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Sriram Muthukrishnan, group head of product management, global transaction services, DBS, explains how digitisation is accelerating the sustainability agenda.

Covid-19 has exposed gaps in global trade ecosystems, but there is no better time than now for industries and businesses to transform, says Daniel Lit, executive director for trade product management, global transaction services, DBS Bank

Since 2014, DBS’s transformation has been nothing short of impressive. Nearly every aspect of the way it operates and how it interacts with customers has been digitalized.

Supply chain finance is on the cusp of a revolution in Asia, shaken up by the increasing use of technology in transaction services. The potential growth in the region is huge — and DBS is well positioned to make the most of the opportunities offered by the market.

Global technology companies have changed many industries and banking has not been immune from this digital onslaught. But banks themselves have maintained their central role in a world increasingly dominated by tech companies. The key advantages banks have over technology companies include the solidity of branches, brand loyalty, and national purpose. Banks also have zero tolerance towards failure. Tech companies do many things well, and banks need to learn from them if they are to maintain their central position.

It’s lunchtime in Singapore. And like many people, you feel like going to a food court for some laksa, or mee goreng. Traditionally, you would have to find some money, walk out of the office, join the queue at the stall, pay for the food with your cash, wait to pick it up and then go find a table. It’s a standard process. But DBS has come up with a better way through DBS FasTrack. Now, all you need to do is order on your smartphone, be notified when your food’s ready, walk up to the stall and collect your food. No queue, no wait, and perhaps most importantly, no cash. This is the Uber of lunchtime.

Many banks pay lip service to innovation, but none has embedded it as deeply into its operations as DBS.

John Laurens leans back in his chair and looks out across the Singapore skyline. “Everything in the world has changed so much over the last 100 years, but there are fundamental aspects of trade finance that remain stubbornly anchored to the past,” he says. “Sure, there are new platforms and technologies but, fundamentally, documentation that is still in use today would be familiar to people in the 19th century.” For some banks and their clients, such familiarity might seem a comfort. But it clearly makes DBS’s head of transaction banking uncomfortable. Innovation for DBS is a matter of survival. And in the world of transaction banking the bank is aiming to be one step ahead of its rivals, two steps ahead of its clients and, as far as possible, in front of the disruption that is coming to this most traditional form of banking.