FST Media: What are your priorities for the next 12 to 18 months?

Crespin: We are focused on exploiting the capabilities and data assets that have been invested and accumulated over the years. We have acquired leading capabilities in various areas but the application of these technologies has tended to be more narrowly-focused and experimental to accumulate experience. We will look towards expanding the scope and application of these capabilities as well as better integrating these capabilities to develop more comprehensive and impactful solutions that can drive significantly more business value. In particular, we want to better engage our client on a one-on-one basis by providing actionable insights through smart and innovative solutions.

FST Media: What technology or innovation is proving to be the single biggest game changer for the financial services industry?

Crespin: We do not see changes being the result of a single technology or innovation but more from the congruence and combination of new technologies. If we have to narrow down and pick on just a couple, we can certainly point to the rise of mobile devices, combined with new data analytical capabilities.
Similar to advent of internet banking some years ago, the proliferation of mobile devices and these new data analytical capabilities are already fundamentally changing how we can better understand our clients, how we can better deliver our products and services and how we can better interact and service our clients. It is creating new opportunities and challenges for the industry whilst giving rise to new entrants from outside the financial services industry.

FST Media: How are you leveraging big data and analytics to combat fraud and security risk?

Crespin: Advanced analytics are helping us to manage our business risks more effectively. We are increasingly analysing transaction history data sets for fraud analysis/anti-money laundering. The use of big data analytics in the field of anti-money laundering work is an example of how these technologies have enabled us to be significantly more effective.

In the past the bank was heavily reliant on the alertness of staff handling transactions on a case-by-case basis, the work was exponentially more difficult when fund transfers are broken down into smaller values and spread across different payment modes. Such techniques are now much less likely to succeed because analytical engines are now developed to detect unusual transaction patterns and linkages across a much larger set of transactional data from across multiple channels and sources. These technologies enable us to be able to focus its resources on exceptions with greater precision and results.

FST Media: How is DBS using innovation to acquire and retain the growing Gen Y customer base?

Crespin: (DBS) has always recognised the youth and young adults are more receptive to changes and new products, and this has naturally been a target segment for the bank. They are well-informed, connected with their peers and are also more vocal. We constantly seek to better understand this customer base and the advent of social media and data analytics have provided additional input to us, enabling us to better design, customise and rollout new products and services that appeal to this important segment. Being more tech-savvy, e-channels and mobile apps are also exploited to engage with this segment. 

FST Media: How will data generated by apps like the DBS Home Connect app benefit customers and help in acquiring new ones?

Crespin: DBS Home Connect app is Singapore’s first property resource app developed by a bank and we are pleased by the positive feedback received since its rollout.  It lets users calculate mortgage payments for their home purchases and check information on past transactions for similar properties and we believe it fills a gap in the market by equipping homebuyers with relevant information at an early stage of their search.

Buying a home is not a frequent activity for most and homebuyers are often faced with an information disparity. The app incorporates the latest financing rules, explanations and calculator in a simple user interface and this has been of a tremendous help for many homebuyers in determining their financing needs. As we understand better how the app is used by our clients, we may release additional enhancements to bring about better value to our customers.

FST Media: DBS has been using analytics to optimise its ATM operations. How is that progressing, and how have you measured its success?

Crespin: That has been a success and highlights how data analytics can help improve customer experience as well as operational efficiencies and excellence. In Singapore, 25 million transactions are conducted each month at more than 1,100 ATMs and our ATMs have one of the highest utilisation rates in the world. Any downtime means inconvenience for our customers.

The bank analyses withdrawal data from each ATM to forecast upcoming activity and the goal is to stock each ATM with enough cash to avoid running out – with as few reloading trips as possible. We assess the impact across various measures and so far, the results have been encouraging:

•    Cash-outs (i.e. empty ATMs) are down by more than 80 percent.
•    More than 30,000 hours of customer wait time has been eliminated.
•    The number of trips required to reload the network is down by 20 per cent.
•    The amount of leftover cash returned to the bank has decreased by more than 40 per cent.

FST Media: What information sources do you consider invaluable for your job, and why?

Crespin: With new technologies, regulations being introduced, and changes to the industry, industry-specific periodicals focused on financial services technologies are becoming a critical source of information on the latest developments, opportunities and possibilities. In an environment where bank executives are inundated with information, comprehensive and well edited periodicals certainly help by being able to provide additional input in a concise, well-packaged manner.

FST Media: What do you consider to be the greatest achievement of your career to date?

Crespin: The ‘DBS Wealth Continuum’ in which product and service offerings across the bank were organised and integrated to form a seamless client experience and deliver relevant solutions to clients at every stage of their wealth creation cycle certainly stands out.

While this initiative has been a game changer and had produced significant results in client satisfaction, customer growth, (assets under management) and financial performance, I hope that our next set of initiatives to be announced in the near future will bring about even higher achievements.

FST Media: With big data and analytics the biggest thing to impact the technology sector at the moment, what advice would you give aspiring data or analytics chiefs?

Crespin: Do not oversell and always be cognisant of readiness of other critical components in the data management lifecycle. Data analytics, while of powerful value, can only be as effective as its foundational elements – data sources, data governance, data quality, presentation and processes exists to exploit results of analytics, etc. Without foundational elements being ready, results may be inhibited.

However, readying these components require significant time and effort and neither can work start only when all the pieces are fully in place, as market conditions may change. There needs to be constant assessment, recognition and balancing of what can be achieved and how it relates to what we want to achieve in the future.

FST Media: Every leader has a legacy they wish to be remembered for, what is yours?

Crespin: Being able to get things done. I firmly believe we are at one of the few critical points of the industry in which the congruence of new technologies will bring about a new era of possibilities and growth in which DBS can be positioned to exploit and succeed in the future. I would like to believe that I’ve been able to muster up a winning team of diverse talents that has been able to make a difference.