Hong Kong Bank Customers Ready to Embrace Artificial Intelligence and Automation in Digital Banking - Unisys Banking Insights Survey

HONG KONG and BLUE BELL, Pa., April 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- New research from Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) into the Hong Kong banking industry reveals that Hong Kong consumers are willing to embrace new bank services based on emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning. They are moderately willing to support data sharing in an open banking environment, but only if privacy and security concerns are addressed. 

Unisys APAC Banking Insights – Banking on the CX Factor is a study about the attitudes of banking customers in Hong Kong, Australia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan. This year's report explores how consumers feel about banks using AI to assess eligibility for credit cards and home loans, as well as sentiment toward banks sharing data with non-bank entities to offer new services.

Customer Experience
The top annoyance for Hong Kong bank customers is long queues, cited by 53 percent of respondents – the highest of the five countries surveyed. However, the biggest change in the last year is the percentage of people who are most frustrated when an "online" service needs to be completed by printing out a document or visiting a branch has doubled from seven to 15 percent.

"Hong Kong bank customers are annoyed by bank queues and are increasingly frustrated when transactions can't be finished to completion online. To move more customers to digital services many banks need to improve the functionality of their digital services to enable completed transactions, and provide an omnichannel experience so that customers can start a transaction in one place and pick it up in another without having to start over. Artificial intelligence and machine learning can help banks deliver more targeted and relevant online services to their customers," said Richard Parker, vice president financial services, Unisys Asia Pacific.

Balancing Artificial Intelligence with the Human Touch
The survey reveals that Hong Kong consumers have an increasing appetite for tech innovations to enable digital bank services – depending on the type of transaction. Sixty percent of Hong Kongers are comfortable with their bank using software and algorithms to assess online credit card applications, but only 31 percent are willing to use this for home loans.

"The Unisys Banking Insights findings suggest there is a great opportunity for Hong Kong banks to use smart software to lead decision making for commodity products such as credit cards. But currently consumers are less willing to use this for life events such as home loan applications which involve larger financial amounts and emotional involvement," said Parker.

Readiness for Open Banking
Open Banking allows banks to share data with other organizations in order to offer new services to customers and new revenue streams for the banks. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) issued its proposed approach to Open API for banking for industry consultation in January 2018¹. Thirty-eight percent of Hong Kongers support their bank sharing their personal data with other companies to access financial products. However, 33 percent don't support it, citing concerns about privacy and the ability of the bank and third party to secure their data.

"For Open Banking to really take off in Asia, banks must address customer concerns about how they protect their customer data – not just in the bank, but across all of the departments, partners and agencies in the value chain. Doing business in the 21st century requires dynamic software that adapts to business trends and evolves with security concerns. Unisys' retail banking delivery platform, Elevate™, is secured with Unisys Stealth^®, an identity-based microsegmentation security software that allows banks to microsegment and conceal critical assets and establish encrypted channels for secure user, application and system communication," said Parker.

Unisys' new Elevate retail banking solution is an end-to-end, digital banking software platform and suite of applications designed to help financial institutions deliver an instantly secure, omnichannel banking experience to their customers. Importantly, this means customers will be able to pay their bills on the go, transfer funds and apply for loans and mortgages anytime, anywhere – regardless of whether they are doing so on a mobile device or tablet, via an internet browser or inside a branch. The platform incorporates a high-level of security, as built-in adaptive biometric and data analytics securely identify customers, authenticate access and validate transactions. More than 500 financial institutions worldwide rely on Unisys solutions. For more information on Unisys' financial services capabilities, please visit http://www.unisys.com/industries/financial-services.

For more information, download the full Asia Pacific Banking Insights survey results and infographics here.

1 - Consultation Paper on Open API Framework for the Hong Kong Banking Sector – January 2018

Research Methodology
Research firm OmniPoll conducted the online survey in November 2017, polling nationally representative samples of at least 1,000 people aged 18+ years in each of: Hong Kong, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan.

About Unisys
Unisys is a global information technology company that builds high-performance, security-centric solutions for the most digitally demanding businesses and governments on Earth. Unisys offerings include security software and services; digital transformation and workplace services; industry applications and services; and innovative software operating environments for high-intensity enterprise computing. For more information on how Unisys builds better outcomes securely for its clients across the Government, Financial Services and Commercial markets, visit www.unisys.com.

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