Banking & Payments Asia announces winners of Trailblazer Awards 2013

Mar 16, 2013 16:00 JST

Source: VRL

SINGAPORE, Mar 16, 2013 - (ACN Newswire) - Banking & Payments Asia (BPA), Asia's leading journal for retail banking and payments announced the winners of its annual Trailblazer Awards.

In its fourth year, the Trailblazer Awards maintain their growth momentum with over 40 financial institutions from Asia Pacific participating, sending us over 130 submissions for awards across the various categories including product excellence, channel excellence, service excellence, process excellence and strategy excellence.

Thomas Zink, editor of Banking and Payments Asia, said: "It is amazing to see this programme growing so fast from year to year with an increasing number of smaller domestic banks coming up with really innovative ideas. This year, we saw a more even distribution of initiatives across our main categories, with most submissions in the areas of channels, products, and service. I believe this is a clear indicator that the industry in Asia is maturing and service quality as well as interaction with the customer is becoming the differentiator in the competition."

The 2013 programme came with some changes. First and foremost, the expansion of the panel of judges to independent industry experts with longstanding expertise of Asia's retail financial services industry. The new panel was actively involved in the evaluation process guaranteeing the independence and transparency of the programme.

For the first time in the history of the awards, BPA awards an individual for his/her achievements in his organisation and beyond. Zink explains: "We were surprised by the amazing stories the candidates had to tell. I believe we have really found an outstanding Trailblazer of the Year 2013 and I am particularly proud that he comes from a smaller bank from an emerging market. Dato' Sri Zukri Samat from Malaysia's Bank Islam is an outstanding personality leading his bank with vision, skill and values. Under his helm, the bank returned from the brink of financial collapse to become one of Malaysia's leading Islamic banks, driving the country's development to Asia's Islamic banking hub."

Banking and Payments Asia Trailblazer Awards 2013 Winners

Service Excellence Awards:

- Service Excellence in Customer Experience: DBS Bank (Singapore)
- Service Excellence in Mass Affluent Banking: Kotak Mahindra Bank (India)
- Service Excellence in Merchant Acquiring: Citibank (Singapore)
-- Special Commendation: Global Payments
- Service Excellence in SME Banking: Alliance Bank (Malaysia)
- Service Excellence in Service Innovation: Maybank (Malaysia)

Product Excellence Awards:

- Product Excellence in Prepaid Payment: Western Union
-- Special Commendation: Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (Philippines)
- Product Excellence in Credit Cards: OCBC Bank (Singapore)
-- Special Commendation: Taishin Bank (Taiwan)
- Product Excellence in Debit Cards: Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore)
- Product Excellence in NFC and Contactless Payment: DBS Bank (Singapore)
- Product Excellence in E-Commerce: Citibank (Singapore)
- Product Excellence in P2P Payment: Kotak Mahindra Bank (India)
- Product Excellence in Payment Innovation: Bank of Ayudhya (Thailand)

Strategy Excellence Awards:

- Strategy Excellence in Business Model Innovation: Taishin Bank (Taiwan)
- Strategy Excellence in Third Party Partnerships: OCBC Bank (Singapore)
-- Special Commendation: Standard Chartered Bank (China) and Alipay (China)
- Strategy Excellence in Customer Engagement Culture: Citibank (Singapore)
- Strategy Excellence in Financial Inclusion: UnionBank of the Philippines (Philippines)

Channel Excellence Awards:

- Channel Excellence in Branches: KASIKORNBANK (Thailand)
-- Special Commendation: DBS Bank (Singapore)
- Channel Excellence in Internet Banking - Overall: Maybank (Malaysia)
- Channel Excellence in Internet Banking - Account Management: Maybank (Malaysia)
- Channel Excellence in Internet Banking - Online Sales: Standard Chartered Savings Bank (Korea)
- Channel Excellence in Mobile Banking - Overall: DBS Bank (Singapore)
- Channel Excellence in Mobile Banking - Payments: ANZ (Australia)
- Channel Excellence in Mobile Banking - Value Added Services: DBS Bank (Singapore)
- Channel Excellence in Mobile Banking - Financial Inclusion: Beam (India)
-- Special Commendation: Bank Islam (Malaysia)
- Channel Excellence in Social Media: Bank of the Philippine Islands (Philippines)
- Channel Excellence in Multi Channel Integration: CIMB Bank (Malaysia)

Process Excellence Awards:

- Process Excellence in Customer Centricity: Bank Danamon (Indonesia)
-- Special Commendation: Standard Chartered Bank (Malaysia)
- Process Excellence in Loan Origination: Commonwealth Bank (Indonesia)
-- Special Commendation: Standard Chartered Savings Bank (Korea)
- Process Excellence in Collection and Debt Management: CIMB Bank (Malaysia)
-- Special Commendation: Citibank (Singapore)
- Process Excellence in Risk Management: Maybank (Malaysia)

Service Provider Excellence Awards:

- Service Provider Excellence in Core Banking: CIMB Bank (Thailand) and Silverlake Axis
- Service Provider Excellence in Application of Analytics: OCBC Bank (Singapore), Beyond Analysis and Robinsons
- Service Provider Excellence in Virtualisation: Alliance Bank (Malaysia) and IBM

Trailblazers of the Year 2013

- Trailblazer of the Year 2013 (Institution): DBS Bank (Singapore)
- Trailblazer of the Year 2013 (Individual): Dato' Sri Zukri Samat, managing director at Bank Islam (Malaysia)

About Banking & Payments Asia

BPA is VRL Financial News' flagship publication in the Asia Pacific region and provides high-quality editorial coverage including case studies, market strategies, country surveys and interviews with focus on key issues in private banking, retail banking, cards and payments. In conjunction with VRL's established international titles such as Private Banker International & Retail Banker International, Banking & Payments Asia offers insights into the regional and global developments that impact Asia.

The BPA Trailblazer Awards programme is organised by VRL Financial News - a unique global brand renowned for innovative, independent thinking in financial services and professional services markets. We offer over 25 years' experience in the provision of authoritative, valued-added information, research and analysis via newsletters, news services and magazines, research reports, conferences and other events.

About the BPA Trailblazer Awards

The programme is a tribute to the best-of-breed players in retail banking and payments in Asia Pacific. Above all, it is designed to be a fair and objective benchmark for the industry. The awards have been created to identify best practice initiatives that are setting new standards for the retail banking industry in Asia and around the world.

The judging criteria include the ability of institutions to demonstrate a clear and unique strategy to grow their business, domestically and/or regionally; banks that have made the most investment in people and systems to develop their business; banks showing the most innovation in products/services; banks with demonstrably superior client services; institutions that have strengthened and extended the global reach of their brands: and banks which have demonstrated a strong business performance.

From the nominations, two to three institutions or individuals have been short-listed for each award. The final selection will be made by BPA's judging panel, comprising independent industry experts, such as -
- John Meinhold, a global partner in A.T. Kearney;
- David Cavell, formerly a member of the general management team of UK Cooperative Bank, and is now a freelance adviser with an exceptional expertise of distribution channels and cards;
- Richard Hartung, who has over 20 years of experience in the payments & consumer financial services industry;
- Matthew Dooley, managing director at Connected Thinking Ltd, who was head of digital experience at HSBC's global commercial banking team. He was responsible for leading the strategic vision and business development for leveraging digital channels and differentiating the brand through a better customer experience;
- Titien Ahmad, regional director at VRL Financial News, is a seasoned observer of the financial services industry, having covered business strategies and trends in Asia-Pacific for more than a decade; and
- Thomas Zink, editor of Banking & Payments Asia.

For more information about the awards, please go to:
http://www.bankingandpaymentsasia.com/event/banking-payments-asia-trailblazer-awards/

Contact:

Thomas Zink
Editor, Banking & Payments Asia
VRL
Tel: +65 6383 4688 
thomas.zink@vrlfinancialnews.com.sg

Rosemary Pang
Media Relations
VRL
Tel: +65 6383 4688
rosemary.pang@vrlfinancialnews.com.sg

Source: VRL
Sectors: Cards & Payments, Daily Finance