In Southeast Asia, changing customer expectations, regulatory changes and increased scrutiny of environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations are driving demand for digital lending solutions.
Chris Neen, chief commercial officer at digital lending specialist Ax Finance, told FinTech News Singapore that emerging markets, particularly Southeast Asia and the Middle East, where banks are investing heavily in digital transformation initiatives, , talked about the rapid growth of business in Africa. .
“There was a bit of a hiatus during the pandemic, but over the past two and a half years we’ve seen an increase in demand and we’ve actually seen a surge in demand, particularly in parts of Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa,” Neen said. . “Banks increasingly need to serve their customers digitally while also responding to a rapidly changing regulatory and compliance environment.”
He said banks are facing increasing pressure to provide seamless and convenient digital experiences while adapting to changing regulatory frameworks around know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML). Legacy technologies are hindering this adaptation and driving increased investment in digital solutions.
APAC’s increasing digital maturity, coupled with the rise of cloud computing, is also driving the adoption of third-party banking software solutions. Although many banks in the region still rely on on-premises technologyKneen noted that cloud infrastructure has become accepted by regulators as compliant with financial regulations. This trend is joined by major investments from technology giants such as: google, Amazonand microsoft The growth of digital lending in regional data centers is expected to accelerate.
Cloud adoption in APAC has been slower than in more developed regions, primarily due to the region’s complex regulatory environment. Countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia have strict data sovereignty laws that require data to be stored and processed within their borders. However, the availability of localized cloud solutions remains limited, posing a challenge for businesses looking to implement modern digital solutions.
The world leader in digital lending
As a result, Ax Finance expects to acquire more new customers this year than ever before. With a user base of approximately 50,000 people from over 35 countries, the company boasts 20 years of experience providing digital lending solutions to financial institutions around the world, including Société Générale (with banks in over 13 international subsidiaries), OTP We provide services to, etc. The Group (which includes 11 overseas subsidiaries in the CEE region), Vietnam’s VIB and VCB, Saudi Arabia’s Al Rajhi Bank, Thailand’s Bangkok Bank and Qatar’s QNB Group.
The company is also listed as a leader in: commercial loan origination and Retail loan origination System provider for QKS Group’s 2024 SPARK Matrix for Retail and Commercial Loan Origination Systems and recognized by 2024 Gartner® market guide For commercial loan origination solutions.
Its flagship product, Ax Credit Portal (ACP), is a configurable, modular, end-to-end digital lending platform that covers all stages of the credit lifecycle. The platform is cloud-agnostic and supports diverse client segments by offering a high degree of customization to meet specific client needs. Use code-free configuration tools to smoothly integrate with core banking systems and other third-party systems to ensure efficient data flow.
“One of our customers was able to reduce the retail loan process from days to minutes, so applying to this particular bank via a digital portal now takes days instead of days. That particular bank won an award for this new digital credit card solution because it was a game-changer in the market.” states.
In recognition of the company’s success, Ax Finance was selected as one of the upcoming finalists. SFF Fintech Excellence Awardin conjunction with the Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF).
Strengthen your digital lending operations with AI
One of the key highlights of ACP is the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. This technology further enhances automation, user efficiency, and customer experience.
“Many of the capabilities we have developed over the past 20 years have been accelerated and further enhanced by the introduction of AI,” Kneen said.
ACP’s innovative digital lending now integrates more than 10 services. AI application Credit lifecycle including customer risk profiling, micro-segmentation, facial recognition, identity verification, content extraction (payslip, financial), scoring and credit eligibility rules, sentiment analysis, harmful media, multi-class automated decision-making, EWS and delinquency prediction throughout.
Responding to ESG compliance demands
I touched your knees too The growing importance of sustainability in bankingfinancial institutions aim to comply with ESG standards. In response, Ax Finance ESG module within ACP This automates compliance checks during credit assessments, increasing efficiency and ensuring alignment with sustainability goals.
Mr. Neen provided examples of efficiency improvements and highlighted the role of the ACP ESG module in improving ESG screening efficiency. Fidelity Bank of Nigeria.
“Fidelity Bank of Nigeria has adopted an ESG module and now has 99.5% of its ESG requirements automatically reviewed by ACP,” Neen said.
“All of these automated checks mean real efficiency gains for them, and this module also ensures they can meet a bank’s own portfolio risk strategy.”
Integrated solutions for multinational organizations
Kneen added that recent updates to ACP have increased its ability to support multinational organizations, often seeking integrated solutions that can operate across multiple jurisdictions. It now not only provides a single platform that can handle multilingual, multicurrency, and multientity operations, but also allows for localized specialization.
“Many of the banks we work with are growing and I think an increasing number of them are looking for a single solution that supports multiple geographies,” Neen said.
“Currently, we have customers who have a single integrated platform that covers all their subsidiaries, but provides those subsidiaries with the ability to comply with local regulations. We have different data sources that we need to tap into, such as fraud databases, AML databases, etc. This varies from country to country, and the regulatory landscape varies from country to country, which we incorporated into later versions of the ACP. It’s the ability to have an integrated platform and still be able to localize it to individual markets or business segments.”
Mr. Kneen also highlighted the success of the leading European group in implementing technology in 11 countries in the corporate lending sector. A template was created that allowed headquarters to meet 80% of the group’s requirements, while the remaining 20% addressed local details and speeded up the implementation process in each country.
Ax Finance introduces the latest version of ACP, version 9.9. Backed by containerization technology,at this point This year’s Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF). The company will highlight its latest innovations in digital lending powered by AI, integrating ESG factors into the credit journey, and ways to accelerate loan origination, servicing, compliance and recovery.
register with this link Make an appointment to meet with an expert at Ax Finance’s booth at SFF.
