When arriving at Schiphol Airport near Amsterdam, international
travellers might have noticed a new phenomenon. Since last year, all 90
air bridges between the planes and terminals have been branded with
Rabobank slogans. 'Global Growth Starts with Local Expertise' is one of
them. Rabobank has quite a bit of local expertise on offer. Rabobank
International is represented in the major agricultural regions of
Australia, Brazil, Canada and California, among others. In addition, the
bank has dedicated international desks. They support Dutch corporate
clients in their international expansion into major industrial and trading
towns within countries where Rabobank International is active, like
the U.S., Chile and Hong Kong. And Rabo Development is expanding
its satellite network of partner banks in the emerging markets of Asia,
Africa and South America.
This international network is a unique selling proposition in a major
move of Rabobank Netherlands to increase its market share among
larger and mid-sized corporates. The Dutch banking market has
experienced a bit of a shake-up the past few years, when ABN AMRO
was sliced up by Santander, RBS and Fortis. This was followed by the
credit crisis that hit Aegon, ING and Fortis hard. As a consequence,
many Dutch corporate clients are re-evaluating their banking
relationships. This creates a great opportunity for Rabobank to
present its network of member banks and international affïliates as
an alternative. The advertising campaign on Schiphol's air bridges
illustrates that new commitment.
"We have to act quickly, because the opportunities are changing quickly
as well," explains Chris Abbenhuis, global head of International Services
at Rabobank International. International Services guides and supports
Dutch corporate clients when going abroad. These clients are of all sizes
and served mostly by member banks, but also by our Large Corporate
relationship managers. They operate in all sectors; not just Food and
Agribusiness (F&A). "We want to position ourselves as market leader in
the Dutch wholesale market-and with a market share of 30 percent
we can do exactly that. We wanted to let corporate customers know that
we can serve them with a broad range of products in a large number of
geographical markets."
ISSUE 28 a RI WORLD
