Data analytics represent a significant prospect for banking incumbents who are only “scratching the surface” of what can be achieved when engaging with customers, according to DBS Bank.

The intelligent use of data analytics represents a significant prospect for banking incumbents who are only “scratching the surface” of what can be achieved when engaging with customers, according to Shefali Gupta, Senior Vice President of the DBS Improvement Program at DBS Bank.

In the lead up to FST Media’s The Future of Banking & Financial Services conference in Sydney, Gupta said that there is a “huge opportunity” for banks to improve their customer interaction by drawing on the data harvested from existing products and services, as well as ATMs.

“In Singapore we have some of the busiest ATMs in the world with approximately 20,000 cycles a month versus 2,000 for the average ATM in the United States,” Gupta said.

“By drawing on SAS’ business analytics, we have been able to reduce that number substantially by using predictive analytics… The key for us has been to stop thinking about banking as a series of transactions and to think about what the customer is trying to achieve.”

However, Gupta maintained that being innovative in the use of data is not just about meeting the demands of a growing millennial customer base. Rather, by implementing cognitive computing through new technologies like IBM’s Watson AI cognitive technology, banks across Asia Pacific can be more proactive in driving actionable insights.

“We firmly believe that the transformation that is currently taking place is from transaction-processing to information and knowledge,” Gupta said.

DBS’ Improvement Program was founded in 2009 on the mandate to change the nature of how DBS functioned as an organisation, with innovation emerging as a key focus as well as the bank reshaping its delivery of products and services.

“In the first four years of the program, a total of 203 projects were completed, which eliminated some 240 million hours of customer waiting time,” Gupta said.

“Over the last 6 years, we’ve made significant progress but if you ask any of the senior executive team, they would agree that it’s an ongoing journey and we still have a lot of work to do.”

Shefali Gupta will be speaking at FST Media’s upcoming The Future of Banking & Financial Services conference in Sydney, in addition to a distinguished panel of senior executives and thought leaders across financial services on November 10 and 11. For more information and to hear further insights, register your attendance here.