Money Matters with Hongbin Jeong and Chua Tian Tian

The beginning of online banking enabled customers to access their accounts and conduct transactions from their personal computers and smart gadgets. This was followed by the introduction of mobile banking in the 2000s which allows customers to perform transactions using their smartphones.  And now we are going to witness the rise of Generative AI on this front.  Chris Huff, Chief Growth Officer, Kofax discusses with us on how automation and Generative AI can offer innovative and lasting solutions to the financial services sector. 

What comes to mind when you put shopping and the airport together? How does duty free shopping sound?  Well, our guest for today is from The Shilla Duty Free Singapore, which operates over 20 Cosmetics and Perfume stores across four terminals in Singapore’s Changi International Airport.  The company is part of Shilla Duty Free, and an affiliate of Samsung. In South Korea, Shilla Duty Free operates five duty free outlets including in downtown Seoul, Jeju island, and Incheon, offering over 1,300 world famous brands.  With borders reopening last year and international travel returning in full swing, we want to find out if airport sales revenues are back to pre-pandemic levels, and what that means for Shilla Travel Retail in terms of their expansion plans. Also – with a Euromonitor study tipping China to be the leading source market for duty-free destinations like South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong by 2027, how concerned should duty-free retail operators be? On Under the Radar, Drive Time’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian chatted with Sok Ling Chan, Head Of Commercial, The Shilla Duty Free Singapore to find out more.

In this edition of China Perspective, we focus on headlines China has made at the recent Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.  Dr. Oh Ei Sun, Senior Fellow, Singapore Institute of International Affairs gives us an analysis of those headlines and more. 

Amongst rising sea levels and climate change, water scarcity is seen to be an issue that will only become more pressing as time goes on. Investing in sustainable water is a must to cope with these issues. In Southeast Asia, Singapore is leading in this field using sources such as local catchment water, imported water and NEWater, but what more can we do and what does the future of sustainable water look like? We speak to Dr Beverley Stinson, Global Water President, AECOM more about this.

Singapore shares opened higher today after the deal to avert a US debt default was concluded, pushing equities in the global markets higher.   The Straits Times Index (STI) was up 1.5 per cent to 3,214.06 points in early trade  after 133.3 million securities changed hands in the broader market.  In terms of companies to watch, we have Seatrium and Keppel DC Reit. That’s with Seatrium set to replace Keppel DC Reit on the benchmark Straits Times Index from June 19, following the latest quarterly review of the STI by FTSE Russell. Also in focus today – Digital Core Reit, after its manager warned that distribution per unit could be halved after its second-largest tenant filed for bankruptcy protection.  On Market View, the Drive Time team dived into the developments. They also looked at corporate headlines ranging from Philippines AirAsia seeking to revive IPO plans to UBS expecting to close its takeover of Credit Suisse as early as June 12.

Manchester is blue, and now London too! With City clinching the FA Cup at the expense of their rivals Manchester United, all eyes now turn to Istanbul as Pep Guardiola's team are one match away from achieving an historic treble. Will they do it? Zia-ul Raushan weighs in from Wembley while Alvin Tan chimes in on the red devil perspective. Got a story to tell? Get in touch with us! edanker@sph.com.sg | raushan@sph.com.sg

Gen Z is the most hyper-connected generation we have ever seen. As their influence in the retail landscape increases, companies must alter their strategies in order to cater to the behaviour of multiple different generations of consumers. We speak to Alison Ho, Analyst, Insight, WGSN more about this.

US President Joe Biden has signed a bill that suspends the US government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling and that will affect. During the recent Shangri-La dialogue, US and China trade blame on each other on various issues. We speak to Trisha Craig, Vice President (Engagement) and Senior Lecturer of Social Sciences (Sociology and Political Science), Yale-NUS College more about this.

When it comes to a franchise business, one would think of fast food chains to the likes of McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, and so forth. Instead of that we are going to talk about an unconventional franchise business that doesn’t quite come to mind when we think of franchises.  With a network of over 300 highly connected, mutually supporting businesses and organisations in 92 countries, the World Trade Centers Association is the owner of the “World Trade Center” and “WTC” trademarks.  And this means the WTCA licences exclusive rights for members to use in conjunction with their independently owned, iconic properties, facilities and trade services offerings. But how does it work exactly, and what is the WTCA doing to strengthen its member network and increase the value of its brand? On Under the Radar, Drive Time’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Scott Wang, Asia Pacific Vice President, World Trade Centers Association for more.

The tribe has spoken! Featuring nominations from you, the listeners - Elliott & Raushan run the rule over the 22/23 Premier League season, discussing who had a season to remember...and to forget! Tune in to see if your pick made the cut! Got a story to tell? Get in touch with us! edanker@sph.com.sg | raushan@sph.com.sg