Fiserv's new MD Nick Wilde is dead set on achieving these 3 goals

Find out how he plans to help banks fight fraud.

Nick Wilde is Managing Director of newly formed Fiserv Asia Pacific, an integration of multiple Fiserv Business Units operating in Asia. Nick was previously managing director of the Asia Pacific Large Bank Division where the unit more than doubled revenue and profit in 3 years whilst entering new territories, introducing new products and providing measurable value to new and existing clients.  

Asian Banking and Finance interviewed Nick Wilde to learn more about his plans in the future.

ABF: What makes you excited about your new position?
Commerce is moving faster and more globally. Financial institutions around the world are challenged to innovate and adopt new banking practises and technologies to better serve existing customers and attract new ones in this increasingly dynamic marketplace.

Adding complexity to the situation, regulatory requirements have grown more rigorous and new, non-traditional providers are entering the financial services market. This is increasingly true across the Asia Pacific region – where financial inclusion mandates that banks provide services to all customer segments ranging from high-earning city workers who expect an Amazon.com-like experience to those earning just a few dollars a week.

Fiserv has been serving the financial technology needs of the Asia-Pacific region for more than 20 years, and has established relationships with many of the region’s top banks. We are dedicated to providing globally-tested solutions to banks of all sizes across this region.

Previously, I was in charge of the Large Bank Division of Fiserv in Asia Pacific, and was responsible for providing measurable value to financial institutions through our core banking technology. Beyond processing technology and services, I am now also responsible for overseeing the whole portfolio of Fiserv products in Asia, including payments, risk and compliance, customer and channel management and data and analytics.

Having responsibility for the full complement of Fiserv solutions will help me and my Fiserv team members holistically serve the technology needs of financial institutions and help these institutions of all sizes address a plethora of new market challenges.

ABF: What three goals are you focused on?
#1: Expand Mobile Financial Services:

Fiserv is firmly focused on helping banks make the most of this vital customer engagement platform. Mobiliti™ from Fiserv is one of the world’s leading mobile banking platforms. Mindful of the range of customers that financial institutions must serve, Fiserv has developed functionality appropriate for all segments. To that end, we also offer Mobiliti Edge and Mobiliti Reach:

Mobiliti Edge provides a low risk, high security, richly functional solution to provide the most demanding consumers with anytime, anywhere access.

Mobiliti Reach offers financial institutions a profitable way to serve user segments that cannot be effectively or profitably serviced through traditional banking channels. Mobiliti Reach enables consumers that have never had any kind of banking relationship to open a mobile account and use payment facilities for the first time – including person-to-person payments, bill payments, mobile phone top ups and cash deposits and withdrawals via branches, ATMs and agents.

ACLEDA Bank in Cambodia is already using Mobiliti Reach and the product will be live in seven more countries in the first half of 2013. Mobiliti Reach provides financial institutions a way to bring the unbanked into the banking system. I believe it is a solution that not only benefits individuals, but also countries and financial institutions.

#2: Fight fraud:
A critical component of building out the electronic banking system across Asia is ensuring that financial institutions remain accountable and secure. Fiserv recognizes that financial institutions must overcome three relentless forces in this space - increasingly sophisticated criminals, regulators charged with stopping the crime and the increasing number of banking channels to monitor.

The variety of devices used and the proliferation of networks that transactions travel across makes the detection and prevention of money laundering and fraud a complex endeavour. At a time when consumers are regularly operating across a range of channels, the key to effective detection is the ability to understand the behaviours of each customer and be able to accurately answer the crucial question – is this transaction strange for this customer under these circumstances?

To arm financial institutions with the ability to know what is normal for customers, Fiserv offers our Financial Crime Risk Management (FCRM) platform as an enterprise-wide, multi-channel solution that helps detect and prevent activity that is out of the norm and potentially fraudulent. The FCRM platform from Fiserv has won numerous plaudits, including most recently a Best in Class designation from CEB TowerGroup.

#3: Build the Fiserv brand in Asia:
During the last 20 years, Fiserv has systematically grown its business in Asia and earned a reputation for having highly successful implementations. Building on that foundation, we are continuing providing our customers with value-generating solutions that help attract new business and promote customer engagement. By getting to know the business models of client institutions and the financial services needs of their customer bases, Fiserv has established long-term client relationships.

ABF: What will you do differently in this position?
Fiserv has integrated our service and delivery for all of our technology and services offerings across the region to expand our outreach to clients, with products and services that will enable them to respond to the day-to-day challenges they face.

ABF: What changes are you planning for?
The speed of change is accelerating and our clients are facing increasing demands from their customers and from regulators. Fiserv has a dedicated team looking at how we can help our client institutions meet that demand by implementing products from our global portfolio and working through our network of trusted partners.

ABF: What are your key business philosophies?
I have a core philosophy that “People make the Difference.” However clever a piece of software is, its success ultimately comes down to the people that build, implement, operate and support it. The path to success always depends on the people on the team - from both the client institutions and Fiserv. Fiserv charges its associates with earning client trust every day. We do so by creating with purpose, achieving excellence and doing the right thing for our clients and their customers. I work to deliver on the promise of one Fiserv by bringing the full complement of technology, products and services to each client organization.

At Fiserv, we also say we are partners in possibility. This is not just an advertisement or slogan, but a philosophy. In the Asia Pacific region, we are enabling real change, by introducing new technology solutions and helping clients solve business challenges and navigate a new era in the financial services landscape. Examples include providing award winning mobile banking services to ACLEDA in Cambodia, bringing enhanced banking services to the region with Panin Bank in Indonesia and BDO in the Philippines and hundreds of other success stories across Asia.

ABF: What previous positions prepared you for this one and how?
As mentioned above, I was managing director of the Asia Pacific Large Bank Division. Prior to that I served as global managing director of the Customer Value Enhancement Division of Fiserv, which has a 25+ year history of institutionalising sales and service best practices for banks around the globe. That role especially prepared me for my current one in that it dealt with helping financial institutions optimise customer interaction at a very granular level.

ABF: Anything else you'd like to add?
I passionately believe that financial institutions should be a force for social and economic good at the national, corporate and individual level. Financial institutions are staffed with people who are looking to do the right thing for their customers and Fiserv is here to assist in them that mission. This is what makes my new position exciting and my work at Fiserv rewarding.