The Operational Excellence and Business Transformation Award recognise organisations in the payments industry that have successfully executed operational initiatives leading to business transformation.

This award celebrates organisations that have achieved significant operational excellence in the payments industry, resulting in increased efficiency, digitalisation, productivity, and cost savings. The award highlights those organisations that have demonstrated exceptional innovation and execution to transform their business operations.

This category is open to businesses, technological platforms and solutions that is actively delivering or working with payment processing, solutions or technology in the Asia Pacific, and has used operational excellence as a critical driver to meet the demands of the industry and deliver value to its customers. Businesses that have implemented a major change in operations that is delivering major benefits for their customers. 

The judges will be looking for a clear plan and evidence that it is delivering on core objectives. Benefits can be categorised under one or several of the following main benefit categories: Cost Reduction, Revenue Increase, Customer Growth, Market Expansion, Differentiation, Profit optimisation, and Customer Satisfaction.

The Operational Excellence and Business Transformation initiative may be regarding a whole business, part of the business, the business model or a service or product.

Entry eligibility  

• The initiative must have been operationalised in one or several Asia Pacific markets.

To make a submission please provide the following information:

Nominee or nominator

• Entry name
• Name of nominating organisation 
• Name(s) of nominated organisation(s) 
• The nature of the business relationship between you as the nominator and the nominee company’s solution description 

Submission format

Your entry is done digitally via APAC Payments Excellence Awards Website, by submitting a written description of your value proposition/solution/initiative using selected category criteria. Each criteria in your submission will be evaluated and scored by judges in your Category Judge Panel. Each criteria have a 300-word limit.

Provide as much information as you can and quote the source of that information to describe the solution, success measures and what was achieved. Note that no attachments are allowed, and website links will not be seen as part of a submission.

Operational Excellence and Business Transformation Judge Criteria

Describe your initiative under each criteria section.

1. Operational initiative

Describe the initiative taken to improve operational excellence and business transformation. What was the problem or challenge that the initiative aimed to address? What was the solution and how was it implemented? What resources were used to achieve the initiative? Goals set and their focus area e.g., efficiency, digitisation, productivity, cost reduction, customer satisfaction etc., as well as timelines.

2. Execution

How was the initiative executed? What were the key success factors? Were there any obstacles or challenges faced during the execution phase, and if so, how were they overcome? Explain how your business executed the operational initiative, including the key steps taken and any challenges faced, timelines, resourcing, leadership and collaboration.

3. Innovativeness

Describe any innovative approaches taken during the operational initiative. Explain how these approaches contributed to achieving operational excellence and business transformation. Did the initiative involve new technologies or business models? What were the potential risks associated with the initiative, and how were they mitigated? Provide evidence of the impact of the innovative approaches on your business.

4. Result and Measures

What were the results achieved from the initiative? Were the results aligned with the initial goals and objectives? What were the key performance indicators (KPIs) used to measure the success of the initiative? Were the KPIs met, and if so, by how much? What were the tangible and intangible benefits of the initiative, such as cost savings, revenue growth, or improved employee morale? Explain how the results have contributed to operational excellence and business transformation.

 Innovative definition

To be defined as innovative we are looking for the creation, development and implementation of a new product, process, or service, which has improved efficiency, effectiveness, access or competitive advantage. The entry is detailing something totally new or has a new approach to an existing challenge.

Operational Excellence definition

Operational Excellence is the execution of the business strategy more consistently and reliably than the competition, with lower operational risk, lower operating costs, and increased revenues relative to its competitor.