Companies

Most financial institutions need years to find their footing, but Cambodia’s five-year-old Prince Bank hit the road running. True to its mission to help “customers succeed through professional financial services”, it offers a variety of products and services to a growing number of satisfied customers. CEO Honn Sorachna and Chief Digital and Technology Officer Jennifer Lee Cheau Lin describe its progress in becoming the bank of choice for its customers.

Pakistan has many strengths, but it is not world-renowned as a pioneer in digital banking. However, Pakistan’s Silkbank has been so successful in growing its digital footprint that it has become an example to larger banks of how to exploit digital banking fully. Erum Tarin and Naveed Mushtaq describe in detail the lengths to which Silkbank has gone to fulfil its core value of focusing on the customer, no matter what that entails.

Thailand’s Government Savings Bank has financially assisted the country’s citizens since 1913, today offering much more than savings accounts. State-owned, it seeks to enhance the financial welfare of private citizens and businesses. Recently, the bank has devoted itself to making the most of digital channels to serve customers best. During our interview, Vitai Ratanakorn, President and CEO, and Boonson Jenchaimahakoon, First Senior EVP-Technology, described GSB’s current goals and latest innovations.

BDO Unibank has been the bank of choice for Filipinos for decades, rewarded for its dedication to satisfying customers’ needs with high rankings. The Philippines’ Enhanced Community Quarantine has tested BDO’s dedication to its stated values, but it has proven faithful to its CORE commitments to clients. Even in stressful times, BDO is on track to fulfil its vision of serving as many customers as possible as expertly as possible.

Ecuador’s Produbanco is guided by the principle that its essence is its customers. Its commitment to fulfilling its mission of accompanying people and companies daily to overcome their limits, sharing their best experiences and consolidating long-term relationships is realised in its application of digital innovation. The bank seeks to go beyond merely fulfilling financial needs to providing memorable experiences. In our interview, CEO Ricardo Cuesta Delgado shared Produbanco’s latest advances.

Financial institutions and their communities depend on each other, and the banks that recognize this symbiotic relationship succeed where others fail. Success is the case for Fidelity Bank Ghana, guided by its motto “Together We’re More”. Viewing itself in partnership with customers, this heavily awarded bank exemplifies how fruitful working in cooperation with stakeholders, through “normal” times and crises, will ultimately be. Innovation is this bank’s tool to achieve more.

Some banks act as bulwarks in turbulent times; Ecuador’s Banco del Pacífico has been there for its customers through thick and thin for just under half a century. But this progressive bank, dedicated to enhancing the customer experience, has gone beyond anchoring to steering Ecuador’s, and indeed Latin America’s, financial industry into the virgin seas of digital transformation. Its loyal customers have responded to this ahead-of-the-curve bank with wholehearted approval.

The Caribbean island country of Jamaica is a top draw for tourists seeking a tropical paradise, but it also hosts a stable and growing economy serviced by a dynamic banking sector. Driving the digital transformation is First Global Bank, which has served Jamaican communities ably for the past 50 years. In our interview, President and CEO Mariame McIntosh Robinson and Vice President Arlene Williams describe FGB’s vision, values and latest innovations.

Nedbank is ingeniously employing existing and new digital solutions to meet the needs of customers during the COVID-19 crisis.

The Great Recession forced big international banks to re-evaluate risks and “de-risk” some overseas operations, guided by an augmented focus on AML and CFT compliance. Unfortunately for Caribbean banks, de-risking for the North American majors translated into trimming ties with them. Changing the perception that they are “risky” has not been easy for Caribbean bankers, but through resolute, concerted effort, the risk profile of the Caribbean banking industry is improving.