Canada's Big Bank

PERSPECTIVE

Success Follows Canadian Banks that Follow Their Customers

Migration is one of Canada’s most distinguishing characteristics. The onset of winter sees the migration of “snowbirds” – Canadians escaping the cold – to the milder climes of United States and Mexico among other destinations. Then there is Canada’s demography, largely composed of immigrants, who regularly travel to and from their native countries. The high mobility of the Canadian people has certain implications for businesses, which must find ways to stay connected with their customers as they travel back and forth. The banking industry is no exception. Following the Snowbirds and Beyond Canada’s big banks, which have already established a sizeable presence in the
The banks could also play a role in keeping their immigrant customers connected to their native countries by providing them information of their interest – such as economic, political and sports news, weather updates and so on. Likewise, when these customers visit their homeland, their banks can feed them similar updates on the Canadian market. Leveraging the Power of Web 2.0 The social networking (and related social commerce) phenomenon is poised to become a game-changing event for banks worldwide, and Canadian institutions that are quick to respond to this opportunity could reap big rewards. Because their customers are so mobile and spend a sizeable length of time away from home, Canadian banks have a strong need to follow closely. While the establishment of branch and channel infrastructure is important, it is an expensive and time consuming option. Traditional channels also suffer from another drawback, which is rather less obvious – since they focus on enabling transactions, are not the best medium for more versatile or deeper interaction with customers. Web 2.0 technology addresses all these issues in one swift stroke. Banks can establish their Web 2.0 presence relatively quickly, at a fraction of the cost, and once there, are accessible to all their customers across the globe. Moreover, they facilitate a two-way intimate interaction between banks and their
Commerce: A three way tie-up between product vendors, technology partners and banks can enable customers to transact using their mobile phones or other handheld devices. But banks can go a step further by providing virtual banking advisory services on mobile, to guide banking customers through various processes for purchasing a new product or fulfilling some other need. By using mash-ups, they can overlay their applications on top of a bundle of services already being offered to customers – for example, building in their ATM network on a Yahoo Maps service, so that their travelling customers can easily find out where the nearest machine is located. The Way Forward Canadian banks are faced with the unique challenge of having to serve a customer base that moves location for a large part of the year. Their clients are also among the most diverse in the world. Therefore, they need to have a fail-proof strategy that keeps them on their customers’ radar despite a lengthy separation. A combination of international branch expansion and channel innovation should help them achieve this objective. References: ‘Canada Banks Target Immigrants for Retail Growth’, Reuters , April 30, 2009 ‘PM Tells Canada’s Banks to Expand Overseas’, Julie MacIntosh, Francesco Guerrera and Bernard Simon, The Financial Times, March