Banks turn to partnerships to win trust and clients

Rachel Freeman, chief growth officer at Tyme, told delegates at Money 20/20 Asia, hat the South African bank sees collaboration as key to building customer trust.

She said: “The way we think about collaboration first is through our partnerships with retailers,”

“We partner with grocery stores and fashion stores because we believe people don’t wake up first thing in the morning and think ‘I want to get a bank account’ but they do like going to the grocery store and it’s a place that they trust.”

These partnerships allow the bank to tap into the trust customers already have with in-store ambassadors, while also fostering close relationships with retail partners, she noted.

Freeman added that this strategy is especially useful when entering new markets. When expanding into a new country, Tyme’s first priority is identifying the right retail partner, she said.

Ornkanya Piduldham, MD, country executive, Thailand, Bank of America NA, added that more traditional banks are partnering with digital banks to improve customer experience.

She said: “Everyone is converging into that direction. For the banks, all want to provide a better customer experience, to improve operational efficiency and the most important thing is we want to lend to the right clients. Collaboration between digital banks and legacy banks is very important. We get more digital innovation and a new-age look at credit analysis.”

Pimolpa Simaroj, chief country officer, Thailand at Deutsche Bank, agreed that more banks are embracing collaboration to enhance their services and optimise systems to be able to better serve their clients.

However, she cautioned that improving the customer experience is a gradual process and shouldn’t be expected to happen overnight.

“It’s a journey, it’s not something you can change overnight,” she said, “It’s a work in progress, so we have to plan ahead.”