Fintech companies: The ideal talent pool for banks?

WHAT sets fintech companies apart from some of the biggest tech giants in the world is the fact that its employees have a better understanding of the world of finance — along with great technology skills.

As a result, banks struggling to find the right tech talent for their business could look towards fintech companies to fill the gap, either temporarily or permanently.

A recent report said that one of the biggest barriers to the success of fintech companies was the lack of fintech talent: In the study, Malaysia and Thailand were among the top countries to struggle to find tech talent, followed by Indonesia, Philippines, and Singapore.

Obviously, the fintech companies that are successful in the region do manage to source the right talent — although many of them do need to invest in educating their programmers and technologists about the industry.

According to the Bangkok Post, some of Thailand’s largest banks are therefore trying to forge beneficial partnerships with fintech companies in order to address their talent shortage in technology.

The country, like many of its neighbors, produces 400,000 computer engineers every year.

As a result, it doesn’t have the tech talent it needs to propel its digital transformation projects. The pool of tech talent fluent in banking and financial services is even smaller, which is a challenge for bankers looking to rapidly equip its business with digital tools and capabilities in order to meet customer expectations.

The solution? Partner up with fintech companies so you can leverage their talent pool. Thailand’s Bank of Ayudhya (BAY), for example, has forged relationships with 25 fintech companies so far, and expects that number to rise to 40 by the end of the year.

Other banking giants in Thailand are using the same strategy. Bangkok Bank’s Executive VP Kukkong Ruckphaopunt told local media that the partnership model is a key strategy for acquiring tech talent.

Wirawat Panthawangkun, Senior Executive VP of Kasikornbank, said KBank too is using a similar strategy to invest in tech firms to scout out tech talent from around the world.

Banks and financial services institutions in other parts of Asia are following suit — except China who produces eight million computer science graduates every year and only needs the occasional innovator or thought leader to accelerate its tech growth.

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