS participated in Hong Kong Fintech Week in 2019 and RISE 2019. At Fintech Week 2019, we had the opportunity to meet over 8,000 attendees and over 150 exhibitors. We were able to showcase our products at the event where we announced the launch of our fully virtual wealth management account opening product and conducted a live demonstration of the Startup Xchange.

We were also able to spotlight Startup Xchange during a Demo Day last year, where we showcased success stories to external parties, key clients, potential ecosystem partners, the media and the rest of the start-up community.

DBS also held an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Pitch Night, where five fintech start-ups were invited to demonstrate their products and services to an audience of over 120 DBS employees from various divisions in the bank. The event’s main aim was to spotlight start-ups with expertise in the AI space, as we believe that such technology is highly relevant to solving a myriad of business challenges that business units and the banking industry face.

The team has also promoted the DBS brand as speakers at over 40 industry events and has run numerous workshops to drive innovation and ecosystem partnerships. We have also actively sponsored several key fintech events and initiatives, including Startup Impact Summit, RISE, Hong Kong Fintech week Hackathon, the MIT Fintech Bootcamp and the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s (CUHK) MSc Fintech Scholarship. These have all been delightful experiences for us and we look forward to more events in future.

The 36-hour Hong Kong Fintech Week Hackathon 2019 by DBS, WHub and Hong Kong Export Credit Insurance Corporation (HKECIC)

That’s awesome! And how has the development of Startup Xchange in Hong Kong been so far?

Startup Xchange has seen exceedingly promising progress in Hong Kong so far, with a number of successful proof-of-concepts (POC). One such example is the project between Perx Technologies and DBS’ Consumer Banking Group which culminated in an e-Stamp Loyalty Card for consumer’s mobile wallets. Not only does this card provide consumers with instant rewards, improving the customer experience for deposit activities through instant gratification, it also helps to keep DBS top-of-mind and drive the adoption of other digital bank initiatives.

Another successful POC is the project between Perfios and DBS’ Risk Management Group, which focused on using AI Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to extract transactions from customer-uploaded statements. This helped to streamline the SME digibank underwriting and Electronic Know Your Customer (eKYC) process.

What are some exciting developments for Startup Xchange in Hong Kong we can look forward to this year?

We’re excited to embark on a regional project between the Startup Xchange teams in Singapore and Hong Kong, which will feature the roll-out of numerous innovation projects such as Face Your Future with the Bancassurance teams. The project will first be launched in Hong Kong before we roll it out regionally.

We’re also working on some innovative solutions, including a project with the Prototyping Team in India to support our business units, as well as a project which leverages on Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology to support our human resources team in Hong Kong. We will continue to leverage emerging technology in both the AI and data spheres to support our various business units in their efforts to reach their customer, revenue, transaction or lead targets this year. By optimising these processes, we hope to not only improve performance across the bank but also to consistently innovate to stay ahead of the curve.

Medhy Souidi (first from right) at the Hong Kong Fintech Week Hackathon 2019

As the fintech space continues to thrive and grow, do you foresee us facing any challenges in the next five years?

Nothing is more exciting than AI development, especially in both the banking industry and the fintech space. However, we do face some challenges when integrating AI into the business. The complexity of the ever-evolving field of technology makes technological awareness crucial; beyond looking to new technologies, we must also keep in mind the benefits of solving a problem through existing solutions in the market. For larger organisations, both the lack of standardisation and risk management can be potential hurdles when implementing AI solutions.

As AI solutions often involve the adoption of a new operating model, it is not only critical but also challenging to embrace this change and convince internal stakeholders. External collaboration can also make it hard to fully realise the potential of new initiatives and it is incredibly important to get both the public and corporate partners on board in collaborating with the bank. The nature of the regulatory environment may also pose challenges to the implementation of AI solutions and may make it difficult to not only develop these solutions but also maximise their potential.

Do you think banks and fintechs are more of competitors or collaborators? Where do you think tech companies come into play here?

Although banks have sometimes viewed fintechs as competitors and questioned their role in a highly regulated environment, they are now broadly recognised by financial institutions as valuable partners for the future.

The advantages of partnerships between financial institutions and fintechs go both ways. For big banks, access to emerging technology and innovative new ways of working could help boost their competitive edge and swiftly meet changing consumer needs. Meanwhile, for fintechs, partnering with large financial institutions can support their growth ambitions, opening up access to a larger capital and a pool of potential customers that could far outstrip what they could build alone. With these benefits in mind, some fintechs may want to explore how they can establish a relationship with a banking partner.

As banks and fintechs continue to innovate, the potential benefits that partnerships can bring will only become more attractive. For fintechs that are keen to collaborate, carefully developing a sound partnership strategy — one that focuses on mutual goals — will give them the best chance of success.

Medhy Souidi is the Head of Fintech at DBS Hong Kong and manages the DBS Startup Xchange programme. He is also board member of the Fintech Association of Hong Kong and the founder and producer of the social media series WhatTheFinTech, a series of short videos offering insight, news and views on FinTech and the latest innovations. Medhy was named Fintech Change Maker of the Year by the Asian Private Banker and named by global Fintech hub LATTICE80 as one of 50 top Fintech influencers in Hong Kong. DBS Startup Xchange is a fintech programme run by the DBS Innovation team designed to foster partnerships with fintech start-ups to co-create real solutions and bring emerging technologies to the bank.