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PR Newswire

Contrast Security’s State of Application Security in Financial Services Report Finds 75% of Application Security Budgets Are Rising in 2021 Due to Frequent Application Attacks

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98% of financial services respondents admit they have experienced at least three successful application exploits in the last 12 months that have caused an operational disruption and/or a data breach leading to the increase in application security budgets

LOS ALTOS, Calif., May 27, 2021 — Contrast Security, a leader in modernizing application security, today announced the findings of its 2021 State of Application Security in Financial Services Report based on a comprehensive survey of development, operations, and security professionals and executives at enterprise-level financial services institutions. The report explores the state of application security at these organizations, and the findings indicate that the security of these applications — that have access and control over consumers’ finances — is not a priority or major concern for most of them. 

With most attacks on financial services institutions executed at the application layer at a time when customers demand more digital services and customer-facing applications are developed in-house, application security is mission-critical. Methodologies like Agile and DevOps — and a growing use of open-source code and application programming interfaces (APIs) — have accelerated the development process, enabling financial institutions to speed up digital transformation initiatives that had been planned for months or years in the future. However, the financial services industry, including banking, insurance, and investment firms, has long been a target of cyber criminals, and this has only accelerated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

When multiple serious vulnerabilities are present in an application, cyber criminals have many opportunities to mount a successful attack. Almost all respondents (98%) admit that they have experienced at least three successful application exploits in the past year that have caused an operational disruption and/or a data breach. Astoundingly, more than half of organizations (52%) saw 10 or more successful attacks over 12 months. As a result, 99% of respondents in organizations with more than 15,000 employees peg the cost of each attack at $1 million or above. 

The high rate of false positives combined with the lack of actionable information in scan reports creates a major time sink for both development and security teams. More than eight in 10 respondents (81%) say that their application security teams spend three or more hours per false positive to identify it as such. So, when a legitimate vulnerability is identified, 72% of respondents said their organization’s application security team spends six or more hours to triage, diagnose, and prioritize remediation for the development team. The baton then is passed to developers, who spend 10 or more hours per vulnerability to perform remediation and verification, according to 69% of respondents. With a scan report potentially containing hundreds of alerts, with a majority being false positives, these staff hours add up quickly for both the development and the security teams.

Given application security is an increasing concern for enterprises, 75% of respondents report that their application security budget is increasing in 2021, and 24% say that increase is more than 15%. Despite this emphasis on application security, only 40% of organizations place direct responsibility for application security under the CISO. So, while budgets are increasing at many organizations, some may not have a solid strategy in place to use those funds wisely. A crucial starting point will be to ensure security keeps up with the pace of development. 

"It is clear that application security strategies have not matured at most of the financial services organizations represented in this survey," said Jeff Williams, CTO and co-founder at Contrast Security. "The good news for institutions looking to build out their strategy is that implementing a modern application security platform can dramatically accelerate their program and produce real improvement quickly. Instrumentation-powered application security can provide continuous security testing at massive scale, providing highly accurate feedback to developers in real time, empowering them to find and fix their own vulnerabilities without direct help from application security specialists."

The Contrast Application Security Platform uses instrumentation to observe, analyze, and protect software from within the application. In doing so, Contrast makes security continuous and integrates seamlessly with modern software — from development into production. In addition, this approach offers an unprecedented application security orchestration layer for financial services institutions to improve enterprisewide risk reporting and policy enforcement. Contrast Security has worked with financial services institutions of all types around the world. Customers include leading global Fortune 500 and financial industry regulatory enterprises. 

REPORT: 2021 State of Application Security in Financial Services

BLOG POST: Contrast Study Finds Significant Application Security Risk at Financial Services Enterprises 

PODCAST: Digital Transformation in Financial Services Accelerates, Application Security Struggles to Keep Up 

WEBINAR: New Report Highlights Digital Acceleration in Financial Services Is Creating Application Cyber Risks 

Methodology:
This report is based on a comprehensive survey of business leaders, developers, and security professionals at financial services enterprises in North America. Conducted in April and May 2021, the survey sought to gauge the maturity of both the software development operations and application security programs, how organizations are using application security tools, and what outcomes they are seeing. The results of each question were analyzed for the whole cohort, and many answers were also grouped by background data like job title, company size, and application security methodology. From this analysis, we identified several insights about application development and security specific to the financial services vertical.

About Contrast Security:
Contrast Security is the leader in modernizing application security, embedding code analysis and attack prevention directly into software. Contrast’s patented deep security instrumentation completely disrupts traditional application security approaches with integrated, comprehensive security observability that delivers highly accurate assessment and continuous protection of an entire application portfolio. This eliminates the need for disruptive scanning, expensive infrastructure workloads, and specialized security experts. The Contrast Application Security Platform accelerates development cycles, improves efficiencies and cost, and enables rapid scale while protecting applications from known and unknown threats.

Contact:
Contrast Security
Jacklyn Kellick
jacklyn.kellick@contrastsecurity.com

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2021 State of Application Security in Financial Services Report

PR Newswire

AuraQuantic is Recognized in the Gartner Market Guide for Intelligent Business Process Management Suites

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AuraQuantic, the leading low-code application platform and iBPMS provider, has been recognized by Gartner in the November 2020 Market Guide for Intelligent Business Process Management Suites. (1)

MIAMI, Feb. 11, 2021 — According to Gartner, "By 2024, organizations will lower operational costs by 30% by combining hyperautomation technologies with redesigned operational processes."

"Gartner defines the intelligent business process management suite (iBPMS) market as the group of vendors offering licensed software that supports the full cycle of business process and decision discovery, analysis, design, implementation, execution, monitoring and optimization. An iBPMS offering consolidates process discovery, modelling, integration services, decision management, process orchestration and choreography, and advanced analytics."

AuraQuantic enables enterprises to drive revenue, reduce costs and boost efficiency by automating their entire business ecosystem and digitally transforming operations.

AuraQuantic CEO Pablo Trilles said, "We are delighted to be recognized in the Gartner Market Guide for iBPMS. We have a strong background in Business Process Management, and this experience, combined with our complementary capabilities and ease of integration, helps our customers drive hyperautomation of their business operations."

Download the Gartner iBPMS Market Guide here

(1) Gartner, Market Guide for Intelligent Business Process Management Suites, Tushar Srivastava, Akash Jain, Naved Rashid, 17 November 2020.

Disclaimer
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Contact Information:

Kirsty Roberts

kirsty.roberts@auraquantic.com
http://www.auraquantic.com/

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AuraQuantic recognized by Gartner
AuraQuantic featured in 2020 Market Guide for iBPMS

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Hankyung.com’s introduces: ‘Trade On’ breaks down the COVID-19 wall against global trading in Seoul

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SEOUL, South Korea, Jan. 5, 2020 — As all fairs around the world has been shut down due to the pandemic of COVID-19, the small/medium companies of Korea have lost most of the chances to introduce their products and meet with the buyers. Unlike the larger companies with overseas branches and sales networks, small/medium companies are blocked by the ‘export wall’ built up by COVID-19.

Following announcement covered by Hankyung.com, Seoul and Seoul Business Agency (SBA), the small/medium business supporting agency affiliated to Seoul, are planning to open ‘Trade On,’ the online/offline integrated platform for exporters to relieve the hardships of small/medium exporters and lay a foundation for sustainable support for them. It opened temporarily in the beginning of December and about 100 companies have registered with the ‘Trade On’ platform so far.

‘Trade On (tradeon.kr)’ is a B2B platform that integrates the DB of small/medium companies in Korea and the potential buyers overseas to boost the companies’ active exports abroad. It is currently open for testing and its services and DB will continue to be updated.

When buyers log onto Trade On, they can visit the virtual booths of various companies as if attending a fair. They can check their major products, company profiles, and brochures and even chat with the representatives, start a video conference, or send inquiries. The small/medium businesses on Trade On can also take advantage of the video conference systems at SBA Global Marketing Center in Deungchon-dong, Seoul.

‘Trade On’ is an innovative platform that provides everything small/medium companies need when preparing for and promoting exports, including online booths, online business matching (meetings), advisory services, and export-related seminars. The offline infrastructure for video conferences and advisory services can be booked and scheduled by any small/medium business on the online platform. SBA is planning to continue supporting exports through the platform.

Other export platforms for small/medium businesses provide video conference systems for buyers overseas, whereas ‘Trade On’ allows the local businesses to request video conferences with buyers overseas. They can approach the registered buyers themselves rather than simply waiting for the buyers to visit their websites. Also, their new products registered on the platform are automatically exposed to the interested buyers based on the interested areas selected by buyers and small/medium businesses upon signup. Not only that, buyers are invited to join the platform based on the HS Code and actual importation records of each item provided by 20 customs offices around the world for the local credit rating companies and the same data can also be used to identify the buyers for the local companies to sort out invalid inquiries. The two-way interaction between buyers and exporters is expected to activate inquiries and generate profit.

The products registered with ‘Trade On’ are largely classified into five categories: IT/Electronics,  Medical/Bio, foods, beauty, and Lifestyle. The categories have been expanded beyond the everyday commodities for more small/medium exporters to join.

Participating companies include ‘Clair,’ an everyday appliance brand, ‘ABKO,’ the No. 1 gaming gear provider in Korea, ‘SN Fashion Group’ of Sonyunara for the Millennial generation, ‘Kotsam,’ a traditional tea exporter with No. 1 market share for honey Yuzu tea in the world, and ‘GOSHEN Korea’ that launched a beauty brand ‘Quret’ to win the 20 Million Export Tower on the Trade Day last year.

"Many small/medium businesses are having difficulties with exports due to recent re-spread of COVID-19," said Kim Yong-sang, the head of SBA Marketing Headquarters. "The new ‘Trade On’ is expected to introduce the competitive products of local small/medium exporters and explore the export channels in the ‘non-contact’ manner for the post-COVID-19 era."

PR Newswire

SHOPLINE Enables Seamless Selling on Facebook Shops and Instagram Shopping

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Over 250,000 SHOPLINE Merchants Can Now Harness the Power of Social Commerce with just a few clicks

SINGAPORE, Dec. 21, 2020 — SHOPLINE, a global smart commerce platform, today announced the availability of a Facebook Business Extension integration enabling over 250,000 SHOPLINE merchants to sell on Facebook Shops and Instagram Shopping instantly. As social commerce grows in popularity with the pandemic pushing small and medium enterprises to move online, the new feature will help SHOPLINE merchants become front-runners in the growing social commerce battlefield.

Over 250,000 SHOPLINE Merchants Can Now Harness the Power of Social Commerce with just a few clicks
Over 250,000 SHOPLINE Merchants Can Now Harness the Power of Social Commerce with just a few clicks

 

SHOPLINE Merchants can start selling seamlessly on Facebook Shops & Instagram Shops with just a few clicks
SHOPLINE Merchants can start selling seamlessly on Facebook Shops & Instagram Shops with just a few clicks

Social Commerce Gains Momentum Amidst E-Commerce Boom

In 2020, the total Gross Market Value (GMV) of e-commerce in Singapore is set to hit US$4 billion, and double to US$8 billion by 2025. The potential of social commerce is a microcosm of Singapore’s booming e-commerce scene. Bolstered by a tech-savvy middle class with disposable income, there are also new technologies that are bridging the gap between social media and commerce. Social commerce orders in Singapore are reported to have grown by 155% in the first half of this year, and the GMV has climbed by 678%. There is no doubt that the pandemic has forced merchants to turn to social commerce – a trend that has since persisted.

In May, Facebook launched its brand-new service, Facebook Shops, in an effort to expand its eCommerce offering and help small businesses ride out the pandemic. Facebook Shops allows brands to showcase their products on their Facebook page and Instagram profile in a way that feels native and tailored to the brand image. It also gives brands the ability to create custom collections by grouping items from inventory, making it easy for customers to discover products.

SHOPLINE Merchants can start selling seamlessly on Facebook Shops & Instagram Shops with just a few clicks

SHOPLINE is one of the first few Facebook partners in APAC to have the Facebook Business Extension integration that allows merchants to set up their Facebook Shops in just a click of a button. Merchants products, inventory, and operation data will stay in perfect sync with their SHOPLINE store, so merchants can run their businesses in one place while selling on different sales channels. Merchants who run facebook ad campaigns can activate Conversion API through the same Facebook Business Extension and gain access to user insights that will help improve their overall advertising efficiency.

Jeff Lim, General Manager, SHOPLINE, Singapore said, "We are excited to work with Facebook to offer direct access to Facebook Shops. We are committed to helping our merchants grow and leverage omnichannel means to spur their own growth amidst these challenging times. We firmly believe that this partnership will help our merchants to be better attuned to their customers’ needs and ultimately, empower them to grow and scale their businesses."

Tapping into Facebook’s Extensive User Base to Embrace Conversational and Discovery Commerce

Establishing presence on Facebook Shops not only helps merchants expand their sales channels, but experience and embrace Conversational Commerce. By enabling merchants to connect to customers via Messenger and WhatsApp, Facebook Shops makes real-time communication possible. The Enhanced catalog integration with Facebook can also help increase the discoverability of a business’s products and lead more people to their Shops. SHOPLINE merchants will now be able to sync more data fields, such as age group, material, brand, gender, google product category and facebook product category, from the SHOPLINE platform to andfrom Facebook, it helps shoppers to discover and shop for things they love with high quality and relevant product information.

SHOPLINE’s Wide Array of Features to Help Merchants Kick-start Social Commerce

Earlier this year, SHOPLINE launched its livestream tools, which enables merchants to engage with customers through livestreaming and sell their products at the same time. The tool connects to Facebook, enabling merchants to manage livestreaming and customer comments on both SHOPLINE LIVE and Facebook through just one backend system.

SHOPLINE has also added new features to help facilitate merchants to convert these marketing platforms into sales channels. Our chatbot helps notify your customers via Facebook messenger when there’s an update in their order, and once the product has been shipped, or any change of status; SHOPLINE merchants can also automate the journey by setting up a Chatbot decision tree to lead users through the conversion funnel.

Looking ahead to 2021, SHOPLINE will continue to drive the development of the complete Commerce ecosystem and be the trusted partner for brands looking to build their omnichannel presence.

About SHOPLINE

Founded in 2013 and a member of the Silicon Valley-based 500 Startups accelerator in 2014, SHOPLINE is Asia’s biggest smart commerce platform, with offices in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Ho Chi Minh City, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Singapore. 

SHOPLINE always prioritises its customers and aims to support brands of all sizes to achieve local and international growth together with an omnichannel presence. To date, SHOPLINE has helped over 250,000 merchants open their online stores, including well-known brands such as Durex, Bee Cheng Hiang, and Pan Ocean Seafood.

Related Links :

https://shoplineapp.sg

PR Newswire

Osome wins Singapore Partner of the Year at Xero Asia Awards

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SINGAPORE, Dec. 11, 2020  — Osome has been awarded Xero’s Singapore Partner of the Year for Xero Awards Asia 2020. The annual Xero Awards for Asia recognises excellence among their accounting and bookkeeping partners and celebrates the role of its partners in helping small businesses across Asia thrive.

"It was incredibly tough to judge the many entries in this year’s Xero Awards: Asia – so many of our accounting, bookkeeping and app partners are doing amazing things to help small businesses thrive," as stated on the Xero Awards: Asia website.

Finalists were assessed on innovation, marketing strategy, knowledge of Xero’s products and tools, amongst other criteria for the Singapore Partner of the Year award. 

Osome, which has been a Platinum Partner of Xero since March 2020, is a technology company that disrupts traditional business administration. It provides online accounting services for SMEs especially those involved with selling their products via e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Lazada and Shopee. In addition to that, Osome also provides a comprehensive range of back-end services like incorporation, payroll and corporate secretarial service. These are tedious but unavoidable tasks which entrepreneurs usually outsource. With over 5000 clients across Singapore, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, the company has recently raised USD$3 million in funding from XA Network and AltaIR Capital.

"This is amazing news to receive at the end of 2020. It strengthens our commitment to free up entrepreneurs’ mind and time by turning painful paperwork tasks into an Osome experience, while they grow their business. As we enter 2021, we will be improving the technology behind our service to focus on customer experience," said Victor Lysenko, CEO and Founder of Osome. 

About Osome

Osome, which is based in Singapore, was launched in January 2018 to facilitate business management for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Its suite of services includes online business registration, accounting, taxation, corporate secretary services, and payroll management. Its platform uses automation tools and AI (artificial intelligence) to increase response time and accuracy, and to lower cost. It has market presence in Singapore, United Kingdom, Hong Kong. In 2020, it raised US$3 million in funding led by Target Global, including Phystech Ventures, AD.RU funds, and several angel investors.

Find out more about Osome at http://osome.com. 

Media Contact

Osome
Safiah Alias
safiah@osome.com

PR Newswire

G20 Saudi Secretariat Announces Digital Summit to Discuss Inclusive Growth in Aftermath of Covid-19

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 21, 2020 — The Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia and the Saudi Secretariat as part of the international Conference program announces a four-day digital event series to explore how businesses, governments and citizens can drive opportunities for inclusive growth through regulation, new technologies and long-term strategic approaches in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Titled ‘A New Framework For Inclusive Growth’ and hosted by FT Live, the series will feature influential speakers from the worlds of business, politics and policy, interviewed by FT writers.

The series, taking place on 21, 22, 28 and 29 October 2020, will examine:

  • How the financial sector can be used for inclusive growth in both developed and emerging markets;
  • The role of policy, regulation and taxation in promoting national and international growth and stability;
  • The role of the digital economy in promoting inclusive growth – how smart cities and digital health and education can provide opportunities for all;
  • How changing global trade relationships are impacting the business environment for micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and what can be done to support them.

Speakers include:

  • Baroness Catherine Ashton, Former EU Commissioner for Trade and Former High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
  • Ann Cairns, Executive Vice Chair, Mastercard
  • Angel Gurria, Secretary General, OECD
  • Sir Chris Hohn, Founder and Managing Director,  TCI
  • Shameel Joosub, CEO, Vodacom Group
  • Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary General, UNCTAD

The series will be live streamed and delegates can participate on an interactive event platform. A full recording of the event will be available afterwards at globalsummitseries.live.ft.com

 

PR Newswire

Giift launches “GiiftPay”

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A Mobile Payment Loyalty App for SMEs and Consumers

SINGAPORE, Oct. 2, 2020 — Today, Giift, the Loyalty Marketplace specializing in the exchange of loyalty currencies (points, miles, gift cards, rewards) announced that it has launched GiiftPay, a Coalition Reward Program for SMEs and consumers.

 

 

A turnkey solution, GiiftPay enables merchants to enroll to the Giift Coalition Program, deploy it instantly through their payment gateway, and issue coalition points to consumers when they pay. GiiftPay also empowers merchants to create and push digital offers to millions of consumers driven by the Coalition Program and boost their business.

GiiftPay is a state-of-the-art solution aligns perfectly the interests of:

  • Small merchants, willing to be part of a large reward program, and to acquire additional customers from the program network;
  • Payment processors, gateways or e-wallets, ready to provide added value services to their merchants, in addition to their standard transactional solutions;
  • Consumers, eager to earn coalition points that they can redeem anywhere.

"GiiftPay offers a unique value proposition for payment gateways, mobile payment technologies, small merchants and consumers at the same time. With GiiftPay, we address a massive market made of thousands of payment processors and e-wallets, millions of SMEs and billions of dollars of daily transactions. Our objective is to deploy GiiftPay within such ecosystem," adds Pascal Xatart, Co-Founder & Director, Giift.

About Giift.com: Giift innovative end to end loyalty technology turns rewards programs into fungible currencies. Giift operates in more than 50 countries, with offices in New York, London, Singapore, Wuhan, Nairobi, Dubai, Jakarta, Mumbai, Colombo, Doha, and Dhaka. Giift business model is transaction based.

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For more information about this story, contact:
pascal.xatart@giift.com
www.giift.com

 

 

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PR Newswire

New Research Shows How Sales Processes Are Adapting to COVID-19

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New research highlights rapid change to the traditional sales environment and how sales professionals are adapting

PETERSFIELD, England, Sept. 2, 2020 — Leading cloud CRM vendor, Really Simple Systems, has published a new report detailing the findings of recent international research into the roles, practices and processes of sales professionals.

In July 2020, the cloud-CRM developer and vendor, Really Simple Systems, conducted a research project, surveying sales professionals globally to generate data on their practices and the changing environment for the sales sector.

The research highlights the rapid change experienced over recent years, and more acutely in the last few months, identifying that traditional sales methods are largely outdated and ineffective. The report includes findings on how technology is influencing change and how sales professionals have adapted to the global pandemic.

  • Evidence of increased use of technology in sales including the emergence of LinkedIn as a primary tool
  • Impact of COVID-19 is demonstrated with a dramatic increase in use of video calling
  • Concerns that high numbers of small businesses are still using manual methods to manage their sales
  • Verification that sales value is the strongest determining factor in the sales process
  • Suggestion that use of cold sales approaches continue despite the introduction of data protection legislation
  • Move to the SaaS environment sees email and automation surge ahead of the telephone calls for sales

Really Simple Systems marketing manager, Helen Armour, commented: "Conducting this this sales research has been truly eye-opening. The sales sector has certainly seen some dramatic changes and although many are adapting well, it suggests more work is needed to prepare for an uncertain future."

The full Sales Professionals Research Report can be found here https://www.reallysimplesystems.com/blog/sales-statistics-2020/.

Notes for Editors

About Really Simple Systems

Established in 2006, Really Simple Systems is one of the world’s largest providers of cloud-based CRM software. Designed for small and mid-sized businesses operating B2B, its customers range from single user start-ups to 200 user systems, including the Red Cross, the Royal Academy of Arts, the British Museum and NHS. Featuring integrated modules for email marketing and customer service, Really Simple Systems CRM is credited as being super-easy to use with excellent customer support.

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PR Newswire

Export Portal Supporting Small Businesses in Unprecedented Global Pandemic

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CEO Ally Spinu Provides Resources and Tips to mSMEs to Weather the COVID-19 Storm

GLENDALE, Calif., May 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — With the novel Coronavirus sweeping the globe, Export Portal and CEO Ally Spinu are well aware of how important it is to support small businesses and the global economy.

Export Portal is here to support small businesses.
Export Portal is here to support small businesses.

“We are in the midst of a global public health crisis unlike any that most of us have ever witnessed and we are rising to the occasion, united in a global cause with empathy, resilience, determination, and teamwork,” said Ms. Spinu.

mSMEs not only account for an average 70% of jobs all over the world, but about $4.5 trillion dollars of the world’s export business. It is essential that we continue to follow Export Portal’s mission of providing mSMEs with everything they need to enter the world of international trade confidently, no matter the circumstances.

“As the CEO of an mSME-focused global portal, our response to COVID-19 is to continue our commitment to supplier mSMEs around the world,” Ms. Spinu said. “To that end, from now until the end of 2020, all Certification fees and sale fees are waived.”

Not only are Certification and sales fees waived, but Ms. Spinu is hosting a biweekly Global SME Forum online to answer questions, share insights, and bring the international mSME community together. To sign up, click here.

While the global pandemic has caused a lot of challenges for small businesses, support is not hard to come by. We know that as long as we continue to help each other, the strength of SMEs will only grow and expand – no matter the current market difficulties. In this current situation when one cannot welcome customers directly into one’s workshops and stores, Export Portal’s secure online B2B marketplace is the best place to be.

About Export Portal & CEO Ally Spinu: After personal experience with the difficulty of international trade, successful businesswoman Ally Spinu founded ExportPortal.com. Export Portal is a digital B2B marketplace aiming to be a comprehensive international trade hub for SMEs and their counterparts. Empowered by a proprietary blockchain technology, Export Portal prioritizes security, transparency, cost-effectiveness, and ease-of-use. Partners can confidently trade, network, and communicate with other verified companies and experts from all over the world.

To learn more about our platform, go to: https://www.exportportal.com/learn_more

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CPA Australia: A stronger focus on customers and technology essential for small business recovery

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SINGAPORE, April 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — With COVID-19 reshaping the way people live, work and consume, small enterprises in Singapore could boost their business recovery prospects by building technology capabilities to better reach their customers, according to a new survey of Asia-Pacific small businesses by global professional accounting body CPA Australia.

Small businesses will also do well to invest in good staff who can help to improve customer loyalty and satisfaction as companies rebuild their operations when the current circuit breaker measures in Singapore are lifted.

CPA Australia’s Asia-Pacific Small Business Survey 2019-20 found that there is much opportunity for Singapore’s small businesses to improve their online sales presence.

Safe distancing measures implemented to battle COVID-19 have shifted consumer behaviour towards buying goods and services online, and this trend is likely to become even more entrenched going forward.

Only 35.7 per cent of the Singapore businesses surveyed said they generated more than 10 per cent of their revenue from online sales compared with the survey average of 51.0 per cent. The survey also showed a slightly declining trend over the last three years for Singapore small businesses booking revenue through online sales.

“With the current COVID-19 crisis, small businesses have little margin for error. Prudent financial management, focusing on the changing needs of customers and even greater adoption of technology, rather than good fortune, will be essential to business recovery and ongoing future success,” said Paul Drum, CPA Australia’s General Manager of External Affairs.

“The Singapore government’s excellent E-Commerce Booster package for small retailers and changing consumer behaviours accelerated by the circuit breaker should lead to a seismic increase in the online presence of many small businesses, which will not only assist them to survive this challenging period but also to thrive in the post-pandemic environment,” said Mr Drum.

Looking over 2019, the survey found that only 50.2 per cent of small businesses in Singapore reported growth last year amid slowing economic growth from tensions brought about by the US-China trade situation. This compares with 58.7 per cent in 2018, and below the survey average of 65.8 per cent.

However, most small businesses typically entered the COVID-19 crisis in relatively sound financial health, with only a small proportion (15.7 per cent) reporting problems paying their debts in 2019.

According to the survey, the top four factors that had a positive influence on strongly growing small businesses in 2019 were:

  • Improved customer satisfaction
  • Customer loyalty
  • Good staff
  • Improved business strategy

The survey, now in its 11th year, has shown that year after year, through both good times and bad, businesses with a focus on their customer, technology and strategy are much more likely to grow strongly compared to other businesses.

Mr Chng Lay Chew, CPA Australia’s Divisional President for Singapore, said, “Small businesses face the challenge of adapting their businesses to ‘a new normal’ at a time when their finances are tight. While it is wise to focus on cash flow and financial health at this time, businesses should also look at how they can meet the evolving needs of customers, especially through increasing their digital presence, and online engagement and sales.”

“Though the COVID-19 outbreak has taken centre stage for much of 2020 so far, businesses still need to consider other potential disruptors to the economy, such as an anticipated global recession, as they map out their recovery plan,” said Mr Chng.

To help small businesses navigate the challenges of COVID-19, and support them through the recovery process, CPA Australia has released a set of checklists targeted at small enterprises.

CPA Australia’s Suggestions for Small Businesses

  • Focus on improving cash flow and your financial health
  • Utilise technology and online sales to meet changing consumer behaviour
  • Capitalise on the existing pool of loyal customers
  • Investigate the generous SME relief measures made available by the government
  • Dedicate any spare time to developing and implementing a recovery plan, and learning about industry trends and emerging technologies and how they can be applied to the business
  • Ask staff with any downtime to undertake training so they are better skilled to meet the recovery needs of the business
  • If companies are in a relatively strong financial position, keep an open eye to any opportunities that may emerge in the recovery
  • Seek professional advice.

Key statistics for Singapore from the Small Business Survey

https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/-/media/corporate/allfiles/document/professional-resources/business-management/small-business-survey/small-business-survey-singapore-2019-20.pdf?la=en&rev=135dfc02595149578c5dbeb4e4f21e66

CPA Australia resources to assist Singapore small businesses to manage through COVID-19

About the CPA Australia Asia-Pacific Small Business Survey

The CPA Australia Asia-Pacific Small Business Survey provides annual insights into the views of small businesses across the region and forms part of a longitudinal study that began in 2009. The 11th CPA Australia annual survey comprised extensive surveying of 4,193 small business operators in eleven markets, including Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Mainland China, New Zealand, Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. The survey was conducted between 18 November and 12 December 2019.

About CPA Australia

CPA Australia is one of the world’s largest accounting bodies with more than 166,000 members working in 100 countries and regions around the world, and with more than 25,000 members working in senior leadership positions. It has established a strong membership base of more than 8300 in Singapore.

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