Almost two-third of CEOs will increase their technology spend as they plan to tap into Asian markets and grow their businesses, according to a new survey.
The Financial Services Council surveyed 55 Australian CEOs in the financial services industry and found 62 per cent will increase their technology spend over the next two years to update systems and improve efficiencies in their operations, as well as to meet new regulatory demands.
“Improved technologies and innovation will help the financial services industry to operate more efficiently and to meet complex regulatory changes encompassed by the Stronger Super and FoFA reforms,” said John Brogden, CEO of the Financial Services Council.
“Australian financial services firms can gain efficiencies by exporting technology infrastructure into Asia and the global marketplace to help expand their footprint and leverage a single operating model across markets,” said Martin Spedding, executive director of DST Bluedoor.
The majority (80 per cent) of respondents believe technology will help deliver on innovation, with a focus on back-end systems to support new product development such as mobile apps and customer interface systems.
Fifty-five per cent of CEOs will focus on improving online banking services and 56 per cent will focus on developing and executing a mobile-based customer service strategy.
Due to the high operational costs in Australia, the survey found half of CEOs have offshored some services, including IT, to Asia to support their expansion in the region.
Basic IT support services and process-driven client record management are the main activities that CEOs have offshored. However, the majority still have their major strategic IT projects take place in Australia and are likely to continue to do so in the future.
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