SAP More Than Doubles Sales in Asia Pacific Japan in Banking and Insurance Industries, Expanding Market Presence

SINGAPORE, March 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Across the Asia Pacific Japan region, the financial services sector, including banking and insurance, embraced technology investments in a big way in 2013. This was the biggest year yet for SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) in these industries, outperforming 2012, the previous top year, and contributing to the company's double-digit growth in non-IFRS software and software-related service revenue at constant currency in the region.

A series of industry developments in banking and insurance has aligned to create an atmosphere of significant change: the rise in use of mobile devices by customers and employees, growing customer expectations for service and personalization and an increasingly competitive and globalized industry landscape. For customers, SAP offerings solve complex operational challenges and unite organizations to unlock growth opportunities and better serve customers. The company's record increase in revenue in 2013 drove what SAP sees as substantial market gain.

"The financial services sector has long been a cornerstone of our business at SAP in the Asia Pacific Japan region, and this sector is a key focus of our drive to deliver innovative products which help customers solve real problems," said Andrew Pitcher, senior vice president and general manager, Financial Services and Strategic Industries, SAP Asia Pacific Japan. "In these dynamic times we believe our record revenue in 2013 speaks to the value our customers see in our offerings. Looking ahead, our customers are looking for ways to simplify their operations, and so we expect the SAP Financial Services Network and our cloud offerings continue to garner greater interest from customers."

Highlights of the sector include:

• More than 20 banks chose to purchase SAP solutions last year, including five major sales
• 10 insurance companies opted for SAP offerings, including multiple core insurance selections 
• Significant market gains in banking in Australia and New Zealand, and in insurance in Korea

China: Agricultural Bank of China
Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), one of four tier 1 banks in China, selected SAP® Adaptive Server Enterprise and SAP® IQ software over a major competitor to support the real economy and synergistic development in country and urban areas. With SAP, ABC expects to support its business strategy built on capitalizing on the comprehensive business portfolio and extensive distribution network based on the advanced IT platform.

India: Adarsh Credit Co-operative Society Ltd
Taking steps toward its contribution to drive financial inclusion in India, Adarsh Credit Co-operative Society Ltd deployed SAP software to support its vision of offering a seamless, personalized and contextually relevant functionality at the right time to its members any time, any place across India. A leading multi-state credit co-operative society, Adarsh Credit Co-operative Society helps raise the social and financial status of its members by teaching saving habits while also providing technical and financial support. With the SAP implementation, Adarsh will be able to offer customers a fast, easy and convenient way to conduct bank transactions in a secure, user-friendly and cost-efficient application platform.

"The adoption of SAP mobile technology will provide an enriched experience to all the members of Adarsh Credit," said Himanshu Shah, chief technology officer, Adarsh Credit. "It supports our broader aim to catalyze the state of financial inclusion in India and empower the low income population with simplified cash collection procedures and secure transactions conducted over mobile devices."

New Zealand: Kiwibank
Kiwibank, a wholly owned subsidiary of New Zealand Post and the country's largest locally-owned bank, has chosen solutions from the SAP® for Banking portfolio to serve more customers and enable its IT systems for the bank's next wave of expansion. With its core banking implementation, Kiwibank aims to enable long-term, sustainable growth, lower risk and strengthen its strategic significance as a premier financial services provider to New Zealand. SAP solutions for banking will support Kiwibank's processes and help improve the customer experience for retail-banking products and services. The SAP solutions also introduce enterprise-wide standardized processes designed to increase efficiencies and lower operational costs. With the new platform, Kiwibank can also expand its portfolio of financial services.

"We are looking to the future growth of the bank and to make sure we have the right back-office systems and infrastructure to support our strategic plan," said Paul Brock, chief executive, Kiwibank. "The core system upgrade project will take place progressively to avoid any disruption to existing services, but ensure the bank has the capability to manage growth and increasingly-complex technological advances in the banking industry."

Vietnam: VietinBank and VPBank
VietinBank is a state-owned Vietnamese bank and one of the country's largest publicly listed companies. It wants to become one of the most modern and effective financial and banking groups in and outside the country. To realize this vision, it wants to become customer-focused and empower staff with information so that they can be successful. The bank chose SAP for its enterprise data warehouse needs. With SAP solutions, the bank intends to lay a robust and reliable database and technology foundation to support its ambitious growth and help employees better know their customers.

Vietnam Prosperity Bank (VPBank) is one of 12 leading banks in Vietnam, with an aim to become one of the top three joint-stock retail banks in the country by the year 2017. To achieve this, VPBank chose SAP for its strong credibility in applications and growing ambition in Vietnam as a technology leader for the financial services industry. SAP solutions will enable the bank to improve its financial consolidation and reporting, speed up planning and budgeting cycle and strengthen human capital management capability, thus building strong back-end foundation for rapid and sustainable growth in the coming years.

Expanded Role for Pitcher
SAP today also announced that Andrew Pitcher, who has led the company's financial services efforts in the region, will take on an expanded role across public services, telecommunications and retail in addition to financial services. In his new role as senior vice president and general manager of Financial Services and Strategic Industries in SAP Asia Pacific Japan, Pitcher is managing a region-wide team that provides end-to-end support to major banks, insurance companies, financial institutions, governments, healthcare institutions and others.

"Under Andrew's leadership SAP has reached a record number of financial services customers in the region and expanded our market reach," said Adaire Fox-Martin, President, SAP Asia Pacific Japan. "The public services, telecommunications and retail industries are a natural fit for his customer-first approach."

For more information, visit the SAP Newsroom.

About SAP
As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 253,500 customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

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