‘Digital lipstick’ will not make banks ‘sexy’ enough to become tech companies
December 04, 2018
DBS Bank’s chief innovation officer Neal Cross has warned the audience at Fintech Connect 2018 that European banks are getting digitisation and open banking completely wrong by failing to adequately address customer pain points.
Impact banking: From apes to apps
September 19, 2018
Neal Cross brought a range of unusual experiences to his job as chief innovation officer at DBS, one of the world’s most impressive banks for digital ideas. His desire to disrupt and transform doesn’t stop at the bank – it extends to Sumatran orangutans.
Neal Cross is driving innovation forward for DBS by benchmarking it against tech and e-commerce giants.
April 10, 2018
He’s taught tai chi and kung fu, developed computer games, poured his heart and soul into running social enterprises and even once worked as a deejay.
So you imagine what sort of quirks to expect when you meet DBS’ chief innovation officer Neal Cross.
For starters, he’s got a reputation when it comes to his dress sense, breaking all stereotypes of high-powered banking executives, by well, showing up in shorts.
How digitisation is paying for DBS
March 07, 2018
In November DBS unveiled a technology platform in Singapore to which about 70 partners have connected over 150 applications. DBS customers eyeing a home on PropertyGuru, an online estate-agency, can check their eligibility for a loan and start applying. At Homage, which provides care for the old, you can redeem DBS credit-card reward points for an assessment of needs. Neal Cross, DBS’s chief innovation officer, calls this a “standard tech-company model”, following the examples of Amazon, Alibaba and the rest. But most banks still only aspire to creating such a platform. DBS says its one is the biggest anywhere.
DBS’ Innovation Chief Neal Cross: “Singaporeans need a bigger risk appetite”
June 03, 2017
It takes much bravery and wackiness to be the only person to be dressed in khaki shirt and pants in a formal event where the rest of the 600 attendees were in suits.
That’s what DBS Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) Neal Cross did at the 47th St Gallen Symposium (SGS) that was held in early May.
Besides Education Minister Ong Ye Kung, Cross was another speaker from Singapore who stood out.