HSBC CIO Işıl Funda Öney Babacan stated, “Fintechs, open banking initiatives, and new developments in these and similar aspects. products can create new SuperApp customer solutions,” referring to the popularity of mobile applications called SuperApp, which offer a variety of services ranging from messaging to shopping, payments to financial transactions, particularly in Asian and international markets. “Turkey has a lot of potential in this area,” she says.
“As a woman, I have always believed in myself; HSBC CIO Işıl Funda Öney Babacan, who supported her professional success with her words by saying, “Because my values were freedom, standing on one’s feet, producing, and always keeping my curiosity alive,” emphasizes that he owes his career to his wife’s egalitarian perspective as well as his own competencies.
Babacan talked about the place of women in professional life with Babacan, and at the same time, we got the opportunity to listen to her projects at HSBC. She expressed her belief that women and men can accomplish similar professions as long as they are supported.
Mrs Funda, You’ve been with HSBC Bank for over 5 years. What has changed in your team’s IT processes since then? We are particularly interested in the transformation of corporate processes during the pandemic process. – Despite the fact that you work in an industry that has long been acclimated to digital transformation, can you tell us if the epidemic has led you to adjust some of your processes and habits?
I joined HSBC as CIO because I handled the transformation of the IT infrastructure, which is the cornerstone of our bank’s strategy, from the beginning of IT. On the technical side, this effort comprised transitioning the main banking system to open systems, restructuring the data centers to provide optimum and full capacity redundancy, and relocating the major center to an environment designed and run as a genuine data center. In 2018, we completed this curriculum in 1.5 years. On the application side, there was the primary banking system, online banking, mobile banking, debit card, and ATM application, merging all data in a shared data warehouse, transferring manual workflows to the process application, and creating the treasury front office application. The most essential skill we gained from this program is the ability to run all of our services from our secondary data center for one week each year while maintaining continuity.
Security and sustainability are becoming increasingly important as technology connects the entire world, but our tolerance for disruption as customers has reached zero. In this regard, we have finished the first of the program to raise the degree of cyber security maturity, which is handled internationally, and I am glad to announce that we are the country that implemented the firsts in the group in order to satisfy the regulatory expectations in many areas. As with other banks, we strengthened our infrastructure to fulfill the needs of the BRSA and KVKK rules, particularly in 2020-21. Because we need to keep our customers’ information secure and in conformity with the rules. We know that when our clients believe that it is for their own interest and that the regulations protect them, they will disclose information more confidently, resulting in a more effective environment in which they can benefit from tailored financial services.
As HSBC, it was simple for us to transition to a work-from-home environment in March and prioritize employee health because we had already incorporated remote working into our business processes and technology infrastructure prior to the epidemic. We promptly added additional functionalities to our digital platforms to avoid disruptions in our clients’ services. Among these are significant advancements such as purchasing silver through mobile banking, sending swifts, and loan allocation, both in the individual area and on the corporate internet, such as the trade finance function.
One of our key priorities in recent years has been to enable our clients to do all transactions from their mobile devices. Now, technology and consumer dynamics necessitate delivering the service to the customer’s location via new platforms. In this regard, we have merged with new trader platforms (Forex, Ideal, Matrix). We implemented projects for document approval/instructions for our individual and corporate customers using mobile and internet banking, enrichment of investment products to better manage the existence of our primary and advanced groups, our priority group for our retail customers, and customer acquisition projects without visiting a branch.
Banks are rapidly turning into tech enterprises that provide financial services. To stay up with this shift, the Dev-Ops working style on the technology side must be established alongside the Agile Framework.
We joined HSBC’s global transformation, which began four years ago, at the beginning of 2021. One of the most crucial aspects of this process is cultural shift, which we began while working remotely during the pandemic. We have proceeded to a working model in which product-based teams include “business unit, HSBC IT, and vendor representatives/software,” with 65% of our software development teams transformed by 2021 and the remainder to be finished this year.
Before moving on from the financial industry, I’d want to inquire about the role of women in business, with reference to the significance of March. I note from your résumé that you joined the engineering faculty in the 1990s. It was not a valid circumstance, especially at the time, for girls to be steered or directed to engineering faculties. What led you to this conclusion? Do you believe you are still subjected to gender-based occupational categorization in comparison to that time period, and can you assess the point reached?
First and foremost, I am interested in Science and Mathematics teachings, so while I was researching my future options, I was drawn to “computer engineering” and “industrial engineering,” which were developing trends at the time. My father was a math teacher and a visionary who could see into the future and guided me toward a career in computer engineering. That is why I never felt engineering was only for men.
As a woman, I have always believed in myself since among my ideals were freedom, being able to stand on one’s own two feet, being creative, and maintaining my curiosity. In this regard, technology has been a very good tool for creativity, imagination, design, reshaping, and advantage. Gender-based occupational coding exists and continues to exist throughout the world. Because of the change in the language used in the culture, the ongoing stereotyping of roles and occupations from TV advertising to TV programs impacts both girls and boys. As a result, as women in technology, we must always be role models for girls.
Returning to the banking sector, where is HSBC in terms of new generation technology, and what is the position Turkey has reached?
Looking around the world, the API Management industry is estimated to reach $5 billion by 2023, according to recent study. Banks will become more transparent as a result of open banking. A digital wallet will be used in approximately 52% of all e-commerce transactions. By 2024, the necessity of cyber security will have increased, as will the expansion of banking through Fintechs as a platform, 11% growth in worldwide cloud spending, global digital banking, facial recognition, and voice biometrics becoming hygiene concerns, with a total value of $16.2 billion by 2025. Throughout this transformation, our goal at HSBC is to assist our customers in realizing their aspirations by providing safer, easier, and more personalized services. We have access to all technical materials. Furthermore, the regulatory framework for these has recently become operational all across the world, including in Turkey.
Cloud technologies are a main emphasis of both our HSBC global and Turkish initiatives in order to successfully leverage big data and increase agility. Increasing operational efficiency, preventing fraud, ensuring cybersecurity, eliminating non-profitable assets, improving employee and customer effectiveness, facilitating verification processes, credit tracking, and customer retention are all examples of how access to large-scale data and analytics can add value.
We have global relationships with all cloud providers, including Google, Amazon, Microsoft Azure, and Ali Baba. Machine learning is used extensively for risk, fraud, cyber security, and suspicious transactions. We anticipate that investments in this field will be made as quickly as possible, with the BRSA authorizing the local cloud for fundraising. Furthermore, the transition of microservices compatible with the cloud, which is on the agenda, particularly with the expansion of cloud infrastructures, is another current technology challenge that both HSBC Turkey and HSBC worldwide monitor and prioritize strategically.
We are also highly interested in the topic of blockchain, and we believe that we may find applications for it, particularly in international trade transactions and the monitoring of processes such as credit-risk that require history. We have shifted our attention to these opportunities because HSBC has worldwide international trade solutions.
Fintechs and open banking are two major subjects that will shape the sector’s future. Do you see fintech and open banking as a threat or a novelty to banks?
First and foremost, I believe that innovative Fintech solutions employed by bank clients will improve customer experience and happiness. Companies, in particular, will be able to manage their cash more quickly and effectively, thanks to quick and instant access to financial data and integration into their own systems. Furthermore, these creative solutions will lower firms’ operational expenses, improve service on digital platforms, and increase volume and income potential. The opening of innovation for banks will promote both cost optimization and new client acquisition procedures. Individuals will also be able to conduct financial transactions such as transfers, payments, shopping, and investing in their daily lives more safely, swiftly, and easily. As a result of a transparent, strong, and dynamic financial system in which productivity grows, product diversity is produced, and resources are utilised more effectively in both the financial and real sectors, the economy will gain greater added value. This will make it easier for our customers to find the most effective option.
SuperApp mobile applications, which offer a variety of services ranging from texting to shopping, payments to financial activities, are particularly popular in Asian and worldwide markets. With open banking initiatives, fintechs can develop new products and SuperApp customer solutions in this and related directions. Turkey has a lot of potential in this area.
There are also “GAFA Bank” formations across the world. Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon (GAFA) are all getting into the banking and payment sector. This formation will influence people’s perceptions of banking in the future. Indeed, we may be approaching a world in which these new formations will lead to the emergence of the notion of “TechFin” alongside the concept of Fintech. We will, as always, be a part of this fascinating, evolving, and expanding adventure together.
Finally, we’d want to learn about your ambitions and major projects for this year.
In 3-5 years, as the revolution accelerates, we will find ourselves in a completely different technological environment from now. The concept of the metaverse also indicates that this will be a significant transformation, comparable to the transformation of the universe we live in. Increasing connection speeds with technologies such as 5G, as well as business-transforming new technologies that we have discussed in recent years, will now be more accessible and available to improve the user experience in everyday life. The regulations also come out in a way that will make the activities to be made here safer in the customer’s advantage; while they initially come to us as severe policies and investment areas, they actually bring with them new prospects.
While digitalization, regulatory requirements, channel function improvement, and resilience are the primary focus areas, digitalization accounted for 40% of total project activity last year. In accordance with the HSBC global technology strategy goal, we have formed our Medium Term Technology Strategy on four major areas. Speed entails becoming more digital and lean in order to reduce time to market and stay ahead of the competition. Scale – With cloud technology, you can adapt rapidly and easily. Resilience entails making services more safe while also making them available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. People entails continuing to invest in our people through agile transformation.
HSBC’s IT agenda will feature Microservices and Cloud applications, API and Open Banking, Test Automation initiatives, and Blockchain application prospects during the next 1-3 years.
The compound annual growth rate of investments in female-led businesses climbed by 58.9%.
What are the contrasts, in your perspective, between being a female professional in the banking business, where many issues are more significant, and being in other sectors? How would you weigh the benefits and drawbacks of this topic for you?
The banking industry has always been at the forefront of development and human-centered initiatives. As a result, I believe I am always supported in my career journey by an approach that is free of gender discrimination.
Returning to the banking industry, the global female employee rate is 52%, whereas the Turkish rate is 62%. The global IT female employee rate is 28%, while the Turkish rate is 28%. I’ve always felt that when both men and women are supported, they can do similar things. According to a published survey, men constitute the significant majority of Fintech founders worldwide. It should be noted that women account for only 7% of the total pool. Women should be permitted to spend more time to themselves in order for these rates to improve in their favor. Even if it is not visible, this is due to better re-planning of time spent on duties at home and the obligations left to the woman.
I’d also like to provide some further facts. This month, I will be practicing positive discrimination against working women: According to the survey, the compound annual growth rate of investments in firms headed by women has climbed by 58.9 percent over the last five years, while the rate of increase in enterprises managed by males has increased by 29.1 percent. So, beneficial changes are taking place one by one. Unfortunately, achieving the ideal level of equality will take a long time. As a result, the efforts made by institutions like as HSBC around the world in this field should serve as a model for all businesses.
