Asia Pacific is the fastest-growing region for SWIFT

SWIFT announces that 29 new corporates in Asia Pacific had joined the co-operative from May 2015 to December 2015.

SWIFT provides a single communication channel for corporates to exchange financial information with all their domestic and global banks. This allows corporations to gain value from additional global visibility and maximum efficiency from their financial and treasury operations. Through the connection with SWIFT, they are able to collect and achieve greater automation through standardisation.

Today, more than 1,500 corporate groups are already on SWIFT globally, representing an estimated 30,000 underlying legal entities that are using SWIFT to manage multiple banking relationships. The past year saw expansion in SWIFT’s engagement with its corporate customers. Compared to the first half of 2015, the second half increased the number of corporates who joined SWIFT by 50% making Asia Pacific the fastest growing region of new corporate connectivity. Besides multinational corporates SWIFT welcomed Cgnpc and Max Money, which connected to take advantage of SWIFT for Corporates offerings.

Some of the corporates that joined in second half of 2015 include:

China:

Air China
Finance Company of Ansteel Group
Konka Group Company
Volkswagen (China) Investment Company
Yanfeng Global Automotive Interior Systems Co.

Japan:

Nomura Research Institute
Ricoh Company
The Yokohama Rubber Co.

Hong Kong:

CGNPC Huasheng Investment

Malaysia:

Max Money

India:

Tata Consultancy Services

Singapore:

Singapore Power

Korea:

Hyundai Mobis Co.
Lotte Data Communication Company
Hotel Lotte Co. (Duty Free)
Samsung Engineering Co.

Eddie Haddad, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, SWIFT says: “We have been working very hard to assist corporates of all sizes to reduce costs, manage risks whilst increase operational efficiency and visibility in all of their treasury operations. With this new wave of corporate groups joining us, the benefits are clearly pervasive across treasury professionals and we are glad this offering is permeating across all segments in Asia Pacific.”

The Overseas Integration Building Task Force Team of Lotte Duty Free says, “Lotte Duty Free is the top leading corporation in the Korean duty free business. As a global business player with operations in Asia Pacific and United States, we are currently aiming for a country by country rollout plan targeting communication with all our banking partners through an automated environment to increase our efficiencies in operations and management. After a successful implementation in the Japan market, it had proven that having SWIFT connectivity clearly benefited us. We are now able to gain global cash visibility, minimise operational risks, and align a single platform that enables communication to all our banks globally with distinct international standards. We expect that SWIFT will become a key business partner in our global business expansion.”

SWIFT for Corporates offers a range of products and services for multibanked corporates to connect with banks and financial institutions through a single, secure and reliable channel.

posted from Bloggeroid

Dos and don'ts for startup success

So you have a business idea and are thinking of starting up a company to market it. Will it sink or swim? Fabian Vandenreydt, Head of Markets Management, Innotribe and the SWIFT Institute, has seen financial technology (fintech) startups do both. 

Source: Innotribe. Vandenreydt.

Some of the main factors for success, Vandenreydt said, include:  

1) A clear understanding of the problem that you are trying to solve, and also understanding that it is a real problem 

All the time, energy and money spent developing the most amazing product comes to naught without starting with a problem to solve, explained Vandenreydt. "Without a clear problem to solve, you may get lucky, but 99 out of 100 times you won’t. Innotribe will help companies by identifying the problems the industry is facing," he said.

 2) A clear and detailed way to explain and implement the chosen solution, and a clear understanding of the market for this solution
 
"Without understanding who you are trying to sell to, you often over-complicate your product. The key to understanding your market is to test early, and test often. When the people behind Dropbox had their original idea, their initial product was a video of how they envisioned the service. They distributed this product to see if there was a market. By creating enough validation of their idea, they then went on and invested the time, energy and money to develop Dropbox," Vandenreydt said.  

3) A strong team of quality individuals who can collaborate and work well together, and 

4) A deep understanding of the expectations of venture capitalists and bankers

A significant key to success however, is the willingness to change if needed.
"Agility, the ability of a small startup to succeed, is often measured not in how great their initial idea is, but by the agility and ability to respond to better understanding of the problem and the market," Vandenreydt explained. 

"This pivoting of ideas is what separates success from failure. One famous example is Flickr, which started as a game but later found that photo sharing ability of the platform was what people used more than anything else. They responded by pivoting, and moving from a game platform to a photo sharing one."

Creating visibility is also essential, Vandenreydt added. "You may have the best product in the world that solves a number of issues, but how does one person or a small company grab the attention of a multinational? 

"This is one area where Innotribe excels. Our mission is to bridge the gap between the fintech innovation ecosystem, and SWIFT and its members, by exposing what these companies are doing, and how they are doing it."