Corporate Banking

Universal Commercial Corporate Banking

Whether you are looking to restructure or expand your Business, we have solution for every step of the way

Consider your bank account a business asset

Universal Commercial Corporate Banking practice provides innovative solutions to help clients define their commercial strategy, design marketing initiatives and develop efficient pricing processes.
When you consider the advantages that come with a Universal Commercial Bank Corporate Account and the many benefits to your business, coupled with the support and guidance you receive from your ever attentive relationship manager, you would be right to consider it a valuable business asset.
We have significant consulting experience serving financial and institutional clients across all segments – from small- and medium-sized enterprises to large multinationals. We’ve helped them develop and refine all types of processes and strategies, from simple lending products to more complex financial solutions such as structured finance, global transaction banking, investment banking and capital markets.
If the relationship manager  received a hard copy credit application from each of their customers, entered each document into the system or, as they used to do, send or bring piles of application forms to the operating units for analysis.

Modern technologies in corporate banking

But doesn’t that customer lose the sense of uniqueness along the way, assured by calling the relationship manager and saying “do something” – and it would be the relationship manager doing the clicking and document-collecting?
Even in private banking, the concept of customer-assigned advisors is being abandoned. Every customer, either retail or corporate, is aware that customer service is increasingly moving to remote channels.

What are the most important areas of corporate banking requiring investment in technology?

It’s security first and foremost. Hackers are constantly looking for ways to empty our customers’ accounts. Each bank has to cope with such attempts and at the same time prevent fraud, phishing and other methods of theft – there is no room for savings here.

About digital transformation strategy

If you were to give advice to a corporate bank that is just beginning its digital transformation strategy process… what three areas requiring special attention would you indicate?
First of all, a scrutiny of basic processes – looking into how the bank works and why. It’s not just about creating an attractive internet banking interface if it’s supported by tedious manual processes. And they  need to be looked at as a whole and automated.
If you were to give advice to a corporate bank that is just beginning its digital transformation strategy process… what three areas requiring special attention would you indicate?
First of all, a scrutiny of basic processes – looking into how the bank works and why. It’s not just about creating an attractive internet banking interface if it’s supported by tedious manual processes. And they  need to be looked at as a whole and automated.
Then: getting to know the customer. Who they are, what their expectations and needs are, what products and tools they use – what is worth developing and how? It’s all about responding to specific needs and solving specific problems, providing tailor-made service.
Finally, the stability and security of services, not only front-office, but also back-office ones, operating in the background.

What goals should a bank undergoing such transformation set for itself - in the customer context?

To educate the customer on how to do banking on their own, which means providing the self-service model in a user-friendly way – winning the customer’s approval by presenting real benefits from such. Take card customization – the customer orders the card, and it’s instantly visible in the system, ready to be used virtually. No signatures are needed, neither is a piece of plastic in your wallet.

How can progress be measured here?

Simply by applying “the less, the better” principle. The less paper we use, the better; the less paper statements we send to the customer, the better; the less transfers customers make at a branch, the better;  the less time they spend on service, the better.
Everyone seems to be outdoing each other in innovation these days. How can we  identify innovations which add value to  the customer, innovations allowing  the customer to   bank easier, faster, and cheaper? Ones that will not scare people off?
At ING, ideas that come up are tested and verified quickly – most often as 3-month projects, carried out in line with our internal PACE methodology. In short, we check whether an idea is valuable and whether there is any  rationale behind it, what the market response would be, how to approach the implementation, what technology should be used, and, above all, what the customer’s real problem is and how we can solve it.

Are there still any undeveloped niches where technology could bring a high cost value to both the bank and the customer?

This is where blockchain comes in. This technology can change everything, including the way inter-bank information is exchanged.
The technology is there, so are the niches. In most cases, however, there’s no will to act. But this is because of  the rapidly changing market of modern technologies – banks are just getting accustomed to PSD2, with a blockchain revolution already knocking on the door.