During a “Meets the Experts” panel later on Monday, Siam Commercial Bank and Publicis Sapient unveiled SCB Tech X, a platform-as-a-service provider that will serve SCB and other banks in the region.

Trirat Suwanprateeb, the chief executive officer of SCB Tech X, explained that the Thai bank’s previous attempts at digital business transformation involved adding modern technological capabilities into the current banking structure – but didn’t change the paradigm or take enough risks.

“It’s required to rethink, ‘What does it mean to be a bank and how should we compete in the new world?’” he said.

Suwanprateeb said SCB Tech X will deliver innovative digital technologies and capabilities to create value and develop new businesses – meeting the needs of consumers and competing globally. They want this joint venture to be among Asia’s best fintech platform players, helping to bring the next generation of banking services in Southeast Asia.

Jonathan Sharp, the chief technology officer of SCB Tech X, said they are modernizing the core banking architecture of their digital banking services, deploying platforms directly in the cloud, investing in accelerators and developing new products quickly.

“We’ll be able to offer our food ordering and delivery services, our online travel agency services, our blockchain-based loyalty services for that next wave of SCB^X customers who want to capture their own market opportunities in the region,” Sharp said. “In that sense, we really are transforming into much more than just another fintech or another system integrator for that matter. We see Tech X as the region’s fastest moving platform-as-a-service company.”

Dave Murphy, the head of financial services for Publicis Sapient, said incumbent banks can learn from SCB’s story. For instance, SCB’s decision to create a food-delivery app represents its choice to rethink how they engage with their customers.

Jane Fraser, the chief executive officer of Citi, called for the global financial community to confront the complexities the new world of digital money in two crucial ways: move with speed and act in partnership.

During her “View from the Top” session on Tuesday, day two of Sibos, she said it’s imperative that the financial sector doesn’t lose the ability to innovate with urgency as we emerge from the pandemic. She argued this is one reason the industry must transition to the ISO 20022 standards for payments data globally.

“I know that for some of us this transition isn’t going to be easy. It represents a huge investment of time and resources,” she said. “But in this digital world, SWIFT has to start delivering it at an even faster pace, or we’re going to risk becoming obsolete.”

Fraser said the financial community needs to keep the gates open to fintechs and big tech, in part because financial institutions need to engage with customers where they conduct business in an age of digital platforms.

“We are all in this together. Now there are many areas where we go head-to-head. This isn’t one of them,” she said. “Our collaboration and cooperation is precious, and we’re all equal partners here regardless of the size of our institution or the countries in which we operate.”

According to Fraser, the probable emergence of central bank digital currencies and cryptocurrencies as a regular method of payment highlight the importance for acting in partnership.

Rather than having individual banks develop their own cryptocurrencies, she suggested that the regulated sector work with central banks to develop innovative models for digital currencies. That would mean central banks, commercial banks, fintechs, big techs and crypto companies that embrace regulation working together.

Distributed ledger technology (DLT) and potential disintermediation were recurring topics at Sibos 2021. During a “View from the Top” session on Wednesday, day three of Sibos, an interviewer posed the somewhat provocative question of whether this technology might one day render central securities depositories obsolete.

He asked Lieve Mostrey, chief executive officer of Euroclear, whether she sees DLT as a threat to her business and how she is embracing it.

An engineer by training, Mostrey expressed deep interest in the topic and hope that DLT could connect everyone to the same ledger – without limitations or the need for reconciliation. This might usher in a new era of transparency and efficiency. While appreciating this future potential, she sees the transition as a major challenge.

“Is it attractive for an insurer to go on a digital ledger if there are very few investors connected to it? And what will drive an investor to connect to a new environment if there are very few insurers on it?” she asked.

Mostrey said incumbents like Euroclear see this as an opportunity to be amongst early adopters who can facilitate this transition, which will require interoperability between the old and new worlds.