BANK ONE
16, Sir William Newton Street
Port Louis, Mauritius
News
Delivering Value to Customers, One Innovation at a Time
January 13, 2020
Customer satisfaction is at the core of Bank One’s values. How do you transform this philosophy into action?
We have designed a transformation journey based on customer experience. To do so, we have organized customer workshops and conducted surveys. We have taken that feedback and incorporated it in our transformation journey. Formerly, our teams were structured based on process. We have now transformed them into customer journey focused structures. The customer journey’s strategy is like any buying process for customers where the latter would explore the options, buy products and services and continue to use those with some service and transactional needs. We have ensured that we have mapped our processes to the customer journey and aligned our structures to deliver a comprehensive customer experience. As I mentioned earlier, the journey starts with the customer and we design our processes according to their needs. We talk about the customer first and then say what we are going to do. His best interests are involved in those designs and that is the key part to it. Our philosophy is based on two things: customer experience and colleague experience. We can have the best of products and services but if the colleagues delivering the products and services are not getting the right experience, then they might not deliver the right experience to the customer.
Customer satisfaction is more than a mission statement. It must be in the DNA of the institution and a value shared by each and every employee. Is your staff fully motivated to service your clientele?
The most important question is: how we embed customer experience into our DNA. Our approach ensures that customer experience is a key focus right from the beginning for every employee through induction, regular training, adherence to our customer charter, employee performance evaluation and the recognition of role models. Indeed, the customer is at the heart of everything we do. For example, when designing new products or improving existing ones, we always ask ourselves if the customer’s interests are safeguarded. Similarly, when delivering services, we always ensure that customers’ preferences are given the highest priority.
In order to deliver value to customers, the bank has to innovate in its offerings. What has been achieved on this front these last few years?
Our focus is on processes, products and innovation. Naturally, it means that we have had many firsts in terms of product innovation. For instance, we are the first bank in Mauritius to have launched a cash back offer on credit cards. We have also launched an open architecture custody platform for the Private Banking segment. Our leading Custody Solutions, open architecture model and Consistent service delivery are recognised independently and have won us the ‘Best Private Bank in Mauritius’ title by Global Finance Magazine for 3 consecutive years. More recently, we have launched our Mobile Banking service as well as an Elite Banking offer, which brings a host of new exciting privileges for the customer. And, that’s just on the product side!
On the process side, we now offer a fast-track service to open a bank account. Today, we open 90% of our accounts in 25 minutes as you walk into a branch. All this is completely changing the experience of the customer. Our ultimate aim is to improve customer experience at each touch point. We have also upgraded our core banking systems last year. Consequently, we now have the system infrastructure to provide further enhancements for a real customer-driven experience. We are just at the beginning of our journey and there are many more things to come. One thing I can tell you is that, at the same period next year, Bank One will probably be a very different bank in terms of capabilities and customer experience.
What is the budget earmarked for Research & Development?
A substantial amount of investment is already going towards our processes, our people, our systems, our infrastructure as well as our market capability. Often, people tend to look at investment from a technology perspective but it is much more than that. Investment is not just about hardware and software; since anyone can have access to technology. The important thing is how you deliver on this promise.
How did your strategy based on innovation and customer satisfaction drive your growth across different business lines?
Today, we are visible in the market and steadily gaining market share. At the end of the day, customer experience means growth. We are doing well across all business lines and we will continue growing. Bank One is going up in the rankings. We have been achieving double-digit growth for the last five years and we are a sizeable bank now. Our aim is to be the ‘ONE Bank of Choice’ in all the segments where we operate.
In this highly competitive market how will customer experience and innovation be the differentiation factors for Bank One?
If you look at the composition of our team, you will find that we are quite unique. We have a diversified mix of people in our midst. Our management team comes from very diverse backgrounds and has a rich experience from developed markets across the world. That is the first thing which is already a key differentiator for us in my opinion. Secondly, Bank One is truly customer focused.
We do not just launch new products and services; we provide real solutions for the customer’s needs.
“We design our process according to the customer’s needs”
Saleem Ul Haq
Chief Operations Officer