Looking
ahead
Charity
cash for
dated
Rabo items
Housestyle
launch meets
mixed
reception
8 International
Holland in brief
Cash dispenser for
foreign currency
Hair raising for charity
Agri-competition
Rising overdrafts
February22/24
Asian regionaltradefinance
conference, Singapore.
March 7/8
Latin America regional trade
finance conference, Sao Paolo.
March 29/30
Rabobank international grain
conference, hosted by Popular
Rabobank, Madrid, Spain.
April 15
1994 Annual Report published.
May 16/18
Rabobank sponsors Interna
tional Agribusiness Management
Association conference in Paris.
The now obsolete old-style
Rabo corporate gifts and other
items may be gathering dust in
a cupboard in many offices, but
not in Hong Kong.The branch's
fun club organized a charity
auction of 'old logo' bits and
pieces to coincide with the staff
Christmas party, raising
US$1,500 for UNICEF.
Good food and great music
created the mood for Hong
Kong's charity auction. The gen-
erous bids made for outdated
Rabo ties, coin bags, T-shirts
and other souvenirs were clearly
aimed at raising a substantial
amount of cash for the UN's
fund for children. But there may
have been another reason for the
top price paid for a Rabo piggy-
bank. 'The piggy-bank raised
US$430,' says Clara Fung of the
fun club. 'Perhaps the co-worker
who bought it thought it may
bring her luck in 1995, because
according to the Chinese calen-
dar, this is the Year of the Pig.'
Some customers love it, others
cannot really see the point, but
at least the introduction of the
bank's new look gave rise to a
lot of discussion at a whole
range of activities and events
organized by Rabobank mem-
bers nationwide.
Some member banks did it
with fireworks, others with bal-
loons, and one even launched the
new housestyle by parachute.
Some opted for a transformation
before the very eyes of customers
as staff installed the new brochure
stands and replaced the old
forms with the new. Reception
was mixed, although the
majority of customers thought
the new look was eye-catching,
colourful and introduced at pre-
cisely the right time. 'You've had
the rising line for so long, it was
time for a change,' said one cus-
tomer at the Zaltbommel mem
ber bank. Another remarked: Td
rather see less advertising and
more service.' But in fact that is
what the new housestyle is all
about - real, improved service to
clients, both retail and corpor
ate. 'It's not just about a new
look,' said Jose de Weert, office
manager at the Leunen member
bank. 'It's also about involving
the customer in the way you
work. What we're focusing on
now is tailoring what the cliënt
needs into a package designed
for him, rather than trying to fit
the customer into an existing
product.' The cost of developing
and implementing the new
housestyle also gave rise to com-
ments. 'While I understand you
have to move with the times, I'd
have prefered to see the money
go to developing countries,' said
one Deventer cliënt. In fact, alt
hough the projected 68 million
seems like an enormous amount
of money, if it is spread over the
organization, then the costs per
office are only around NLG
35,000. These costs will be writ-
ten off over a seven-year period
and will thus represent 0.2 per
cent of annual costs. Here fol-
lows an overview of how the
money has been spent:
Facade advertising, eg. boards, neon signs,etc. 21 million
Development costs - tools 14 million
Introduction campaign 7 million
Introduction meetings for staff 4.5 million
Optical readability adjustments 3.5 million
Old stock write-off 2 million
Development housestyle 2 million
Redesign Standard forms 1.5 million
Chipcards telebanking 1.5 million
Adjustments foreign offices 1.5 million
Staff training courses 1 million
Legal research and registration 1 million
(All amounts in NLG; US$ 1ca. NLG 1.70)
Member bank Vianen has in
troduced a cash dispenser that
also supplies foreign currency.
The combined dispenser is part
of the bank's direct service ap-
proach and can be used by both
Rabobank account holders and
non-clients.'We've had a lot of
positive responses,especially
from non-clients/says manager
Leo Friedrich.The direct service
facilities are open until 20.00 on
weekdays and all day Saturday.
This type of initiative is a real way
to show people we add value.'
Computer specialist Arie
Moolhuizen of the Staphorst-
Rouveen member bank has put
his razor where his mouth is. Fle
promised to shave his beard if
NLG 2,500 was raised for the
Ruwanda appeal,and his head if
the collection brought in NLG
5,000. Apparently, it was an offer
too good to refuse, and the local
bank made up the difference.So
Moolhuizen is currently braving
the chili of the Dutch winter-
hairless.T don't mind/he says,
'it's all in a very good cause.'
The bank's two major com-
petitors on the domestic mar-
ket, ABN AMRO and ING, are
both increasingly active in the
agri-sector. ABN Amro now has a
40-strong team of agri-advisors
who make initial contact with
farmers, while the local branches
of ING make the first approach.
The former currently hasan 11-
percent market share, with ING's
is between 4 and 5.
The Central Bureau for Statis-
tics (CBS) has calculated that
Dutch retail account holders had
an average overdraft of NLG
1,590 last year, comparedto
1,170 in 1993. According to the
CBS, this is the result of the
major banks' more flexible atti
tude to being in the red. In the
past, an overdraft had to be ap-
plied for, now the banks them-
selves offer the facility to clients.
