Efma journal n° 223   january february march 2010

Management

Insurance - A risk management mitigation method

Some people see risk as danger, others think risk is fun! For insurance companies the customers are the risk. We can go into a further multitude of discussions and definitions, but for me it is still simply the uncertain event which awaits you and which has a negative effect on your financial status. One may say that anything that can effect the performance would constitute a risk.

Efma journal n° 223   january february march 2010

Focus

CRM - Putting stakeholder management into practice

Customer satisfaction is a hot issue for most businesses, regardless of their industry. The banking sector is sensitive to the strategic and operational indications stemming from the measurement of customer satisfaction levels: TNS has been partnering with UniCredit for several years now and carried out customer satisfaction analyses with a view to providing useful hints to correctly address this aspect and improve performance.

Efma journal n° 223   january february march 2010

Focus

CRM - Is the customer still king?

Paul Love ,    Solutions Consultant, ACI Worldwide, Watford, Herts

Over the last 12 months the banking crisis has dominated the agenda, and many analysts and commentators have suggested that banks should get back to the basics of retail banking, and the secure and reliable revenues that it generates. However, without loyal and active customers, there is no business. So, where should banks focus to ensure they maintain and grow their customer base?

Efma journal n° 223   january february march 2010

Focus

CRM - Changing the customer behavior

Kadir Karakurum ,    Head of CRM and Marketing Research, Fortis (Turkey), Istanbul

As a well known fact, customer preferences when getting service from financial institutions have a large impact on the cost of service given to the customer and the preference of each customer is the main determinant on type of service. Owing to this fact, starting an initiative on changing customer behavior with a careful and targeted approach results in a “win-win” situation, which is the essence of any rational CRM initiative.

Efma journal n° 223   january february march 2010

Translation - Foreign language services in banking

Michael Ellison ,    Executive Vice President, Corporate Insight, New York

American Banks are discovering the importance of providing services to non-English speaking clients by speaking with them in their own language. Corporate Insight looks at how major US Banks are accomplishing this and discusses best practices for doing so.

Efma journal n° 223   january february march 2010

Products and Markets

Turkey - Sustaining a successful credit cards market

Elsa Pekmez ,    Associate Principal, McKinsey & Company (Turkey), Istanbul

Through the combination of right-pricing and solid risk management capabilities, the Turkish credit card business has continued to generate increasing value despite economic turmoil. Now, Turkish banks are entering a new phase of innovation, seeking to sustain profitability in a mature, more tightly regulated market.

Efma journal n° 223   january february march 2010

Consumer Credit - Interview with Pedro Guijarro, chairman of Eurofinas

Pedro Guijarro Zubizarreta ,    Consejero Director General, Hispamer, Madrid

In this interview Pedro Guijarro, chairman of Eurofinas, deals with upcoming challenges. He evokes the implementation of the Consumer Credit Directive (CCD) and its transposition process. But he also focuses on the other issues to come for the industry.

Efma journal n° 223   january february march 2010

Strategy

Electronic payment - e-purse heralds cashless environment in Oman

Sulaiman Al Harthy ,    Group Deputy General Manager, Bank Muscat, Muscat

The e-purse is available to the country’s 3.4 million population whose national identity cards double up for cash. Oman can be proud of having successfully launched the e-purse, joining a select few countries in the world moving towards a cashless environment.

Efma Magazine n° 222   november december 2009

Products and Markets

SME Banking - A long-term healthy growth potential in CEE

Helge Böschenbröker ,    Director, zeb/rolfes.schierenbeck. associates, München

On their way to becoming mature economies, the CEE countries have appreciated their SMEs as the backbone of the economy. SMEs allow for diversification, mitigating the impacts of negative macroeconomic situations on productivity, job market and growth. Moreover, national economies can rely on SMEs to act as innovation drivers, as well as on their flexibility and the entrepreneurial spirit introduced by these often owner-run businesses.

Efma Magazine n° 222   november december 2009

Products and Markets

SME banking - Success requires selectivity in targeting products

Alejandro Garcia Monterde ,    Senior SME Risk Manager, Raiffeisen International Bank-Holding, Vienna

While recovery strategies are the main focus in SME banking today, little has been done with underwriting strategies in the pursuit of the new sub-segments. The credit crisis has regrettably provoked a reactive response by the CEE banking community through underwriting restrictions rather than developing a more proactive response through underwriting optimisation.