EastWest to increase tech spend

EAST WEST Banking Corp.

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(EastWest Bank) plans to gradually increase its spending on technology next year to expand its online capabilities and improve its services.“We’re getting more and more aggressive on our tech spending... We need to get investment in terms of people, but also for us to then apply the things that we're learning into the infrastructure, the ecosystem that we have. So, we'll continue to invest,” EastWest Bank Chief Executive Officer Jerry G. Ngo told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of an event late on Tuesday.

He said tech investments currently make up about 9-10% of EastWest Bank’s total expenses, which he noted is lower than others in the industry as they want to keep their spending sustainable.

“There are some banks who are spending more, but it's not about just the amount of money that you're going to spend — it should be about how you architect your technology. How do you ensure that you're not overspending every time? It’s easy to spend but the most important thing is to sustain them at the right appropriate level, and then you're making sure that you're deliberate in what you're trying to achieve.”

These investments are expected to improve the bank’s cost-to-income ratio in the long term, he said.