Creating Competitive Edge In A Ever Changing World

C Co om mp pe et ti it ti iv ve e a ad dv va an nt ta ag ge e t th hr ro ou ug gh h s se er rv vi ic ce e i in nn no ov va at ti io on n

With the introduction of �smart’ cards and �smart’ terminals, Banks now have the capabilities which

use to be exploited by the largest smart-card users in the world – the Telcos. Telcos have over the

years innovate what they can do with the �smart’ SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards ranging from

contacts information, SMS mailboxes, games and on-demand applications such as live stock quotes,

video streaming to electronic wallets, etc. to increase its subscriber spending.

Banks are now able to leverage on these features of the smartcard to have multiple applications

residing on the smart card and localized storage of information to create customized offerings or

personalized services for card holders. This allows Banks to create one-to-one marketing program,

tracks consumer spending patterns more efficiently and offer cross-selling opportunities at the point-

of-sale through the download of vouchers or promotions. At the same time, utilizing the ability to

perform off-line transactions, Banks can be more business friendly to merchants by instituting variable

floor limits so as reduce transaction time while managing credit and fraud risks, especially in fast-food

outlets where quick service turn-over is of paramount importance.

As highlighted above, with customers’ increasing demand for greater convenience and service level, a

simple card payment transaction no longer suffice to fulfill customer needs. More complicated and

complex transactions incorporating loyalty program, privilege program, voucher program,

personalization program, etc. together with card payment transaction is going to be the norm in the

near-future.

In order to achieve the above goals, Banks need to have an intelligent transaction platform which

supports a key concept termed Active Transaction Routing (ATR) which allows a single �composite

transaction’ to carry multiple constituent transaction messages. These messages can then be

composed into various combinations to create a wide variety of unique services. With this platform,

the Banks are equipped with the flexibility of implementing new applications and complex business

rules that extend beyond the Banks’ hosts to third party service providers, etc. with minimal

customization to back-end hosts. This capability and agility to create new services will not only

enhance revenue or reduce costs but will also further strengthen the bank’s competitive edge.