Micro Scoping
For the past three years the most aggressive and effective Australian banks in seizing new clients in the micro-business space have been CBA and ANZ.
Yet in 2009, CBA emerged alone in aggressively competing for micro-business customers, with ANZ retreating significantly to the point of failing to follow up any of the leads that walked into their business, in a new study, and effectively allowing Westpac to leap frog it into number two spot.
The above observation stems from an annual micro-business shadow shop undertaken by CoreData-brandmanagement.
Since beginning the study in 2005 it’s been a knockdown drawn-out fight between CBA and ANZ across the nation, but no more.
Every year CoreData-brandmanagement conducts a shadow shop of micro businesses, defined as businesses with less than $2 million in turnover and are simply new businesses, have an existing business relationship or are in the process of changing banks.
The study is at the beta stage – whereby six businesses are recruited to go through the process – effectively trialling the data collection phase and discovering if anything has changed in the market ahead of potentially tweaking the framework of the project.
The interesting news is the world does appear to have changed profoundly in just one year.
The businesses involved were looking for transaction accounts, lines of credit (to be secured against property) and in two cases FX accounts – one trading with China and the other with the UK.
The initial data suggests that CBA remains aggressive, competitive and interested in this space, while almost all the other banks seem to have retreated into their shells.
As part of a beta trial in the study six businesses were put through the process of visiting CBA, Westpac, ANZ, Bank West, St George and NAB in a trial split between NSW and Victoria.
The data so far is pretty interesting; only CBA and Westpac followed up all six mystery shoppers (most followed up about half, in one case none were followed up).
Perhaps more spectacularly the business which trades between China and Australia – admittedly a small three person operation based in Chatswood – wanted: A line of credit (secured against an unencumbered residential property) a transaction account, the ability to send money to China and pay bills there via direct debit, a transaction account, savings account and internet banking services. It was told that ANZ couldn’t supply what it needed.
Interestingly, CBA took that customer off the market in one meeting adding a credit card to the services provided.
Does this mean there is something we need to know about CBA’s Asian strategy?
A cursory examination seems to show that the bank has been slowly and stealthily building its business north of the border, just not talking too much about it in the process.
