Aon Hewitt shares Malaysia perspective for Total Compensation Measurement study

Aon Hewitt, the global talent, retirement and health solutions business of Aon, has released the latest trends and insights from its Total Compensation Measurement (TCM) 2015 Study. Global TCM is Aon Hewitt's comprehensive compensation benchmarking study that covers 25,000 positions across 180 countries.

Salary increase by industry sector in Malaysia

While gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to increase from 3.1% in 2015 to 3.6% in 2016 globally, the economic climate closer to home is a crucial element when making decisions related to employee rewards. Within Southeast Asia (SEA), Philippines and Vietnam experienced the highest growth in 2015 at 6% and 6.5% respectively and are projected to continue to enjoy the highest growth in 2016. Indonesia witnessed the highest consumer price index (CPI) at 6.8% in SEA year on year whereas Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam show a moderate CPI. Philippines has the highest unemployment rate at 6.3% in 2015¹.

The implementation of the goods and services tax (GST), drastic depreciation in the ringgit, and declining commodity prices were some of the factors affecting Malaysia's economy this year. Malaysia experienced a decline in GDP to 4.7% in 2015 and a projection of 4.5% in 2016, a slightly reduced CPI at 2.4% in 2015 and a projection of 3.8% in 2016, and a slightly increased unemployment rate at 3.0% in 2015 and 2016¹.

In this context, the Aon Hewitt salary survey shows stability with salary increases for 2015 at 5.6% and a projected increment of 5.8% in 2016². Prashant Chadha, Managing Director of Aon Hewitt in Malaysia said: "With a rocky 2015 and shrinking budgets, organisations must make rewards decisions not just with reliable data but also driven by the bigger picture and economic climate. Best Employers pair their rewards decisions with other aspects like performance, careers, culture, diversity, etc. to further strengthen their total rewards approach in line with employee value proposition."

Aon Hewitt Total Compensation Measurement indicates that overall salary increments in 2015 and projected salary increment in 2016 remain relatively consistent across all employee categories whereas variable payouts (performance bonus) increased slightly in 2015 to about two to three months of annual base salary and are projected to remain stable in 2016. The Aon Hewitt 2015-2016 Malaysia Salary Increase Survey shows higher salary increase projections across most industries in 2016³.

Malaysia recorded the second highest involuntary turnover rate at 6% and third highest voluntary turnover rate at 9.5% in SEA this year. The Aon Hewitt TCM 2015 Survey in Malaysia shows the correlation between voluntary attrition reasons and retention measures, the top three being: "better external opportunity", "further studies" and "work life balance" while key measures taken to attract and retain employees are "pay above market", "improved work life balance" and "timely and meaningful feedback from managers"3.

Nur Amani Yusnida, Aon Hewitt Performance, Reward and Talent Practice Lead in Malaysia said: "With salaries and increases remaining stable since 2011 (average increase of 5.7% over the past five years) employers are taking the 'wait and see' cautious approach to budgeting salaries. The consistent theme seems to be 'doing more with less', optimising costs wherever possible. Voluntary turnover is trending down this year at 9.5% from 12.2% in 2014 reflecting the volatility and instability of the market conditions in Malaysia."

In addition, Aon Hewitt's recently launched Hot Topic Survey provides insights on how organisations are reacting to the recent economic environment impacting both employers and employees in Malaysia. The study reveals that the highest impact of the current economic environment on organisations comes from the depreciation of the ringgit followed by the implementation of GST. The recent road toll hike also has a significantly negative impact on employees. However, employees view the minimum wage increment and increased salary cap for Social Security Organisation (SOCSO) eligibility that was proposed in the 2016 Budget as positive.

To cope with higher living costs, 22% of organisations indicated their plans of providing higher salary increases than initially budgeted for and 7% of organisations are providing a one-off salary adjustment. Nearly half (47%) of organisations have revised their benefits programmes in the last two years, particularly the medical limits and mileage claims. About eight in 10 (76%) of organisations reported an increase in medical claims and almost three quarters (72%) indicated an increase in medical leave following the recent haze issue⁴.

Surendran Ramanathan, Aon Hewitt Southeast Asia Retirement and Investment Practice Lead said: "The current economic environment has adversely impacted both employer and employees, companies are facing budget constraints whilst employees are expecting to cope with the increase cost of living. Therefore companies should ensure their rewards dollars are spent more prudently to get the biggest bang for the buck."

Prashant  emphasised: "Based on our Best Employers Research and through numerous CEO and HR directors' interviews we note that, while organisations optimise costs, employees must continue to strive, and high performers will not only benefit from pay for performance but also from other career-linked total rewards to ensure retention and alignment to business goals."

The Aon Hewitt Best Employers - Malaysia 2015 Country Report shows that 78% of Best Employers combine structured, formal recognition programmes with manager-driven recognition as opposed to market average of only 40%. The study also revealed that Best Employers compensate their high performers 21% higher than their average performers. This differentiation results in higher employee perception in terms of recognition and performance impact on pay5.
The Best Employers have also shown their strength across all four pillars of Best Employers, specifically in high employee engagement, compelling employer brand, effective leadership and a high performance culture. The Best Employers enjoy 38% higher income than market average, attain 50% better growth in profits than market average and have filled 38% more job openings internally compared to market average.

Gap between rhetoric and reality in Malaysia organisations

1 International Monetary Fund (IMF)
2 Aon Hewitt 2015-2016 Global Salary Increase Survey
3 Aon Hewitt Total Compensation Measurement
4 Aon Hewitt Hot Topic Survey, November 2015. SOCSO provides social security protection to employees and their dependents through social security schemes to improve the employees' social wellbeing.
5 Aon Hewitt Best Employers -- Malaysia 2015 Country Report

Visa and Kaligo.com partner to help business travellers

Visa and Kaligo.com, a global hotel booking platform that rewards frequent travellers with thousands of airline miles or credit card points on every booking, has announced an alliance to help businesses with their hotel bookings. 

Kaligo Business Plus provides small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with a travel tool that enables them to earn rewards, reduce costs and manage travel expenses. The rewards-centric hotel booking solution provides Visa and card issuers with product differentiation, deeper SME engagement and greater travel policy compliance.

The benefits for SMEs are compelling:

Delight employees - Reward business travellers with thousands of attractive miles and points on their hotel bookings, so they can fly for free on their next holiday
Reduce travel spend - Easily set daily rate limits by city and by employee category, reflecting the desired travel policy
Get insights - Quickly view reports to see the entire company's booking activity in one place, and export data to feed into other SME tools for accounting or analysis
Boost policy compliance - Leverage Kaligo's rich rewards to drive more spend compliance on the Visa commercial card

More SMEs are now moving away from relying on traditional travel agents and allowing their staff to book their own travel. These frequent travellers - business executives, sales representatives, those who travel regularly for work - whom Kaligo is targeting. In a study commissioned by Visa and conducted by RFi Group, it is estimated that between 3% and 5% of all business expenses are on travel*.

Kaligo Business Plus makes it convenient to find the ideal business hotel with tailored review scores and special filters for business travellers. Companies can easily configure travel policies and realise cost savings. In just a few clicks, an administrator can create employee profiles within the company's Kaligo Business Plus account. Tracking company spend by employee category or team is easy with real-time dashboards and reports.

Vikram Kshettry, Head of Small Business Products, Asia Pacific of Visa said, "We are very pleased to partner with Kaligo. The tailored Kaligo Business Plus proposition drives key benefits for issuers, Visa and SMEs. This exclusive offer to Visa cardholders provides cost savings for companies and convenience for business travellers. We will be working with over 60 Visa issuers in Asia Pacific to communicate and promote Kaligo Business Plus to their eligible Visa cardholders."

Kyle Armstrong, CEO of Kaligo.com said, "We are delighted to work with Visa on this initiative. The combination of Kaligo's broad inventory of 365,000 hotels, our wide range of rewards programme options and Visa's extensive reach that connects consumers, businesses and financial institutions in more than 200 markets to fast, secure and reliable electronic payments, yields compelling benefits for SMEs. Our offering allows SMEs to reduce their travel spend, gain powerful insights and boost policy compliance."

"We are delighted to be the first bank to partner with VISA and support their collaboration with Kaligo to launch Kaligo Business Plus. Citibank's VISA Commercial Cards clients in Singapore will benefit from Kaligo's hotel booking solution that allows them to better manage their corporate travel needs and at the same time, earn reward points of up to 25 times faster which can be used to redeem hotel stays and flights among other attractive offers," said John Denhof, Head of Cards and Personal Loans at Citibank Singapore.

*The Visa SME Payments Survey 2015 was conducted by RFi Group with close to 1,000 companies interviewed in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Finetune marketing strategies with native mobile strategies for Asia-Pacific

The right marketing strategy can help technology companies engage buyers earlier and more effectively, says Sinead Woodley, Managing Director UK, April Six, a digital marketing agency.

"Technology has changed the possible. Use it to your advantage," she said, speaking in Singapore at the official launch of April Six in Asia Pacific.

She described EMEA-wide campaigns for VMware, "marketing to people who don't want to be marketed to", or IT practitioners. April Six consistently surpassed the pipeline targets given, delivering better than 1:20 ROI (1 US dollar invested resulting in 20 dollars of revenue) each year, she shared, despite the stakes being raised higher in years two and three.

Some of the success factors for the VMware campaigns, Woodley said, included using a blended inbound and outbound strategy*, a single go-to-market strategy based on a year even though budgets arrived quarterly, aligning the approach to the buyer journey, and marketing automation.

Brad Harris, Managing Director APAC, April Six, said that April Six plans to bring similar campaigns to the Asia Pacific region, localised for the audience. He explained that April Six will work with Splash Interactive and DWA to deliver on campaigns in the region. He also shared that the company plans to move into Shanghai in 2016, and to Jakarta and Bangalore in 2017.

Aryeh Sternberg, APAC Head of Intent Marketing, DWA, a marketing agency, shared a list of marketing tips during the event:

No. 10 was "know your audience", as the more you know, the more you can engage them, while No. 8 was the related "look" to really see what the target audience is doing. No. 5 was also related, being about content that fits the individual, rather than assuming "one size fits all". No. 2 boiled down to relevance, also related, while in No. 1 was meaning and value. "You need to deliver something that people want. Remember, it is not about you, it is about your audience," he stressed.

He also shared ways to improve marketing strategies:

Extend rich content
Sternberg noted that many companies stop creating a single piece of content without thinking of repurposing it. A webinar, for example, can be turned into a podcast, while the transcribed text can be shared on social media.



Consider more channels
Sternberg shared that for one campaign it was found that the target audience read four magazines in different verticals. The key is to contact them when and where they prefer.

Dynamic messaging
A given audience is not homogeneous, so messaging has to change depending on who it is directed at.

Support mobility, and video
Mobile web and app platforms are still underutilised, he said, while video is popular.

Use data in new ways
There is technology today that shows which part of an advertisement a person looks at most, for example.



Kuok Ming, CEO, Splash Interactive, a digital marketing agency, echoed Sternberg in saying that mobility and video are important in the "mobile-first" Asia Pacific (APAC) region. Nine of the top 25 most mobile countries are in this region, with 600 million in China alone. Quoting eMarketer figures, he said Indonesia will have 69.4 million smartphone users by 2017, while Japan will already have 61.2 million smartphone users by 2016.

"User behaviour, expectations and access to the Internet are governed by attributes of smartphones and mobile data services," he said.

Kuok also showed a screen capture of a ZTE phone with 4GB of RAM on sale on local e-commerce site Lazada for just S$60 to prove how low prices can go today."The cost of entry is going down," he explained.

Kuok said the logical conclusion is to go for mobile engagements, agreeing with Sternberg. "Mobile video is the next big thing," he said, urging the audience to consider "mobile-first" customers when 84 million of the 100 million Facebook users in India use mobile to access Facebook, and over 60% of the purchases made on China's Taobao and Tmall were from mobile. "E-commerce is going mobile."

Another tip, Kuok said, is to add WeChat to a marketing strategy. The app has 570 million active users daily. "Official accounts are an unobtrusive way to engage," he said.

Pitfalls, Kuok said, include thinking "desktop-first", assuming the desktop work can be tweaked for mobile later. Such strategies completely bypass unique features of mobile, including location-based services and face recognition from the phone camera. "A mobile version is not mobile-first," he emphasised. "Mobile friendly is not native."

Interested?

Read about VMware and April Six

*Outbound marketing refers to traditional marketing channels such as broadcast, print publications, direct mail, out of home advertising, and event sponsorships. Digital forms of these channels such as email blasts, banner ads, and pay-per-click ads are also considered outbound. Inbound marketing, on the other hand, provides content about a company through blogs, podcasts, a corporate video channel, e-books, e-newsletters, whitepapers, and search engine optimisation. SEO, physical products, social media marketing, and other forms of content marketing which serve to attract customers through the different stages of the purchase funnel.

Kitaab starts first crowdfunding campaign

Source: Kitaab website.

Kitaab, which means “book” in many Asian languages, is moving to the next phase of its evolution with crowdfunding on Indiegogo. The literary project was founded in 2005 to empower and connect Asian writers with readers globally. Since then, it "has filled a major void in the online literary scene in Asia by creating a link-based information storehouse where the most important stories on Asian writers and writing were curated", says Zafar Anjum, its founder and a well-known author.

"Over the years, Kitaab has evolved into a much larger project that encompasses publishing and e-commerce to serve the same community of writers, readers, publishers and agents worldwide. Run by 15 voluntary editors who sit in different parts of the world, Kitaab provides a global writing and publishing platform to emerging and seasoned writers in Asia and abroad," he said. 

Kitaab began publishing in 2013, presenting original/translated contemporary literature in English and Asian languages. It is also getting recognised in the region, most recently as the media partner of the Hyderabad Literary Festival in India. 

"Two of Kitaab's titles were launched at this year's Singapore Literary Festival. Kitaab will publish three books by (Singapore) Cultural Medallion winner Isa Kamari in 2016, including the Malay writer's first novel written in English. Kitaab has also bought the Hindi/Urdu translation rights of Isa Kamari's pathbreaking Malay novel, Intercession," Anjum said. "We will be acquiring more Asian titles for translation." 

Anjum hopes that the crowdfunding campaign will raise up to US$10,000 to help Kitaab to curate better content and provide an improved user experience. "Those who will support Kitaab in this first-ever fundraising campaign will be rewarded with various perks, ranging from thank you notes from editors to signed copies of books to specially designed tote bags and even mentions on the Kitaab website as a patron," he said. 

So far, nearly more than 1,300 people have supported Kitaab’s appeal on Facebook, Anjum said. "We seek your help and cooperation to make our maiden fundraising - our first in ten years - a success," he said. 

Interested?

Contribute to or share the details of the crowdfunding campaign

Read the WorkSmart Asia blog post on Anjum's book Startup Capitals

The many ways to jumpstart innovation internally at TRA

Source: TRA.

The General Authority for Regulating the Telecommunications Sector (TRA) has launched initiatives to spur innovation internally. Employees now have more channels to share their ideas and contribute effectively to the development process.

TRA Abu Dhabi and Dubai headquarters host the Idea for Tomorrow initiative, which includes boards on all floors to enable employees to share their ideas in an easy, accessible way. TRA’s Innovation Committee will shortlist ideas that may contribute effectively to enhancing its services, working environment and the telecommunications sector.

Additionally, TRA also organised workshops that aim at introducing employees to the innovation framework and fostering its concept and vitality, in addition to training workshop’s participants on implementing innovative concepts and using innovation as an approach to solving all problems. The workshops introduced innovation best practices and techniques, in addition to brainstorming methods, defining constraints that affect innovation and ways to overcome them. Employees learned to develop decision-making methodology and enhanced goal prioritisation through creating an environment that enables and encourages innovative thinking.

TRA further launched the Interactive Innovation Gate which is an interactive internal network that enables employees to share their ideas with their colleagues. TRA believes that motivation play a vital role in the success of any initiative, and will incentivise the best innovative ideas with awards. Ideas will be assessed on how they contribute to TRA’s development, how effectively they lead to the development of new services, and whether they increase TRA’s income.

HE Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, UAE TRA Director General, stated: “These initiatives reflect our strategic approach and shed the light on the restless efforts that we exert to fuel our employees’ innovative spirit by creating an environment that spurs innovation. The next seven years will be more challenging as they are going to achieve a quantum leap in UAE’s future. In light of this, we have to unite our efforts to encourage youth and motivate them to unleash their ideas through integrating them in the decision making process.”

Ahmed Al Falasi, TRA Human Resources (HR) Manager, stated “TRA adopts an innovative development strategy that is based on encouraging creative thinking, and improving employee’s leadership skills and confidence through integrating them into the development process and paying great attention to their ideas and opinions. TRA believes that the comprehensive innovative system that UAE is building has to be led by innovative leaders who are capable of facing future challenging, therefor, our HR strategy focuses on developing our employees’ leadership skills.”

Source: TRA. HE Al Mansoori inaugurated TRA’s Innovation Center at the TRA Dubai headquarters, in the presence of HE Ibrahim Abdul Malik Mohamed, the General Authority for Youth and Sports Welfare Secretary General. 

UAE Innovation Week witnessed the launch of TRA's Center of Innovation on November 23. The centre provides an environment that spurs innovation through rooms that can be rearranged for ad hoc brainstorming sessions in addition to small business meetings.

The centre also features a smart library that will contribute to enriching employees’ knowledge and broadening their horizons. The books, in English and Arabic, include Flashes of Thought and My Vision by HH Sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashid, in addition to other ICT-related books and publications. The library covers scientific and cultural topics, science fiction, and history in addition to periodicals that cover health, engineering, environment, nuclear and renewable energy, legal affairs, and business administration.

HE Al Mansoori stated at the time of the launch: “This inauguration coincides with a critical and vital stage in the future of the national cooperative work. As this period is witnessing the issuing of the Supreme Policy for Technology Science and Innovation and the launch of UAE Innovation Week. This opening comes in line with the numerous initiatives that TRA is launching to support achieving 2020 goals, United in Knowledge and to empower the existing renaissance in our country that is based on knowledge and innovation."

Engineer Mohamed Al Zarooni, UAE TRA Polices and Programs Director stated: “The library was designed with ease of use in mind, which is why, users can access it through various channels (including) the smart application and the website. Aiming to save readers’ time, we designed the library with various search options including searching for a specific topic and searching by book (title). This library will increase our employees’ awareness of a vast array of scientific and cultural topics.”

DBS adds integrated health management portal to help employees stay well

Source: DBS. To launch iHealth@DBS, employees were invited to participate in a mass workout at DBS Asia Hub.

DBS Bank has launched an integrated health management portal, iHealth@DBS, to further promote a culture of wellness among its employees. The one-stop platform aims to drive long-term behavioural change among staff via interactive engagement on digital platforms including mobile and wearables.

iHealth@DBS is the latest addition to a holistic suite of wellness benefits available to DBS employees. The perks include a robust portable medical insurance scheme and flexible health benefits that empower staff to actively manage their health and wellbeing.

According to the National Health Survey conducted in 2010, around 40% of Singaporeans are overweight, as indicated by their body mass indexes (BMI). In addition, almost one in two Singaporeans suffer from borderline high or high cholesterol. On the back of this trend, DBS wants to further encourage staff to take charge of their health and lead a lifestyle that keeps illness at bay.

Further, The Tower Watson Staying@Work 2013/2014 Asia Pacific report found that corporations that have well-executed health and wellness programmes show lower absenteeism rates and 39% improvement in overall employee performance at work. Through an internal study, DBS found that having healthier employees has resulted in greater productivity and cost savings, which in turn increases the bank’s ability to invest in employee health and present staff with better and more flexible health benefits.

Cheong Meng Foong, Group Head of Rewards at DBS, said, “DBS takes a long-term view to employee health as we aspire to be the employer of choice. Over the last three years, we’ve adopted a holistic approach to keeping our staff healthy. In addition to providing health benefits, it is also important to drive behavioural change by making it easy for employees to integrate healthy living practices into their everyday lives. iHealth@DBS is designed to empower employees to focus on health initiatives that are most applicable to their lifestyles.”

All 21,000 employees across the bank’s six key markets now have individual iHealth accounts, which provide customised information that address their nutritional, social, physical and financial health needs. iHealth@DBS also makes use of data analytics to help staff formulate plans to reach specific fitness goals. Used together with fitness trackers, this helps employees monitor their nutrition, sleeping patterns and physical activity.

To kickstart this lifestyle change, the bank has launched its inaugural iStep Challenge – where employees are encouraged to form teams and compete to see who can clock the most number of steps in ten weeks. Close to 30% of DBS staff have signed up for this challenge. With the push to make healthy living fun, the bank is riding on the increasing popularity of wearables, and has provided FitBugs to participating employees to make it simpler for them to track their progress as they embark on a healthier lifestyle.

iHealth@DBS is, however, just one of the many initiatives the bank has undertaken to promote a culture of healthy living amongst staff. Since 2011, the bank has provided free annual health screenings for all employees, which helps in the early detection of diseases. These also allow DBS to identify health trends and come up with measures to proactively help employees safeguard against potential health issues.

With the push for companies to adopt portable medical solutions, DBS is one of the first to offer the “Shield Companion Plan” – a game-changing medical plan that complements its employees’ portable enhanced MediShield Plan, reducing duplication of medical coverage. Under this scheme, the bank pays a certain amount into their MediSave accounts to subsidise their portable medical plans premium.

In addition, employees also have an iFlex account – a flexible spending account provided by the bank every year which can be used for benefits customised to each employee’s personal preferences. Staff can use their iFlex dollars on a variety of items relating to health and wellness, and work-life balance for themselves and their family. These can include dependent medical, vision care, health screening, dental expenses and even travel expenses.

Microsoft launches new Surface Pro model in Singapore

Microsoft has announced the retail availability of Surface Pro 4 in Singapore. Surface Pro 4 is the thinnest, lightest Surface Pro, yet powerful  enough to run full Microsoft Office and brings Windows 10 features to life - including Windows Hello, Surface Pen and Microsoft Edge.

“Surface Pro 4 brings together the performance of a laptop and the full power of Windows 10 with the portability of tablet,” said Arthur Huang, Director, Consumer Channels Group, Microsoft Singapore. “Surface has transformed the category by focusing on productivity, creating a highly versatile device that people love to use.”

Huang showed some numbers related to Windows 10. 

At just 8.4 mm thick, Surface Pro 4 features Windows 10 Pro, a 12.3" PixelSense Display and 6th Generation Intel Core m, Core i5, and Core i7 processors. Surface Pro 4 is not only 30% more powerful than Surface Pro 3 but also quieter, runs cooler and also longer, with up to nine hours of battery life*.

“The 6th Generation Intel Core processor family sets a new standard of computing with enhanced performance, graphics, and battery life, making possible the remarkable performance and power-efficiency you see in ultrathin devices like Surface Pro 4,” said George Chacko, Director, Pricing & Product Marketing Group, Intel Asia Pacific & Japan.

“Together with Microsoft, Intel is constantly pushing the limits of personal computing with state-of-the-art experiences, and we’re very excited to bring these innovations to market with Surface Pro 4.”

A recent survey** conducted by Microsoft with 1,200 Asian consumers under the age of 25 years of age found that 42% of respondents wished to get a new 2-in-1, tablet or laptop device this festive season. Fifteen percent of respondents already have a 2 in 1, Huang shared, while 59% want a touch surface on all their devices. Additionally, 43% want a digital assistant, while 41% want a digital pen.

"Millennials hate passwords," said Huang. "51% thought 'too many passwords' is an issue in their everyday digital lives. Seventy percent would be willijng to pay to overcome security and privacy challenges, and 52% identified privacy and security as their top concerns with digital lifestyles."

Surface Pro 4 is perfect for people who place a premium on portability, yet require significant productivity and performance – mobile professionals or people in business environments who need high levels of corporate access, data security and central manageability.

New Surface accessories, such as the new and improved Surface Pro 4 Type Cover***, take Surface Pro 4 from tablet to laptop in an instant. The Type Cover features a redesigned mechanical keyboard with optimal key spacing for fast and fluid typing. The redesigned Surface Pen packs 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity, letting you write, draw and mark documents with precision 'ink'  on one end. A new feature is an 'eraser' on the other end.

The Surface Pro 4 features as musical support.

The Surface Pro 4 as an artist's tool. 

The Surface Pro 4 renders 4K video with ease.

With Surface Pro 4, Microsoft’s commitment to business continues with the largest set of early adopters of a Surface device in business ever. Already, customers from a variety of industries including mobile field sales, professional services, energy and the public sector have purchased Surface Pro 4 to help streamline operations and help employees maximise productivity.

The Surface Pro 4 is powerful enough to run Autodesk software.

Additionally, Microsoft will double the commercial reseller channels in Asia Pacific to 300 partners by early next year, including 20 commercial resellers in Singapore, so businesses can more quickly and easily incorporate Surface into their environments.

Interested?

The Surface Pro 4 Intel Core m, Core i5, and Core i7****  models are available at microsoftstore.com, more select Singapore retailers - not just Challenger, Courts, and Harvey Norman but also at Newstead, a total of 70 stores, as well as via authorised commercial partners.

Surface Pro 4 starts at an estimated retail price of S$1,399.

Hashtag: #DoGreatThings

*For video playback, testing conducted by Microsoft in September 2015 using s preproduction Intel Core i5, 256GB, 8GB RAM device. Testing consisted of full battery discharge during video playback. All settings were default except Wi-Fi, which was associated with a network and Auto-Brightness, which was disabled. Battery life varies significantly with settings, usage and other factors.

**An online survey was conducted with YouGov with 1,200 youths under the age of 25 in Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Japan, Korea, mainland China, India, Hong Kong and Taiwan. 

***Sold separately.

****The i7 models begin shipping from 10 December 2015.

TripAdvisor makes it easier to record key moments in a travel experience

TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel site*, has launched a Travel Timeline feature for its mobile app to help users log and share travel experiences. Once activated, the feature automatically creates a timeline of the places travellers have visited and the photos they’ve taken at each location, which can be viewed in chronological order or as a route on a map. 

“Travel Timeline is a useful and valuable tool for chronicling travel experiences and conveniently capturing moments to remember,” said Adam Medros, SVP, global product, TripAdvisor. “TripAdvisor not only helps travelers plan and book their trips, but with Travel Timeline we help our community document and share them too.”

To activate Travel Timeline, users log on to the TripAdvisor mobile app and opt-in to the feature. Once the feature is activated, it will keep a log of the points of interest that the user has visited in a running timeline, and travellers can easily rate and review hotels, restaurants, or attractions they visited. The feature uses the phone’s GPS and motion sensors to predict when the user is visiting a location or if they are just passing by. Activities are logged without an Internet connection. The timeline is private to the user on their TripAdvisor app, but travellers can edit their timeline and easily share it with family and friends. Users may turn Travel Timeline off at any time.

Interested?

Travel Timeline will be available through the free TripAdvisor mobile app, only on iOS, in 28 languages worldwide.

*Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Sites, worldwide, July 2015. TripAdvisor manages and operates websites under 23 other travel media brands: www.airfarewatchdog.com, www.bookingbuddy.com, www.cruisecritic.com, www.everytrail.com, www.familyvacationcritic.com, www.flipkey.com, www.thefork.com (including www.lafourchette.com, www.eltenedor.com, www.iens.nl, www.besttables.com and www.dimmi.com.au), www.gateguru.com, www.holidaylettings.co.uk, www.holidaywatchdog.com, www.independenttraveler.com, www.jetsetter.com, www.niumba.com, www.onetime.com, www.oyster.com, www.seatguru.com, www.smartertravel.com, www.tingo.com, www.travelpod.com, www.tripbod.com, www.vacationhomerentals.com, www.viator.com, and www.virtualtourist.com. TripAdvisor branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, reaching 350 million unique monthly visitors**, and more than 290 million reviews and opinions covering 5.3 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions. The sites operate in 47 countries worldwide.

**Source: TripAdvisor log files, average monthly unique users, Q3 2015

RHB customers in Malaysia to enjoy TABLEAPP online reservation privileges

Source: RHB Banking Group. From left: Dato’ Khairussaleh Ramli, Group Managing Director for RHB Banking Group and Benson Chang, Founder of TABLEAPP officiating the collaboration to provide customers with a fast and convenient dining reservation experience.

The RHB Banking Group has partnered exclusively with TABLEAPP, Malaysia’s premier online restaurant reservation portal, to provide customers with a fast and convenient dining reservation experience. This initiative is part of RHB’s Digital Journey, and marks RHB’s first collaboration with a startup in providing lifestyle offerings and e-commerce payment services.

“We want to create a digital ecosystem around the everyday lifestyle needs of our customers. With TABLEAPP, customers can enjoy a new dining experience through the convenience of making online restaurant reservations, free of charge. Reservations via TABLEAPP can be made 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and customers will receive instant confirmation. Customers will also be able to buy discounted dining vouchers for premier restaurants that are registered with TABLEAPP. For RHB’s customers, we also offer cashless payment options, for payment via RHB Now and with RHB cards,” said Dato’ Khairussaleh Ramli, Group Managing Director for RHB Banking Group.

"We will continue to enhance customer experience. RHB customers will eventually be able to pre-order online and pay for meals before arriving at the restaurant.”

The TABLEAPP reservation application currently has more than 380 restaurants in Malaysia and 100 restaurants in Thailand and is looking to grow the number to 1,000 by the end of 2016.

As part of the Group’s efforts in broadening its offerings for Affluent and Mass Affluent markets, RHB Signature, Infinite and Platinum cardholders will be entitled to cashback privileges of 10 and 15% respectively when bookings are made via TABLEAPP. The offer ends 29 February 2016.

RHB customers will also enjoy discounted deals, via the existing Mobile Lifestyle App, and can reserve and purchase discounted coupons through the app.

Interested?

Download the Mobile Lifestyle App

Download TABLEAPP

City of Sydney launches Christmas programme

Source: City of Sydney. Lord Mayor Clover Moore launched the Sydney Christmas programme at Martin Place.

The City of Sydney’s Christmas programme has kicked off. The festivities include decorations, carols, light projections, concerts, Christmas trees and retail programmes.

“We welcome thousands of people from across Sydney to the city centre for our Christmas celebrations each year. With live concerts, colourful projections, great shopping and the opportunity for the kids to meet Santa, there’s plenty for visitors, shoppers and locals to enjoy,” Lord Mayor Clover Moore said.

“I invite everyone to embrace the magic of our Sydney Christmas. With sunshine, lively streets and long evenings, it’s the perfect time for exploring our city with family and friends.”

For the first time, Guide Dogs NSW/ACT will host a graduation ceremony in Martin Place on 8 December to celebrate the achievements of some of its amazing work dogs. Each graduate dog has spent two years in intensive training to become a full-time guide dog. It costs over A$35,000 to breed, raise and train each graduate – a process entirely funded by the public.

Passers-by will have the opportunity to watch a live guide dog demonstration and have a cuddle with trainee guide puppies.

“Guide Dogs NSW/ACT is extremely grateful to the City of Sydney for selecting our organisation as its charity partner for this year’s Christmas festivities and the opportunity to raise much-needed funds for our important work,” Dr White said.

Sydney Christmas 2015 highlights:

Martin Place Christmas Tree – till 25 December
Visitors to the city centre can jump on the interactive dance pad at the Christmas Tree and text a message using the #sydxmastree for it to appear on the the tree, for everyone to see.

Standing 20 metres tall, Sydney’s Christmas tree is dressed with 60,000 lights, 120 interactive stars, 200 stainless steel baubles and a 1.5-metre star on top.

Christmas projections and illuminations

Light projections will transform the façades of some of Sydney’s most historic buildings in Martin Place and the Street Light Disco banners will bring sparkle to the area throughout the day and night.

Sydney Town Hall will be illuminated with festive colours from 10 December.

Boulevarde of Light

More than 100 living, potted Christmas trees and an overhead canopy of 62,000 lights will create a festive wonderland in Pitt Street Mall. The trees will be auctioned during the week of Christmas with all proceeds going to Guide Dogs NSW/ACT.

Village Christmas Concert
The free concerts at Rushcutters Bay (28 November), Rosebery (29 November), Alexandria (5 December) and Surry Hills (6 December) are family-friendly and include live music and fireworks.

Carollers and choirs
Choirs will perform in Pitt Street Mall on Thursday evenings in the lead up to Christmas and each night in December until Christmas Eve at the Martin Place Christmas Tree.

The Christmas at Sydney Town Hall concert on 15 December is a traditional affair of festive music accompanied by the magnificent Grand Organ in Centennial Hall.

Christmas shopping
The City is working with Transport for NSW on the George Street Christmas programme to bring visitors into the city over the festive season. As well as a nine-metre-high Christmas tree on George Street and pop-up stores from local retailers, there are free gift wrapping stations, Wi-Fi zones, live entertainment, fashion parades, face painting and digital photo booths.

Local village retailers are offering unique gifts and bespoke fashion. Shoppers can take part in the Best Shop Window Instagram competition by tagging their favourite local shop window #sydxmas #bestwindow on Instagram for a chance to win a A$2,000 shopping voucher.

Interested?

For the full programme, visit sydneychristmas.com.au

Read the WorkSmart Asia blog posts about the 2015 festive season, including:

Singapore Gift Guide 2015, the pleasure edition
Singapore Gift Guide 2015, the tech edition

Who in APAC will be spending the most online, according to the Adobe Digital Index
How Facebook sees mobile redefining the season

Hong Kong's Winter Wonderland experience

Sofitel So Singapore's French fusion Christmas menu
The launch of Casa Ferrero, Ferrero Rocher's popup store
House of Sillage launches the Holiday by House of Sillage fragrance

Hashtag: #bestwindow, #sydxmas, #sydxmastree

Singapore's attitudes to cybercrime (and security) differs by generation

Just this week, I encountered WhatsApp spam shortly after a friend shared a link for a McDonald's discount coupon from Sniflr. Googling unveiled that Sniflr phishes, and also invites victims to share the discount with 10 friends via WhatsApp, effectively adding 11 numbers to a WhatsApp spamming list.

Yesterday, it was a promoted tweet on my Twitter timeline, offering a whopping S$100 off for a purchase of S$120 at popular Singapore supermarket chain NTUC. Googling produced a newspaper warning dated some months ago that the discount coupons for NTUC being circulated on Facebook were fake, and NTUC's own Twitter account has confirmed it.

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, says Norton by Symantec, which recently released its findings from the Norton Cybersecurity Insights Report.

The report sheds light on what people think about cybercrime today. It found that globally, 62% of consumers believed it is more likely their credit card information will be stolen online compared to only 38% who think it is more likely they will lose credit card information from their wallets. Additionally, 47% reported they have been affected by cybercrime.



In Singapore:

 Approximately seven in 10 (69%) Singaporeans believe using public Wi-Fi is riskier than using a public restroom

 Seven in 10 consumers think that storing their credit card and banking information in the cloud is riskier than not wearing a seatbelt

 More than seven in 10 (71%) consumers believe getting their credit information stolen after shopping online is more likely than having their credit card stolen out of their wallet



“Consumer confidence was rocked in 2014 by an unprecedented number of mega breaches that exposed the identities of millions of people who were simply making routine purchases from well-known retailers,” said Gavin Lowth, Vice President, Norton Consumer and Small Business, Asia Pacific and Japan. “Our findings demonstrate the headlines rattled people’s trust in online activity, but the threat of cybercrime hasn’t led to widespread adoption of simple protection measures people should take to safeguard their information online.”

Lowth said there were clear generational differences in attitudes. Baby Boomers – a group often considered less tech savvy – report more secure online habits than Millennials. Millennials, born in the digital era, often throw caution to the wind with 33% admitting to sharing passwords and other risky online behaviour.



Singapore consumers lost an average of 20 hours over the past year dealing with the fallout of online crime and nearly S$545 per person – totalling roughly S$5.49 billion. On top of this loss, cybercrime took an emotional toll with six in 10 (61%) of consumer cybercrime victims in Singapore feeling frustrated after becoming a victim. Further, in Singapore:

 More than eight in 10 (82%) of respondents said they would feel devastated if their personal financial information was compromised

 Nearly three-quarters (74%) of respondents believe dealing with the consequences of a stolen identity is more stressful than preparing for a presentation at work (52%)

 Nearly seven out of 10 (68%) respondents are more stressed when they realise that they have downloaded a virus than sitting next to a screaming baby on a plane (51%)

Despite concern and awareness of cybercrime, consumers are overconfident in their online security behaviours. When asked to grade their security practices, they consistently award themselves “A”. But in reality, most are not passing the most basic requirement of online security: password use. In Singapore:

 Of those using passwords, only three in 10 (29%) respondents always use a secure password – a combination of at least eight letters, numbers and symbols. Worryingly, nearly one in four do not have a password on any device.

 People are sharing passwords to online sensitive accounts with friends and family. Of those sharing passwords, almost one in four (23%) share the password to their banking account, and on average they are sharing passwords for two accounts, with the most common passwords shared being email (59%), social media (44%) and TV/media (16%).

 Even though 80% believe it is riskier to share their email password with a friend than lend them their car (20%), half of those sharing passwords do just that.

Norton's tips for online safety include :

 Choose a unique, smart, secure password for each account you have online.

 Delete emails from senders you don’t know (or senders you know but who don't normally email), and don’t click on attachments or links on suspicious-looking emails.

 On social media sites, receiving an offer that sounds too good to be true, might be just that. Beware of the pitfalls of clicking on links from social media sites. Before clicking, hover the mouse over the link to see its destination. Only click on links that lead to reputable, official company pages.

 Always monitor your financial accounts for unusual activity. If there is a charge that you didn’t make, report it immediately. Often cybercriminals will charge a small “test” amount before attempting to drain your bank account.

 Don’t put off installing security software such as Norton Security and updating it regularly.

 Use a secure backup solution to protect files and backup regularly so criminals can’t hold them for ransom. Paying a ransom is no guarantee that you will get the data back,though the argument goes that it is in the interest of the criminal to return the data in order to encourage future payments.

 Report cybercrime to the local police or national cyber crime organisation if you have been affected by cybercrime or identity theft.

Interested?

Read the report

*The Norton Cybersecurity Insights Report is an online survey of 17,125 device users ages 18+ across 17 markets, commissioned by Norton by Symantec and produced by research firm Edelman Berland. The margin of error for the total sample is +/-0.75%. The Singapore sample reflects input from 1,009 Singapore device users ages 18+. The margin of error is +/- 3.09% for the total Singapore sample. Data was collected August 25 to September 18, 2015 by Edelman Berland.

Singapore's IDA creates snapshot of home computer usage in Singapore for 2014

The Infocomm Development Authority's (IDA’s)  Annual Survey on Infocomm Usage in Households 2014 states that more seniors in Singapore are using smartphones, computers and the Internet. The survey showed that in 2014, about 74% of Singapore residents had used the computer in the three months before the survey, with the biggest jump for senior citizens aged 50 years and above.

Between 2012 and 2014, there was a significant increase of 14 and 11 percentage-points in computer usage by senior citizens aged 50 to 59 and above 60 respectively. This brought the total percentage of computer usage among senior citizens to 63% for those aged 50 to 59 years and 27% for those aged older.

In addition, the survey showed that Internet usage rate by senior citizens rose to 75% for those in their fifties, and 31% for those 60 and older, a gain of 24% and 15% compared to 2012 respectively. In fact, in 2014, more than three-quarters of the younger and one-third of the older senior citizen segments said they had used a smartphone to access the Internet in the past three months. This represented an increase of 30% and 19% percentage-points respectively against 2012.

Household Internet and broadband access also continued to increase in 2014, and households are increasingly using Internet-enabled mobile phones for Internet access. Home Internet and broadband access rates rose to 88% and 87.5% respectively in 2014. For households with school-going children, Internet and broadband access rates were 98% and 97% respectively in 2014. Fibre and wireless broadband (3G, 4G) continued to replace ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) and cable as the Internet connection of choice at home, with 62% of resident households using fibre broadband in 2014 (up from 25% in 2012), and 56% using wireless broadband in 2014 (38% in 2012).

Another trend is the rise of online shopping among Singapore residents. Online shoppers were mainly aged from 15 to 49 years, with credit card payment being the most common among those aged 25 and above. The majority of online shoppers spent at least S$100 on their online purchases. The three most popular items purchased online were apparel, travel products and tickets for entertainment events.

On the cyber security front, the survey found that more than eight in 10 installed antivirus software and security updates on computer used to access the Internet at home while adoption rates of antivirus software installation on smartphones were comparatively lower, at about three in 10.

The top three primary Internet activities among Singapore residents were related to communication, leisure activities and getting information, with the topmost online activity on mobile equipment being the use of social networks.

Steve Leonard, IDA’s Executive Deputy Chairman, commented, “We are encouraged to see residents becoming more tech-savvy and connected, particularly the silver generation. This is useful to help the industry explore new opportunities to serve our citizens better and help build Singapore into a Smart Nation.”

It should be noted that the different surveys are not precisely apples-to-apples as more Singapore residents born in recent years enter their fifties and are classed as seniors in each subsequent survey. Those born in 1963 and 1964 would not have been classed as senior citizens in 2012. Likewise, those born in 1961 and 1962 were not considered senior citizens until after 2010. It is possible that the results for the 50 to 59 year-old segment reflect technology-savviness in 50- and 51 year-olds, rather than seniors in general deciding to learn about smartphones and the Internet. The results for those aged 60 and above however remain significant.

Interested?

Download the survey (PDF)
Download the complete infographic

Note: All images from the IDA infographic.

*The annual survey has been conducted for more than 20 years, and its objective is to assess the extent of infocomm adoption in Singapore resident households and residents. This latest survey’s data was collected from about 3,500 households and about 3,500 residents via face-to-face interviews.

1 A smartphone has more sophisticated functions than a feature phone. Examples of such functions are: i) able to open and read documents (e.g. PDFs, Office documents) and ii) able to add or install applications on the phone. These two categories are mutually exclusive, i.e. a mobile phone can only be categorised as a feature phone or a smartphone but not both.

2 Households with access to the Internet via both broadband and narrowband had been categorised as those with broadband Internet access. Some households had more than one type of broadband connection at home.

3 Mobile equipment is defined as portable equipment excluding laptops or notebooks.

Bank Negara Malaysia creates mobile apps for consumers

Bank Negara Malaysia has introduced three new mobile applications to help consumers make more informed financial decisions.

The mobile applications, MyBNM, BNM MyLINK and MyTabung, aims to provide consumers with the latest developments on financial matters, give them tools to plan and manage their finances and exercise their rights.

MyBNM is the official Bank Negara Malaysia mobile application that allows consumers to keep abreast with the latest financial news including notices and announcements, speeches and interviews, press releases, financial fraud alerts and foreign exchange rates.

BNM MyLINK is a one-stop mobile application which links consumers and financial service providers in Malaysia. It provides a directory of conventional and Islamic banking, insurance and takaful companies as well as SMEs which allow consumers to make enquiries, obtain advice and address their complaints.

MyTabung helps individuals to create a personal or household budget. Users can capture incomes, savings and recurring expenses with an on-the-spot display of the user’s financial standing and spending patterns. Individuals can also obtain financial advice and budgeting tips to guide them in practicing prudent financial management.

Interested?

The apps are available in both Bahasa Malaysia and English, and can be downloaded for free from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.

Thomson Reuters calls for alternative finance providers to respond to APAC benchmarking survey

Thomson Reuters has collaborated with The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance at Cambridge Judge Business School, the Tsinghua University Graduate School of Shenzhen and the University of Sydney Business School to conduct the 2015 Asia-Pacific Alternative Finance Benchmarking Survey.

The survey will be the first-ever comprehensive study of crowdfunding, peer-to-peer lending and other forms of alternative finance across the Asia-Pacific region­­­­ – including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Australia and New Zealand.

Sanjeev Chatrath, Managing Director, Finance & Risk, Asia Pacific at Thomson Reuters said: “Alternative finance is starting to gain significant momentum across the Asia Pacific region, rapidly catching up with Europe and the Americas. The 2015 Asia-Pacific Alternative Finance Benchmarking Survey will more definitively track this progress across the region."

Raghavendra Rau, Director of Research at the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) added: “The Asia Pacific region includes many of the most populous and fastest growing developing countries in the world – China, India and Indonesia and many more. The rapid uptake of mobile technologies and the permeation of social media are enabling these countries to leapfrog traditional banking infrastructure, which suggests that the potential growth of innovative alternative finance markets in the Asia-Pacific may be higher than other regions.”

The survey is also supported by KPMG, CME Group Foundation, the ACCA and 20 leading alternative finance industry and academic research partners across Asia-Pacific and beyond, including the Crowdfunding Institute of Australia, LendIt, Crowdfund China Society, Hong Kong Crowdfunding Association, Wangdaizhijia, New Zealand Crowdfunding Society, Japan Crowdfunding Council, Crowdfund Asia Association, Korean FinTech Forum, ShengZhen Crowdfunding Association, Change Fusion Thailand, World Crowdfunding Conference, Crowdsourcing Week, Crowdfund Vibe, FinTech Hong Kong, the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN), the CrowdfundInsider, the Nagoya University, the University of Amsterdam and the Ahmedabad University.

The survey is now live and closes on 18 December. Results will be made available free to the public in the 2015 China Alternative Finance Benchmarking Report and the 2015 Asia Pacific Alternative Finance Benchmarking Report, due to be published in early 2016. All findings will be aggregated either by country, region or alternative financing models and no individual platform/provider’s data will be divulged.

Interested?

All crowdfunding, peer-to-peer lending and other alternative finance providers, operating in the Asia-Pacific area (excluding the Americas), are invited to contribute to the benchmarking survey. Research findings will be presented only in aggregated form (e.g. by countries, regions and models) and individual platform’s data confidentiality is ensured. All participating platforms will be acknowledged in the benchmarking report, displayed with their respective logos.

Take the survey in English, Chinese, Korean, or Japanese

Raayek gives bonus points for providing telecommunications feedback in the UAE

Source: TRA.

HE Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, the General Authority for Regulating the Telecommunications Sector (TRA) Director General of the UAE, has launched the Raayek app. The application enables users to submit improvement ideas concerning the mobile government and TRA services, in addition to commenting about the services provided by Etisalat and Du.

The application uses gamification to involve customers in the decision making process. This feature was designed to increase user engagement. Users are granted points for registration and more points for active participation. The user with the largest number of points will be ranked as first in a Leader Board can receive awards that will be provided by TRA on a regular basis.

HE Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, UAE TRA Director General stated, “TRA believes that engagement and customers’ involvement in decision making play a vital role in enhancing customer satisfaction. Driven by this belief, we launched this app which comes in the framework of the restless effort we exert to contribute in achieving our 2021 vision. This application also reflects our commitment to the directives of Sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum who stated that smart employees are the building blocks of smart services.

"We encourage our customers to interact with us through the app and share their suggestions and remarks regarding the proposed topics. We also promise them that we will treat their concerns with optimum care and strive to resolve their issues whether they are related to TRA, mGovernment, or Etisalat and Du services.

“I am calling all concerned parties to voice their opinions through the app, as this will contribute significantly to our development process and will serve our aim of achieving customer happiness. We are really keen and eager to explore our customers’ perception regarding telecom and smart services provided by various governmental entities."

Saif bin Ghalaita, TRA Director of Technology Development Department, stated, "This application represents an interactive platform that will enable us to interact more effectively with our customers and learn more about their opinions regarding several topics through the quick discussions that we will have with them. We developed this app based on an innovative concept and many constructive internal discussions. The application provides a separate mechanism that evaluates customers’ behaviour and assesses the benefits they gain from the various features provided by the app. According to this mechanism, we calculate the points that are going to be granted to users for each action they perform.”

Maybank, MaGIC to boost startups across ASEAN

Maybank became the first bank to officially formalise its partnership with Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC) in efforts to further boost startups across the ASEAN region.

Maybank will leverage on MaGIC‘s expertise, regional reach and resources to nurture upcoming local and regional startups. One of the key roles for Maybank is to be the financial services partner for MaGIC’s ASEAN Centre of Entrepreneurship (ACE), which is a startup support services platform offering services such as legal advice, IP consultations, visa applications and company secretarial services through its partners. This platform will support Malaysian startups looking to expand into ASEAN countries and for ASEAN startups to expand into Malaysia.

MaGIC Chief Executive Officer Cheryl Yeoh said that this partnership will help in boosting the development of startups and social enterprise (SE) initiatives not only in Malaysia, but in the region. “We are pleased at this collaboration with Maybank – both as a main partner for our startup support services platform as well as providing the opportunities for fintech startups to grow locally and regionally. We are encouraged by the support we are seeing from the private sector and Maybank as one of the early driver for private sector opportunities,” she said.

In return, Maybank will act as an advisory partner to MaGIC’s Accelerator Programs and Academy, especially in building viable propositions in the context of regional opportunities in the financial services industry, help facilitate market validation and identify potential “go-to-market” partners.

Maybank's Amran Hassan, Head Corporate Development & Innovation said that Maybank has always placed importance in innovation as a key organisational competency that will help identify and shape new sources of competitive advantages. “The collaboration with MaGIC will allow Maybank to play a more prominent role in the supporting the start-up ecosystem regionally,” he said. "We have taken the market lead in the high-growth startup ecosystem as part of our efforts to support promising technology startups across the markets where we operate. We will continue to work with strategic industry partners in providing competitive platforms in our efforts to help build ASEAN into a global centre for innovation.”