Share the article
twitter-iconcopy-link-iconprint-icon
share-icon
AmericasFebruary 1 2010

Multicultural banking

Brent Currie, managing director of core deposits and payments, ScotiabankScotiabank's need to provide a more rounded service for its customers across the globe led to a co-operation with Western Union, which has developed over the past 18 months. As the Canadian bank's managing director of core deposits and payments acknowledges, this arrangement has been mutually beneficial.
Share the article
twitter-iconcopy-link-iconprint-icon
share-icon
Multicultural banking

Canada's third largest bank by market capitalisation, Scotiabank, has more than 7 million customers and 1016 retail outlets. It is Canada's most international bank and in spring 2008 it started offering Western Union services. The bank now offers Western Union remittance services through three platforms: in-branch, through its call centres, and online.

Natural fit

According to Brent Currie, managing director of core deposits and payments at Scotiabank, the co-operation with Western Union came about as a natural fit. "Because we are Canada's most international bank, it made sense for us to work with a well-known and trusted remittance company that could provide our customers with a broad reach around the globe." The sheer size of the Western Union distribution network, the company's reputation and the power of their brand, says Mr Currie, made the co-operation a sensible decision for Scotiabank. Mr Currie adds: "Scotia is a well known and trusted brand in Canada and when it comes to remittances, Western Union tested well in brand recognition and respect here in Canada, so it made sense to put the two brands together."

The co-operation has been up and running for about a year and a half. Prior to this, Scotiabank was using typical wire services for money transfers. Through the Western Union and Scotiabank agreement, customers can send money from a Scotiabank branch or they can call Scotiabank call centres or go through the bank's online banking service. The Scotiabank online service has built a proprietary front-end piece of software onto its own banking platform, but all remittances transactions carried out link into the Western Union network.

"When we decided that adding an improved remittance solution to our product suite was a strategically sound decision, we did investigate the relative merits of a 'buy' versus 'build' approach. When we looked at the costs and complexities involved in building our own remittance solution from scratch, it quickly became apparent that it was much more efficient to work with an established company like Western Union. Not only would the initial systems build and ongoing maintenance costs and complexities be significant, we would not benefit from the years of experience Western Union has acquired in the areas of remittance efficiency, AML (anti-money laundering) and fraud mitigation," he says.

According to Mr Currie, the co-operation is an ongoing success. The relationship has met customer and staff expectations on a number of levels - also growing the volumes. "Transaction volumes continue to rise every month, especially if you look at the online service. We launched a new online pricing strategy with Western Union in summer 2009 - a set C$9+1% fee - and that has been very successful with good growth each month." The volume of remittances being carried out within Scotiabank branches also continues to rise every month and that's attributable, says Mr Currie, to strong engagement and support of the Western Union business development managers. Mr Currie adds that these managers' visits to branches has helped staff to recognise a customer who should be sending a Western Union transfer, and has helped to overcome any objection or reticence in using the services. And importantly the customer feedback on the co-operation has been very positive too.

cp/73/GET-Scotia.jpg

Scotiabank: partnership with Western Union has helped the Canadian bank better serve its international customers

Strengthening the platform

Being able to offer Western Union services has strengthened Scotiabank's retail banking and multicultural banking strategies, says Mr Currie. "Immigration is a big driver of population growth in Canada and because of this, the Western Union co-operation really helps us to appeal to those new Canadians, and to give them good options to send money back home to friends and family. We've found it has been a good way to extend our value proposition and acquire new customers when they come to Canada." But the services are used by more than just new arrivals in Canada, as long-term Canadians are also using the new co-operation's services to send money to their family in other countries or to children studying abroad.

Scotiabank takes its multicultural customers very seriously. In 2008, Scotiabank's multicultural banking unit launched the Scotiabank StartRight Programme for Newcomers, a comprehensive financial package designed to meet the needs of new immigrants, international students, foreign workers and immigrant investors, even before they moved to Canada. People planning to move to Canada can open a Canadian bank account with Scotiabank and wire transfer money before they leave their country, providing them with peace of mind and a 'soft landing'. Once they arrive in Canada they can visit a branch to get a Visa credit card, a safety deposit box, as well as other financial solutions and information tools to help them get settled faster. Scotiabank's multicultural banking unit is focused on delivering cost-effective, innovative, and customer-centric products and services to meet the needs of the multicultural community and this is why the co-operation with Western Union was a such a good fit. "By launching this co-operation we were able to offer fast, reliable and easy money transfer services and as such, it has helped to increase the value of our multicultural banking platform," says Mr Currie.

Cross-selling

Gaining and keeping new customers has been a core tenet to the new co-operation too. "You do have to be a Scotiabank customer to send a Western Union Money Transfersm from us - so anyone who isn't a Scotiabank customer is offered a free checking account for a year," says Mr Currie. This can be set up on the spot and the money transfer can be sent. It then allows Scotiabank to open conversations with those new customers about other financial needs they might have and what services the bank may offer them.

Mr Currie says: "Even in the current financial climate remittances have remained stable - and it is continuing to grow month over month. It's not a discretionary spend - sending money back to my parents or my children is not something that will be cut back."

Front-line service

Mr Currie also emphasises: "Staff engagement is always key - you want to make sure that your marketing messages make sense for the target markets you are trying to appeal to, but I would say that the biggest thing is the front-line experience and making sure that your customer service reps understand the service. They must understand the benefits for it and be able to talk to customers about it. That interaction between one banker and one customer is where this co-operation comes together."

Staff training is of course important to staff engagement and the general success of the service. The 'how to send a transfer' training is only one element of staff education for this partnership. The other element, which may be even more important, according to Mr Currie, is being able to recognise when the service is appropriate. "Training the service staff to get the customer to articulate exactly what they need is really important - finding out how quickly the funds need to arrive at their destination, for example, is important so that our representative can advise each customer on the right product for them."

Ongoing co-operation

Eighteen months on, it is clear that things are going well. Increased month-on-month volumes show that the growth potential for remittances has not yet peaked. Scotiabank is confident that this will only continue to grow. Strengthening the multicultural banking aspect and gaining new customers has made providing Western Union remittances services an easy fit for the bank. Mr Currie is forthright in his advice for others considering a remittance co-operation. "All banks are looking to add value in different ways, but it is a global economy. As the world seems to shrink, more and more people are looking to send money around the world. Having a service like this helps us to keep a strong customer service experience.

"Our customers continue to tell us that it is important that we give them various options for how to send money to friends and family domestically and globally. As we strive to offer solutions to meet a variety of needs, we continue to view remittances and money transfer capabilities as important tools in delivering a great customer experience. We want to help our customers become financially better off. Whether that's ensuring that they are in the proper day-to-day banking account, minimising their borrowing costs by ensuring that their mortgage, credit cards and lines of credit are meeting their needs, helping them achieve their savings and investment goals by advising them on the right investments, or allowing them to share their wealth by sending money quickly, reliably and easily to friends and family around the world, Scotiabank wants to ensure that we have the right products available for them."

Was this article helpful?

Thank you for your feedback!

Read more about:  Americas , Canada