Integro Technologies Interview

1. Integro Technologies vision was to create "On Demand Financial Solutions" to help financial institutions differentiate themselves, manage their risks and improve their operational efficiency dramatically. What are the biggest concerns that financial institutions face today and how does Integro Solution help address the concerns?
Integro Technologies Pte Ltd is in the business of providing banking solutions to help banks better manage risks and improve their operational efficiency.
Banking business is essentially risk management business. In other words, banks make their money by making good loans and lose greater money by making bad loans. The biggest concerns that financial institutions face today are efficiency of their operation as well as risk management capability. Furthermore, there is tremendous time pressure to address these concerns because of BASEL II compliance and the competition by international banks as a result of banking deregulation (Note: Basel II is the international accord on risk managements standards and capital requirements. The accord originates from the bank for international settlements based in basel, Switzerland)Integro understands these concerns very well as it was founded by a senior ex-banker. Its philosophy is "systems designed by bankers for bankers" and has many professionals who have previously worked in the banking industry.In fact, its flagship product is the SmartLender Credit Risk Management Suite which is an end-to-end integrated platform for credit processing, collateral and limits management as well as BASEL II compliance. This product suite is unique in the sense that it is highly sophisticated, comprehensive and integrated whereas more of the contemporary products tend to be piece-meal in nature. It is currently a leading brand in Asia with several regional and international clients. It also won the APICTA 2004 Merit Award (Financial Application) and recently the MIS ASIA IT Excellence 2007 (Change Management) through one of its regional clients (OCBC).

2. When did Integro started branching out of Singapore?
Within 6 months since its incorporation, Integro got its first client in Indonesia. Since then Integro has been active in the ASEAN region

3. Apart from Malaysia and Thailand, has Integro penetrated any other markets yet? If not, any plans to?
Yes, Indonesia as mentioned above. Integro is now actively developing business in Taiwan, China and the Philippines.

4. What do you think made the SmartLender project at OCBC award winning?
I think the main reasons are that it is a well-run complex project that involves numerous people, process and technology issues. The benefits are substantial. On the cost savings alone, the bank estimates that it will save about S $12m over the next five years.

5. What were the challenges faced during the implementation of the SmartLender project?
The challenges include obtaining buy-ins from middle management and line personnel, process standardization, change management, scope containment as well as technological complexities. These have been overcome through strong project planning and execution, support by Top Management, experienced and committed personnel as well as excellence team work.

6. From your opinion, do you think the IT-based application/products is oversaturated in Singapore? If yes, how do you maintain your market share?
No, the progress in technology as well as business innovation often makes the exiting IT-based applications inadequate if not obsolete. Having said that, please note that currently 58% of Integro’s business comes from overseas and going forward we expect this proportion to increase. The interesting thing is that most of these Asian banks are able to leapfrog to the latest business and IT platform by leveraging on IT product vendors like Integro. Our objective is to make SmartLender the dominant player in Asia.

7. What advice would Integro give to new comers that want to start up their own business using their own IT-based products?
They must first of all have innovative IT products that can address customers’ concerns and are difficult to imitate. Then they must have the right marketing and the necessary financial resources.

8. Are there any potential partnerships with Singapore based companies that Integro may be interested in? How should interested parties approach you?
As a company operating in the region, our partners are mostly from the region or international players. However, if there are Singapore-based companies that can complement us we will be happy to enter into any win-win partnership. Such companies will know how to contact us, if they have not already done so.

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