RHB rolls out SME Banking Portal

RHB Bank has introduced the RHB SME Banking Portal, the first online portal that provides small and medium sized enterprise (SME) clients with quick access to information and products relevant to their businesses.

The portal features online account applications, online loan/financing applications, product information for SMEs, an SME Knowledge Centre, and business tools to help make informed decisions. SMEs can now submit their application for a current account and loan/financing through this online platform, and also get up-to-date market insights and treasury reports amongst other information from the portal.

“In line with RHB’s Digital Transformation, the RHB SME Banking Portal was designed for us to reach out to SMEs. With this portal, our SME clients have information at the tip of their fingers on SME products and will be able to submit their applications for a current account without the hassle of going to our branches. To encourage adoption of this new channel, RHB is offering preferential rates to clients who successfully apply for a current account online for limited time,” said Datin Amy Ooi, Head of Group Business and Transaction Banking, RHB Bank.

“We target to have 20,000 unique visits to the RHB SME Banking Portal and 500 new clients via this portal by year end. At RHB, we continuously strive to provide our customers with simple, fast and seamless banking experiences.”

Interested?

Explore the enhanced digital banking experience

posted from Bloggeroid

Globetrekker Challenge builds wellness portal for Garmin in Asia Pacific

Based out of Singapore, Globetrekker Challenge, a corporate wellness software company, will deliver the corporate wellness portal for Garmin across greater Asia and the Pacific. Partnering with domain expertise allows both businesses to mitigate distraction and optimise their core market offerings.

Globetrekker's platform delivers configurable wellness programmes, real time analytics reporting and health risk profiling for employers. Under the agreement with Globetrekker, Garmin employers can now reap the benefits of Garmin’s wearables range within a series of employee health improvement programmes and business intelligence analytics in a one-stop shop.

“Corporate wellness, like many other industries is undergoing a digital transformation. The human resource (HR) function is becoming increasingly reliant on the emerging C-suite of digital - Chief Digital Officers, Chief Information Officers, Chief Technology Officers and as such are seeking real time data to make timely decisions from a position of knowledge. Traditional retrospective reporting is fast becoming obsolete,” said Scott Montgomery, Globetrekker CEO.

“Organisational leaders are hungry for health risk identification to prevent catastrophic events and all their consequences, including vicarious liability*. Globetrekker technology facilitates this risk visibility alongside the expected wellness benefits of reduced HR costs, improved culture and productivity. By adding our technology stack and global panel of experts to Garmin’s pedigree wearable hardware, our clients receive next-level wellness value through fresh employee health experiences and data-driven intelligence.”

“Garmin's goal is to offer a clear, concise and price-attainable solution for our clients,” said Joern Watzke, Director Global B2B Sales, Garmin. “That goal is realised by offering a Globetrekker platform with Garmin devices."

Interested?

The partnership will be launched in January 2017.

*Vicarious liability refers to a third party being held responsible for the actions or omissions of a person. It would be vicarious liability if an employer is held responsible for the death of an overworked employee, for instance.

LG Electronics launches product security site

LG Electronics has opened its own product security site to act as the first point of contact for all security issues related to LG mobile products. The site will be managed by LG’s own Product Security Response Team (PSRT) and includes news, information on the response process, and accepts the reporting of security issues.

LG’s Product Security website will regularly publish bulletins and updates regarding security issues in LG products and details that can make our customers’ experience with LG mobile devices a safe and secure one. The website will include issues related to Android that are issued by Google with the most critical vulnerabilities listed first, followed by those deemed high, moderate and low threats.

Interested?

Customers or researchers who believe they have discovered a possible security flaw in an LG mobile product are encouraged to contact LG’s Product Security Response Team at product.security@lge.com

Figure out financial products with GoBear in Malaysia

GoBear has launched in Malaysia. The metasearch engine aims to help individuals make sense of financial products like travel insurance policies and credit cards with unbiased side-by-side comparisons. It currently lists over 1,000 financial products and will be adding more.

"GoBear originated from the idea that people today want easy access to service information, and that customers should be able to compare various financial products easily before making a decision. This is where GoBear steps in, to provide a new experience that makes searching for financial products quickly, easily and transparently," said Iskandar Ezzahuddin, Country Director Malaysia, GoBear.

"Today's insurance buyers are mobile-first, multi-screen and social media savvy. To reach them, insurance companies will need to employ an increasing emphasis on simplicity in search."

Andre Hesselink, Chief Executive Officer of GoBear explained, "GoBear is a global brand in the making and we are very focused on being local to serve customers in each of our key markets in the best way. Together with a team of Malaysian specialists, we continue to enhance the seamless user experience, with search, filter and insurance quotes."

GoBear Malaysia currently features travel insurance and credits cards. The site will be expanding into the car insurance and personal loan category in the third quarter of this year. GoBear has recorded a 50% month-on-month growth in usage with over 1.2 million users since it first established itself in Singapore and Thailand. The company plans to expand further into Southeast Asia this year.

Hashtag: #gobearMY 

BudgetHotels.sg unveils new and improved website

Source: BudgetHotels.sg website.

Online hotel search guide BudgetHotels.sg recently refreshed their website to provide a more intuitive way to book inexpensive lodging in Singapore.

Designed to maximise mobile access and with faster loading times, the revamped site allows visitors to categorise the one- to four-star hotels in its database by price ranges such as

· Less than S$50
· S$50 - $79
· S$80 - $119
· S$120 - $149
· More than S$150

Maximising the website’s mobile responsiveness was a strategic business decision based on recent findings in the hospitality industry. According to Criteo’s 2014 Travel Flash Report released last September, travel bookings via mobile devices soared by more than 20% in the first six months of the year, and are growing much more rapidly than those booked on desktop computers. Smartphones and tablets accounted for 21% of hotel bookings.

"For the past three years, BudgetHotels.sg has been the go-to destination for travelers looking for value-for-money accomodation and activities in Singapore,” said BudgetHotels.sg founder Danny Lee. “We recognise that today’s travellers want the ease and convenience of making their trip arrangements on their mobile devices, so we strategically optimised our site to give them added flexibility, improved navigability and faster loading time.”

Detailed descriptions of featured properties include hotel facilities, room amenities and location (including a map). Proximity to subway stations is now indicated in terms of walking duration.

AWOK.com announces plans to expand beyond UAE, launch a mobile app

Source: AWOK.com. Ulugbek Yulshadev, founder of AWOK.com, the e-commerce site which is now celebrating its second year anniversary.

AWOK.com, the UAE-based online shopping platform, hit the two-year mark in April 2015, and has seen a 500% increase in sales compared to its first year of trading. The company started off dealing in electronics and gadgets and now sells a wide selection of household appliances, jewellery, consumer electronics as well as health and beauty products. 

"AWOK.com's solid growth is testament to the brand's commitment in providing quality products at consistently low prices. Reaching this two-year milestone is a great achievement for AWOK.com and we look forward to achieving future growth in line with our third year targets. We are grateful to our loyal customers and are always striving for ways to identify and meet our consumers' needs," said Ulugbek Yuldashev, Managing Director of AWOK.com.

 

AWOK.com keeps prices low through sourcing directly from manufacturers, distributors and resellers. AWOK.com also runs operates all logistics in-house, with its own warehouse, a fleet of delivery vans as well as an in-house customer service team, passing savings directly on to the consumer. The company promises to deliver to customers in the UAE within 12 to 24 hours. 

The company now employs over 200 staff in the UAE and expects to extend its offerings to other countries in the region. The online platform will also be launching a mobile app later this year. 

"Our consumers already understand that online shopping is safe, easy and fast, and with our new mobile application they will be able to order must-have products directly from their mobile devices," said Yuldashev.

Jumei adds to online beauty portfolio

Source: Jumei website.

Jumei International Holding, an online retailer of beauty products in China, has made a number of strategic partnerships with overseas brands. The company announced that Max Factor and OPI Products are now part of the Authentic Beauty Product Alliance (ABPA) and that it has signed a cooperation agreement with American fashion designer Jill Stuart.

The company offers branded beauty products, fashionable apparel and other lifestyle products through the its website and associated mobile application. It also notes that according to recent reports from China's State Administration for Industry and Commerce that were released on December 11, 2014 and January 23, 2015, it is offering 100% authentic products.

Nellore gets taxi service from YatraGenie

Source: YatraGenie. India's Union Minister for Urban Development, Venkaiah Naidu, addressing the launch event in Nellore on January 10.

YatraGenie, a travel portal from Paxterra Software Solutions, has launched a taxi service for the city of Nellore in Hyderabad, India. The company plans to extend the initiative to more tier 2 cities in the coming months. 

The new service comprises of a fleet of 100 cars. YatraGenie cabs are equipped with GPRS/GPS location tracking services, including a panic button, and comply with the security and transportation norms regulated by the government of India to ply cab services in the country.

Guardian Health & Beauty launches interactive e-commerce portal

Guardian Health & Beauty, Singapore’s most established health and beauty chain, has just launched a US$1.3 million e-commerce portal for health and beauty that not only offers the entire range available at the Guardian stores, but also curated content, and virtual healthcare consultations.

Source: Guardian website.

Said Sarah Boyd, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Guardian Health & Beauty: "Singapore is the first to debut such a comprehensive e-commerce site across the Guardian Health & Beauty network in Asia. Our decision was motivated by the fact that consumers here are avid digital shoppers and are increasingly turning to online resources for their health and beauty needs."

"People are expecting to find products online. We're making sure we're present where our customers expect us to be present, especially for health and beauty," she added, noting that Google data in 2014 shows consumers in Singapore run an average of 11 million health and beauty searches monthly, including 2 million searches for vitamins and supplements alone.

“Singaporeans take a very proactive approach to their health. The per capita spend on vitamins and supplements is higher in Singapore than in any other country in the world. Our vision for the portal is to be a one-stop holistic content and services solution that caters to urban living with a host of convenient services and novel features."

The portal, www.guardian.com.sg, marks the first time that a large-scale health and beauty retailer in Singapore is offering short virtual health consultations through an exclusive partnership with MyDoc, an online health consultation platform. Time-pressed Singapore consumers are now able to schedule online appointments and have their health concerns attended to by experienced doctors and Guardian pharmacists over an online chat or video call. Personal health diaries with secure logins allow users to track their health histories and facilitate follow-ups.

Visitors to the portal can also enjoy:

· Access to over 500 different well-known health and beauty brands and over 3,000 different products, complemented by curated content in the form of health and wellness tips and advice regularly contributed by Guardian’s pool of pharmacists.

· Door-to-door delivery services for orders, with the option of choosing a preferred delivery date and one of four delivery time slots, including two evening slots – a first for the health and beauty sector in Singapore. Alternatively, purchases can be picked up at almost all of Guardian’s 148 stores island-wide, excluding the airside stores at Changi Airport.

· ‘Live’ customer service chats are available from Monday to Saturday between 9.30am to 6pm, and offer a convenient channel for public feedback and enquiries. The company notes that the service is a rarity even with other local online retailers.

“Our new e-commerce push is part of Guardian's ongoing efforts to evolve and rebrand – this is the start of a new journey and we will continue to stay responsive and adapt to the fast-changing health and beauty needs of consumers in Singapore,” added Boyd.

Providing additional perspective on the online health consultation service, MyDoc Co-founder Dr Snehal Patel said that the growth in digital and social media has fuelled the demand for quick and accessible medical advice. He shared a McKinsey study that said 75% of respondents from Singapore, UK and Germany would like to use digital healthcare services*.

“MyDoc uses the explosion in social media and Internet technology to help bring people closer to their health providers. No longer do people have to delay seeking advice because their busy lives make it difficult to schedule a visit to their clinic. 

"By making access to care easier and more seamless, people can benefit from more consistent management of their health conditions which have been shown to prevent painful and expensive hospitalisations. The partnership with Guardian is a natural fit for our service – just as Guardian is making purchasing healthcare items effortless, we are making obtaining advice easier than ever. We are excited to be part of this new push for truly personalised care,” said Dr Patel.

Guardian’s commitment to online retailing is underscored by its partnership with digital consultancy and educational institution Hyper Island, which acted as a consultant during the 18-month planning and development process. “Guardian’s platform changes the game and bridges the gap in the health and beauty landscape through several features and innovations not seen in any other health and beauty portal in Singapore,” said Hyper Island Co-founder and Academic Director Professor Jonathan Briggs.

*Healthcare's digital future, July 2014.

CrowdsUnite provides handy crowdsourcing news in one place

CrowdsUnite aims to be the 'Yelp' of crowdfunding with over 800 crowdfunding platforms in its database. The site offers crowdfunding advice and directs startups to platforms that best suit their needs. 

CrowdsUnite CEO Alex Feldman notes that different sites differ in their functionality, customer service, and transparency. The main issue with crowdfunding, he said, is that it is possible to run a fraudulent campaign and run away with the donors’ money.

Source: CrowdsUnite blog. Feldman introduces
crowdfunding at a July 2014 talk in New York, US.

The CrowdsUnite blog featured an infographic for the top 10 crowdfunding sites in April 2014. Kickstarter, while popular, ranked no. 5 out of 10 and no. 2 only for funding. It was not in the top three for either customer support or ease of use.

CrowdsUnite recently added international crowdfunding platforms to its scope, including Singapore-based Crowdtivate. The company includes a growing number of crowdfunding platforms in Asia in its database.

Free registration is required to browse the CrowdsUnite site.

Travelauto to offer limo service rentals next

Travelauto.com, a car rental portal, expects to launch its global limo service product in July. Bookings for chauffeured limousines will be made available in the United Arab Emirates and subsequently to the rest of the countries it serves, including Oman, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Jordan, and Thailand.

Source: Travelauto.com website.

According to Travelauto.com, identifying reliable limo services has not been easy. With this service, businesses will be able to book limo services for international visitors from a list of chauffeur-driven service providers and refer to reviews from actual users. 

Said V Chandra Mouli, Founder and CEO of Travelauto Middle-East: "Travelauto has been recognised for its first class car rental customer support, with 90% of customers returning to book a car hire."

Expatstoday offers essential tips for Gulf expats

Source: Expatstoday

A new portal targeted at expats wants your eyeballs. Would-be expats expecting to relocate to Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia & the UAE can check out living conditions in the Gulf countries on the Expatstoday website.

According to the company, the information it carries is as secure, relevant and reliable as possible. The pages for individual countries for the Gulf are fairly well-populated, indicating an existing community, but pages for other countries seem quite new, often with no listings in a number of categories. 

Source: Expatstoday website

The sections available include:

• Secure job exchange portal - job seekers can feature their profiles while employers can list job requirements. 
• Accommodation for rent - Accommodation profiles from owners who are open to expats as tenants.  
• Used cars - Details include what documentation is needed from expats, and the procedures to conclude a transaction successfully.
• Furniture and household items  
• Household and essential service providers - Look for home cleaners, painting, gardening, exterminators and similar services here.  

As with all communities, the success of Expatstoday will depend on how active individual members are and whether there are enough listings to make it worth visiting over and over again. There is definitely some level of utility for the GCC countries, and it could well extend in future to the pages for the rest of the world.

Digital freelance work most in demand around the globe

If you don't have any digital skills, it's time to obtain some. The job categories that are most in demand at global marketplace Freelancer.com are all digital-related. 

 

According to Australia-listed Freelancer, which owns the site, web and software development, web and graphic design, Internet marketing including search engine optimisation (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM) as well as online sales and content development incorporating corporate content and social media are the most active out of 600 job categories on the site. 

The portal, which links businesses and freelancers, now has 10 million members, the company said. Over 5 million projects have been posted to date. Freelancer.com has positioned itself to take advantage of this growth by supporting more than 30 languages, the company said.

"In an increasingly competitive global market small businesses are turning to freelancers to outsource short term projects in skill categories they do not necessarily have the resources for. By tapping into a global talent pool like Freelancer.com, a small business can operate like a major corporation on a shoestring budget," said Freelancer CEO Matt Barrie.