Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (hereafter “Ping An” or the “Group”, HKEx:2318; SSE:601318) announced that the Group’s subsidiary, Ping An Bank Co., Ltd. (hereafter “Ping An Bank“, SZ:000001) won the “Asia’s Best Digital Bank” award in Euromoney’s Awards for Excellence 2020. Ping An Bank is China’s first bank to receive this award. Previous winners include well-known international banks such as Citibank and DBS Bank.
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Founded in 1969, Euromoney is one of the most authoritative publications covering the world’s capital markets. Euromoney’s Awards for Excellence were established in 1992 and is the longest-running award series in the global banking industry. Due to its strict professional and independent selection principles, the Awards for Excellence are among the most coveted awards in the global banking industry. In 2020, nearly 1,000 banks participated in the awards.
Euromoney said, “Ping An Bank has disrupted itself, voluntarily and all but completely, from within. Taking its Ping An Pocket Bank app as an example, it had 89.5 million customers at the end of 2019, up 43.7% year on year. Of the total, 32.9 million were monthly active users, up 23.5% over the same period. Every number in China is big, but the data is still remarkable.”
Mr. Xie Yonglin, President and Co-CEO of Ping An Group, Chairman of Ping An Bank expects the future of banking to be digitalized, ecosystem-based, platform-oriented and more open. Through its pioneering efforts in digital banking, Ping An Bank aims to increase productivity and efficiency, reduce risk and cost, and innovate the business model further. Mr. Xie said, “We’re hoping to make continuous breakthroughs in digitalization to set a successful example for China and the world’s banking industry. By providing more professional and inclusive financial services, we will support the real economy, industries and people’s livelihoods.”
Under the Group’s “finance + technology” and “finance + ecosystem” strategies, Ping An Bank focuses on technological innovation to provide convenient, smart and comprehensive financial services. It uses various technologies to strengthen its digital and online operations capabilities and advance its digital transformation.
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To sustain its growth momentum in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ping An Bank has prioritized the development of its retail business. Tapping on the Group’s technological advantages, Ping An Bank developed smart services to provide customers with “contactless and fully online” financial services. In June 2020, users of the Ping An Pocket Bank app exceeded 100 million, an 11.8% increase from the beginning of 2020. With the resumption of work and production in China, Ping An Bank focused on resolving operational difficulties and high operational costs for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), using digital products to them effectively utilize financial resources. The Ping An Pocket Finance app for corporate customers, for example, offers SMEs financial and employee management services.
To optimize its internal operations, Ping An Bank continues to drive three foundational technology projects — data governance, data middle office and an artificial intelligence (AI) platform — to support middle and back-office digitalization, including smart finance, smart risk management, smart operations and smart marketing. The decision-making and management capabilities of the entire bank will be enhanced by replacing experience-driven operations with data-driven ones. Ping An Bank ensures operational continuity using different kinds of mobile apps, remote office systems and remote operating systems. As of June 2020, more than 30,000 employees had worked remotely using the remote office system, supported by nearly 7,500 technicians who are able to remotely conduct technology development, work collaboration, as well as operations and maintenance management and monitoring through various remote working tools.
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