Business Strategy: Innovation in Banking, Part 1 - How Are Banks in Asia/Pacific Driving Innovation?

This IDC Financial Insights report analyzes how banks operating in the Asia/Pacific region view the role of innovation as part of their business strategy and the role IT has to and can play within that context. This report examines the key drivers, challenges, and benefits sought by banks when it comes to innovation, as well as the various approaches being applied. This document is a first in a series of three reports with the objective to answer the following questions:

• Report 1: How do banks approach innovation, and what is the role of the IT function?
• Report 2: What are the key success stories in the region?
• Report 3: What is the role of technology and service providers (SPs) in value cocreation?

Shawn Yip, senior analyst at IDC Financial Insights notes, "The game has changed. What started as a postcrisis race for market share has morphed into a pursuit for profitability. In this dynamic, innovation will play a strategic role in separating the wheat from the chaff. A clearly defined process framework to carry innovation from ideation to commercialization should best be paired with executive sponsorship to facilitate effective cross-functional collaboration. This will allow greater coherence and objectivism to be built into an otherwise subjective (and highly politicized) prioritization process."