Richard Kelly, IDEO gives a sneak peak into the hidden world of Asian Finance…
In his talk Richard Kelly will share a provocation of what a next generation bank in Asia might look like, work like, and the implications for what a global next generation bank might look like.
In the western worlds we focus a lot on innovation from Silicon Valley and the regulations of Investment Banks on Wall Street. But and old advice say follow the money. And the money right now the money is in China and Shanghai.
The world is rebalancing to an Asian-centered world. Category change happens as a result of influences from outside. Asia is therefore the place to watch when it comes to determining how big the "financial services pie" will become, the kinds of values and behaviours that will create new opportunities for the industry as a whole, and re-thinking global finance for revenue growth, customer acquisition, and risk adjustment.
Background
A view from collectivist societies…
Drawing from our work across the Asian continent where the issue of relationship between people and money has arisen, we have identified one significant characteristic which we believe the next generation Asia bank could be built on – that of financial interdependence. Crucially, there does not seem to be a banking model in Asia that caters to this characteristic and it is therefore a brand new opportunity waiting to be explored and exploited.
In contrast to the West–where people’s relationship with money is individualistic and banking services are designed for financial independence–across Asia, we see financial interdependence where money flows readily and regularly between members of a network, be that a family, a clan, a community or a business circle.
For example, in Singapore, there is a tradition for children to give a proportion of their monthly income to their parents as a way of repaying the parents for all the sacrifices and investment the parents made bringing them up.
In India, financial transactions beyond immediate family within extended circles of friends and their families are common, often not involving any paperwork.
In Japan, we observed the workings of the neighbourhood loans systems which provides a trusted and intimate financial support networ, often not requiring the paperwork and security checks normally required by banks.
We think there is an opportunity for a new Network Bank which would cater to the needs and life goals of financially interdependent communities of people and businesses in Asia. And we believe it would have a number of benefits:
- Revenue growth
- Customer acquisition
- Risk adjusted cost of capital
Asia can teach the global financial world many lessons. There is an overall need to rethink banking for a new kind of bank to come into existence; a bank that enables people to bank together, one that strengthens networks by deepening connections between people and businesses through collective participation, and one that enables people to make the right decisions with their finances.
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