2. Cash management is something to which we pay very close attention and like to keep in-house. We are perhaps in a unique situation because about 98% of sales are generated via our website, where customers pay with credit or debit cards. Funds are easily collected by our credit card banking partner and it is not necessary for us to engage in elaborate sweeping or lock-box solutions, as may be the case for other international operations.
I feel that outsourcing cash management can, to a certain extent, remove some of the focus and control that is essential in a cost-conscious business such as ours.
3. In recent years, many banks have become very product focused. Although this has obviously improved individual products and services, it has possibly been at the expense of old-fashioned relationship banking.
I think that some institutions need to take a step back and focus on the overall relationship that they enjoy with their corporate clients (acknowledging and giving credit for all forms of ancillary business that the client offers), rather than just concentrating on what might be considered the more lucrative business while ignoring lower-margin products. Banks need to become more customer, rather than product, focused.