Creating Tomorrow's Leading Retail Bank Author:The Economist Intelligence Unit The changing dynamics of the financial services industry are breathtaking. Whether in New York, London, Frankfurt or Hong Kong, customers are demanding access to superior service around the clock, products configured "just for me and on my terms" with delivery through a range of channels both premise-based and electronic. Competitive pricin... more »g, of course, is a basic requirement of play. The Internet, meantime, is transforming the market for some bank products into a veritable auction. Creating tomorrow's leading retail bank helps you get a firm grasp on the strategic issues and best-practice solutions you need to equip your organisation with a relevant competitive model. Critical issues emerged during the research with 51 of the top retail bankers in North America, the UK, continental Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, and this report summarises the implications for today's largest banks. For example: The Internet-based market for financial services may at times resemble an auction, but that presents unique opportunities for banks that can discern the inevitable value gaps. In all, the Internet poses significant opportunities and risks to pioneers and major threats to laggards. Although many banks are positioned as "fast followers", this strategy will ultimately prove to be a mistake for some. A bank's role is to empower the individual customer to control his financial well-being. However, stiff competition for the most valuable bank customers is now coming from non-bank interlopers. In many cases, these firms were "born on the web" and can innovate quickly and compete vigorously on price. To fight back, the large retail bank needs strong, new operating capabilities to leverage the financial services value chain. Tomorrow's pace setters are starting to use what they learn about individuals -- not just segments or even micro-segments -- to determine the product configurations, promotional tactics, pricing, channel mix and service levels that make sense for specific individuals. Traditional organisational units that are product- or channel-oriented must be transformed into new marketing and service delivery platforms that are geared to the needs, behaviours and profit potential of specific customer types. Integrated customer information systems will have to provide the glue. Without such consolidation, multiple hand-offs and lack of co-ordination will continue to preclude effective and timely value delivery. Senior managers need more than a conceptual grasp of technology issues. High-stakes decisions about using information systems as a competitive weapon require deep and continuous engagement by the top management team. A sample of the banks interviewed for this report: Abbey National; ABN AMRO; Aussie Home Loan; Banco Santander; Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi; BankBoston; Banque Directe; Barclays; CIBC; Citigroup; Credit Suisse; Dao Heng Bank; Deutsche Bank; Development Bank of Singapore; Dresdner; First Union; Fleet Financial; Hongkong Bank; ING; Midland; National Australia Bank; NatWest; OCBC; Overseas Union Bank; Royal Bank of Canada; Socit Gnrale; St George; Sumitomo; Wells Fargo« less