Banking News

E&P Global Analyst Meeting Insights

(06 October 2020 – Global) What are East & Partner’s (E&P) global analysts based in Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong and London hearing from bank clients and their corporate clients since the onset of COVID-19 restrictions in Q1 2020?

East’s analyst meeting insights link ‘voice of the customer’ analytics derived from thousands of direct interviews with CFOs and corporate treasurers with our client bank and financial services providers emerging strategic planning and implementation directives, providing an exclusive ‘behind the curtain’ view of what is driving commercial banking markets from both the buy and sell side.

Relationship banking faces a critical juncture as traditional face-to-face meetings and deep interpersonal client relationships come under siege by coronavirus enforced restrictions. East & Partners latest global insights report seeks to delve deeper into the impact on institutional banking teams scrambling to keep up with the heightening onus on digital banking expertise. Where does this leave key decision makers planning for an uncertain future from 2021 and beyond? The latest research is set for release in November, building on the valuable analysis gleaned from the recent Onboarding and Request for Proposal (RFP) reports.

“Digital banking advances have been accelerated by up to five years according to expert estimates, but how quickly can incumbent majors transform their operating model and adapt customer coverage teams? Neobanks are lurking, ready to take advantage of rising customer churn as corporates keep their options open” commented East & Partners Head of Markets Analysis, Martin Smith.

The COVID-19 crisis bears minimal resemblance to previous economic crises sech as the Global Financial Crisis, Great Depression or Spanish Flu pandemic, providing minimal guidance on how best to plan the recovery. The opportunity is there for banks to recalibrate customer relationships in a way that rebuilds trust and competency – this is a true ‘sink or swim’ moment” Mr Smith added.

Previously placid credit and funding markets are displaying record volatility as markets shift direction rapidly in response to the COVID-19 health crisis, evidenced most recently by the US President’s positive coronavirus test result. In that sense, timely voice of the customer insights are vital for steering strategic decision making. East’s Anytime Question Platform provides fast  voice-of-the-customer insights into new product testing, customer satisfaction validating post-COVID initiatives forecast digital banking planned investment and many other areas with full analysis.

East & Partners Anytime Question analysis exemplified this key insight in response to the damaging Wirecard scandal. The German company’s insolvency and accompanying negative PR fallout results in issues for other payment providers, but just how significant was the ‘mind share’ hit?

“As the COVID-19 pandemic reshapes businesses worldwide, the expectations on product and service delivery has also changed by becoming more ridged, demanding and complex. In light of this, non-banks have progressively gained the trust of the masses by offering bespoke digital solutions to ongoing corporate banking concerns. However, given Wirecard’s recent scandal and insolvency, questions have been raised about the long-term viability of non-bank players in the market”  commented East & Partners Europe Market Analyst, Pierre Sokoya. 

East’s global currency forecast analysis delivers CFO’s expectations about future exchange rate movements for six different currencies in multiple markets, covering the USD, GBP, CNY, AUD, SGD, EUR, NZD and CAD. The bi-annual analysis aims to help treasurers and financial executives make better decisions when managing their currency risks, guiding the uptake of Foreign Exchange (FX) hedging solutions by benchmarking where their peer group sees currency movements over a ten-month forecast period. The Asian currency forecast analysis complements the Asian Business Foreign Exchange Markets report which monitors industry specific market share, wallet share, mind share and customer satisfaction levels in addition to FX volume analysis.

“We are increasingly seeing trading businesses in Asia holding divergent views about where the region’s major currency pairs will be going in the near term, which is in part aggravated by uncertainties introduced by the coronavirus pandemic. These are coal face predictions from businesses that trade regularly, yet they find it difficult to agree on a common set of outlooks, yet the cost of getting these forecasts wrong is steep. Our recent research shows that these Asian businesses can suffer from currency losses of up to US$71,400 during these times of extreme volatility. Many more business owners and CFOs are rethinking their currency strategy as a result and they are looking for help from their banks and providers” stated East & Partners Asia Business Head Sangiita Yoong.