New Delhi, Aug 28 (KNN) StarHub has partnered with United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB) to explore, to develop and to provide digital solutions to help small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) accelerate their digitalization efforts.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between them to help SMEs to flourish in digital economy in line with the government’s SMEs Go Digital program and initiative.

Under the MOU, UOB will be the first organization and the main one from the financial industry to join StarHub’s digital marketplace for SMEs.

The digital marketplace aims to bring together different product and service providers across industries to create a vibrant ecosystem that will enable SMEs to transform their business models and go-to-market strategies.

Through StarHub’s digital marketplace, UOB will offer wide range of digital solutions to SMEs to automate and to streamline their business operations.

Both companies will also explore the provision of real-time transaction insights for SMEs to understand better their customers’ needs and preferences.

They will work together to bring digital transformation in SMEs through the adoption of technologies such as artificial intelligence.

StarHub, Chief of Enterprise Business Group, Dr Chong Yoke Sin, said, “StarHub and UOB believe our joint capabilities and efforts can help our SME customers better navigate in the data-driven global economy.”

Combining our established network of clients and partners, we will be able to create a digital economy of buyers and suppliers of solutions and services to spur a thriving SME sector, he added.

He said that such an intimate level of connection and collaboration enables all of us to break industry silos and to create new value through better connectivity and insights.

Commenting over this partnership, Head of Group Wholesale Banking, UOB, Frederick Chin, said, “SMEs, as a key contributor to a country’s economic growth, help spur the enterprise spirit and support industry development.”

He said StarHub and UOB share the same goal of helping SMEs grow and this is why we want to assist them in tapping the benefits of digitalization to drive their business performance and to meet their business goals.

By partnering StarHub and participating in its digital ecosystem, we will be able to help more of our SME customers connect with a broader set specialized solutions and expertise they need to seize opportunities and overcome business challenges.

Other solutions to be available on StarHub’s digital marketplace will include a range of “as-a-service” solutions, such as footfall-as-a-service, digital location marketing-as-a-sevice, customer loyalty-as-a-service, training-as-a-service and employee engagement-as-a-service.

StarHub gave a preview of its digital marketplace at Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s SME Infocomm Commerce Conference 2018 attended by 6,000 visitors.

The digital marketplace will go live by October 2018.