Banking News

E&P Global Analyst Meeting Insights

(3 August 2018 - Global) East & Partners fortnightly analyst meetings provide a valuable insight into emerging business banking research and thought leadership developments.

The sessions incorporate client based feedback and ‘early bird’ overviews of newly released analytics from E&P analysts based in Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong and London. Regular updates will now be distributed as a unique view into the conceptualisation and execution of multiclient and custom client reporting across the globe. E&P offers a valuable advantage of pairing demand side customer concerns based on 80,000 annual interviews with CFOs and corporate treasurers with client bank strategic planning and development.

In the latest analyst meeting, cryptocurrency was high on the agenda. In financial services the market is currently entering a ‘second wave’ of investment and client interest following the classic boom and bust price action exhibited by Bitcoin and other digital currencies globally. Future application, integration and adaptation of the technology into product development aimed at improving customer experience is set to expand exponentially on the back of similar levels of investment and excitement around Blockchain, the distributed ledger technology that underpins Bitcoin transactions. Stay tuned for further research based insight in East & Partners upcoming deep dive into the topic space as part of an upcoming proprietary E&P Research Note. How engaged are corporates with cryptocurrencies? At what point will the critical ‘fear of missing out’ threshold be reached and both banks and corporates treat the technology and a ‘must have’ as opposed to a ‘nice to have’? Will a Bitcoin investment hub emerge similar to Fintech epicentres such as Singapore and London?

In the wake of damaging bank misconduct issues the topic of trust and reputational repair is firmly front of mind for bank CEOs globally but especially in Australia following the release of the Productivity Commission report and ongoing Royal Commission. Small business customers in particular have expressed high levels of antagonism and frustration in their dealings with banks, reported extensively as part of East & Partners SME Transaction Banking reporting and sentiment indicators. Historical research conducted by E&P suggested a strong correlation between reputational performance of banks and the level of ‘wallet share’ they secure with primary customers (average % of business per primary customer). Wallet share and customer satisfaction outcomes are closely linked, with CFOs and corporate treasurers likely to allocate less of their wallet to their primary bank as product and service standards decline. The link with ‘mind share’ and the influence of potentially irreparable damage to trust and confidence in the financial sector offers a thought provoking area for further research to understand the monetary impact of falling sentiment and distrust among bank’s large customer bases. Further analysis is slated for Belt and Road Initiative investment flows, ‘trade war’ impacts and demand side Blockchain preferences from corporates perspective.