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

Rabobank Bronnenarchief

blad 'RI The Word / The Word' (EN) | 2008 | | pagina 33