Transparentempowered
pioneering:
translatea values of the
mother brand into
our online direct bank
Greg McAweeney (farmer General
Manager of RaboDirect Ireland andfuture
GM ofRaboPlus Australia):
Example of the award-winning commercial of RaboPlus New Zealand.
comparable internet saving accounts. Now the credit crisis
is drying up their sources of cheapfunding, major banks are
driving up customer rates for deposits.
As the markets for online savings banks are becoming more
competitive, Rabobank has decided to postpone its planned
launches in new territories. That is a setback for International
Direct Banking, as it was ready to introducé RaboPlus to
Poland. "Our own IDB business development team has analysed
all 228 countries in the world for online banking opportunities,"
explains Gert Bouwman. "Based on market potential, local
conditions, risks, possible
profïtability and additional spin-
offs for Rabobank Group, we
established a shortlist of eighteen
countries. Poland was first on the
list, Chile could have been next.
Smaller countries seem to offer
the best opportunities, as our
no-frills model enables us to enter
markets that other banks can't
reach. Most major banks have
higher costs, which limits their
opportunities in countries with
a smaller population."
Greg McAweeney,
future General Manager of RaboPlus Australia.
Although the credit crisis is a
setback in IDB's growth plans, the
business has also boosted cliënt
numbers, most strikingly in Ireland and Belgium. Following
the shock fall of US investment bank Lehman Brothers and the
takeover of Merrill Lynch, the RaboDirect office in Dublin was
overwhelmed by a massive surge in cliënt applications in late
September. "We received up to 600 calls a day and many of
them are from non-clients," said RaboDirect General Manager
Roel van Veggel. Although not as dramatic as in Ireland, the
IDB office in Antwerp also saw a similar rush of new clients.
"In late September, we acquired 200 new customers a day
rather than the normal 50," says Stephane Vermeiren, who
adds that the tumble of Fortis' share price had aggravated
clients' fears. Hermen de Groot, IDB Head of Marketing and
Communications adds: "While the markets were experienc-
ing commotion the last few weeks, Global Finance Magazine
again named Rabobank as the world's safest privately owned
bank. We have been stressing this important value in all our
market introduction programmes, and now it's paying off," he
says. "By continuously building our brand values and credibility
and pairing it with superior customer services, we will be able
to maintain success for direct banking, now and in the future."
Rabobank is one of several banks
that have followed the low-cost
path to launch online direct
banking in new markets. Deutsche
Bank has exported its Bank 24
format to other European
countries: HSBC is building a
global direct bank, while ING
Direct has established a strong
presence in larger markets such
as Canada, the United States,
Germany, France and the United
Kingdom.
The direct banks have used their
low-cost model to gain ground
with attractive savings accounts.
Now the established banks are catching-up, the time has
come to add new products and additional services, says
Greg McAweeney. He believes there are other domains where
Rabobank's International Direct Banking can be successful.
"We are lean, we are agile and we are more flexible than
most bricks-and-mortar banks. We have used our online
banks to establish the Rabobank brand in several markets, at
a fraction of the investment of a traditional bank. And as a
separate global business line we have a pioneering spirit
ISSUE 17
THE WORD