Cathay FHC Launches New Merchant Cooperation Model "CaaS Ecosystem Services"
Creating the best portal for cross-industry collaboration in a new era

Providing Cathay's one-stop experience and integrated digital finance service
The first financial institution in Taiwan to implement applications of Google Cloud Apigee

Cathay FHC is dedicating its efforts to digital transformation, and proposed the core concept for a service ecosystem "Cathay as a Service (CaaS)," which is driven by digital and data technology, last July. Cathay FHC has launched many innovative business models through cross-industry partnerships, such as Xiami Loan and highway collision insurance, which have received good reviews in the market. After a year of effort, Cathay FHC took a step forward by announcing the new merchant cooperation model "CaaS ecosystem service" and the "CaaS" digital platform, providing a one-stop experience and integrated digital finance services. The platform will serve as the primary portal for cross-industry collaboration and business negotiations, not only to resolve the pain point of a fragmented and complex negotiation process, but also to face changes brought by the pandemic through digitalization. Cathay FHC hopes to help all business partners seize new business opportunities.

 

According to predictions of the research report "The Future Urban Reality"[1] published by Ericsson in July, consumers have used online digital services more frequently in daily life and work since the pandemic, and on average use 2.5 more digital services each day. Chang-Ken Lee, President of Cathay Financial Holdings, said: "New norms in work and life during the pandemic are a challenge to companies' digital transformation ability and depth. Cathay FHC and its subsidiaries continue keep pace with the times and have dedicated efforts to offering and optimizing services. For example, Cathay Life became the first life insurance company to be approved for insurance enrollment via video conferencing in June, and enrollment in over 20,000 insurance policies was completed in less than a month. The results have far exceeded expectations with the number already above 43,000 policies. Many customers have begun using the Internet banking app for account transfer, and the number of digital account transfers reached a record high, accounting for 90% of Cathay United Bank's account transfers. Furthermore, Cathay Century launched the e-commerce insurance enrollment platform BeSafe, and Cathay Securities provides a variety of financial inclusion digital services. The subsidiaries have gained success developing in their own fields and their number of customers continue to grow. Despite the environment and models constantly changing, Cathay's customer and partner-centric approach remains unchanged. We see that it is not only necessary to adapt to new digital patterns and ways of thinking in future business relationships, but also show the spirit of benefiting others and mutual benefit, jointly maximizing commercial benefits and value through good long-term partnerships and a one-stop experience."

 

Integrated services and one-stop experience provided through technical and professional abilities resolve pain points of business collaborations

Cathay FHC formally launched the "CaaS ecosystem service platform" today. Joe Liang, Vice President of Cathay Financial Holdings, mentioned that after a year of effort, Cathay transformed its offline business negotiation process and correspondence into a transparent online process with a single integrated portal. Business partners are able to complete business negotiation, inquiry, management, and key delivery processes on the platform, effectively resolving the pain point of a fragmented and lengthy business negotiation process, while reducing the cost of time and gaps in perception in internal communication of companies. The "CaaS platform" integrates digital services of Cathay's subsidiaries, and the scope is not limited to a single type of financial institution, including life insurance, bank, and property insurance. The platform gives all partners, including iconic companies, small and medium enterprises, and startups to have the same opportunity to access the full array of Cathay FHC's financial services and resources.

 

  Joe Liang added that Cathay can offer a group-level integrated digital platform experience, mainly because the group established cross-subsidiary API management mechanisms and technologies. In the process, Cathay used the Google Cloud Apigee technology and latest management framework to meet regulatory requirements on different subsidiaries, this allows the internal and external environment of each subsidiary to be virtually isolated from a technical perspective, meeting information security standards on financial institutions while integrating business needs. Cathay is the first financial institution in Taiwan to use Google Cloud Apigee technology. Tony Hsieh, President of Google Cloud Taiwan, said: "As a long-term technical partner of Cathay FHC, we are glad to work together with Cathay in digital transformation and trend development."

  Cathay FHC upholds the spirit of "What if We Could" as it continues to strengthen internal and external resource integration, improves the experience of customers and partners, and offers new digital and data innovation services.(20210729)

 

URL of the CaaS ecosystem service platform: https://caas.cathayholdings.com/