Dubai A leading technology applications company, SAP, plans to double the share of banking in its global industry portfolio by 2015.

That would mean increased investment in the banking sector by focusing on issues that have emerged in the last few years amid the global economic crisis. These include regulatory compliance, cost reduction and customer centricity, according to Simon Paris, global head of banking at SAP.

Obviously there is nothing more important to a bank customer than knowing that the bank is well managed from risk, regulatory and compliance perspectives.

"We have seen banks going bust, we've seen too much capital being tied up against risk-weighted assets and not enough money being put into the economy," Paris said.

"So, working as we do so heavily with banks on Basel II and Basel III, SAP is helping [banks] become better run," and reassuring the customers their money is safe, Paris told Gulf News.

Benefits

When it comes to cost and complexity takeout, an area that SAP is helping banks with, it benefits both the customer and the bank.

"[Benefits of reduction] of costs and complexity can be passed on to the customers," Paris said. "It also means that banks can be much more agile. If banks want to make a new product, they can take anything up to six months to make the new product and have the systems capable. We can reduce six months to six days and six days to a day. That is very compelling for end consumers. It also means as a branch manager or as a wealth manager or an investment banker I can consider products for me, and pricing for me."

Looking at a customer holistically is also what the banks are working on with the aid of technology. For example, Paris points out, if a customer's current account gets overdrawn by €100 (Dh480) they don't charge him €100 in commissions and fees because they happen to know that he has, for example, a mortgage, a credit card, a pension and a savings scheme. And likewise, engaging with his bank, via the branch or the call centre or mobile or via the internet, or Twitter should not affect how the bank sees the customer.

"I think many banks recognise this and many of them are on programmes, which they describe as ‘one client one bank.' So, they no longer irritate because they [don't] have a product view. They don't charge [the customer] that overdraft because they see [him] holistically."

But while customers are being viewed holistically, and the several choices that technology helps to offer can at times be overwhelming for them. So how do you or the banks make sure that it does not become so?

"The answer actually lies in the question, which is technology is only overwhelming if you force it upon the consumers," Paris said. "When people talk about the consumerisation of IT, it means that—that I can engage with the person I am interacting with."