Piyush Gupta, Chief Executive Officer & Director of DBS Group
Kevin Gould, Co-Founder and President, Markit
Matthew Driver, Group Executive, Global Products & Solutions, APAC, Mastercard
  
Moderator: Jennifer Lewis, Managing Director, Communications, GIC Pte Ltd

In this second chapter of FWA’s Males from the Top series of panel discussions, the focus was on Digital Banking and FinTech and the building of women’s careers in this domain. In his keynote speech, DBS Group CEO, Mr. Piyush Gupta, gave a comprehensive view on fintech & digital banking and developments so far. He spoke on mobility, blockchain technology, big data and the challenges of data security and privacy. Advancement in financial technology is not just about flashy technology, but really about disrupting whole business models and changing consumer behaviour. 

Mr. Gupta highlighted moral and social issues with respect to game-changing technology, which really got the audience thinking about the impact these changes have on our value system and how to cope with them. For example, he asked on Privacy: what is fair, what is right? The answers are now completely dislocated because our values are changing with the advent of social media and global connectivity. Where do we draw the line? If I show you an ad, as a result of tracking & knowing your spending patterns, and that ad saves you money, is it considered an intrusion? 

On women, he feels there are simply not enough women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics). However, careers in STEM are not just about being able to code. It is just as much about understanding consumer psychology, the customer journey, the decision making process and combining this with technology to deliver a ubiquitous experience for the customer. Mr. Gupta also mentioned that Fintech firms have one big advantage: technology enables flexi-work and remote working that provides women with the flexibility to work from home during their children’s formative years.

The moderator of the panel, Jennifer Lewis, Managing Director, Communications of GIC Pte Ltd, started off the panel discussion with this pertinent question: Did you put your hand up for being FWA’s male champion, or did you have your arm twisted? Matthew Driver, Group Executive, Global Products and Solutions, APAC, Mastercard gave a definitive answer: Arm twisted, he has four daughters! Kevin Gould, Co-founder and President of Markit: He put his hand up because he realised that he wanted to have a more equal representation of women in his firm. Piyush Gupta: DBS already has a strong female representation because there are many good practices that are women-friendly, for example, having women in key management positions as role models for aspiring younger ladies. Also, DBS allows women to offboard or onboard during different times in their lives (child-rearing, following husbands), especially for women in their thirties who enter their child-bearing years.

The panel discussed the development of women talent and how talent is selected in organisations. Kevin Gould highlighted that there is a need to focus on critical things such as the funnelling of talent, educating male counterparts on biases, conscious or unconscious, and the tracking of hirings and promotions. Matthew Driver cited that Mastercard has a good representation of women, with 30% of senior management being women. Every slate for promotions needs to have a diverse representation. The panel agreed that having role models and pushing women outside of their comfort zones is beneficial to the development of female leadership and something they will support as male champions.

Jennifer Lewis kept the audience on their toes by turning the focus onto Ms. Tan Su Shan, MD and Group Head of Wealth Management and Consumer Banking, DBS Bank, to recount her experience of jumping into her new role of consumer banking and turning DBS into a leader in digital banking. Ms. Tan spoke of having the courage to ask questions, even if they may seem silly because it is the only way to learn and move forward. Other senior women in the audience too shared their experiences of coping with the digital revolution and leading from the top.  

FWA Singapore is very grateful to DBS for their generosity in sponsoring the event. We will continue to feature our Male Champions as they champion female development within the financial services industry. Look out for Chapter 3 in the coming months!

To see photos of the event, please click here.