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Customer service must become the lynchpin of banking. This was the consensus among the room of more than 100 delegates representing the region's retail banking sector at the GCC Cards Summit in Bahrain.
Opening speaker Hilmy Cader said that it is time to forge true customer relationships. He said that marketers have given voice and little action to customer relationship management (CRM) for far too long and that its power must now be realised.
"Banks are sitting on tons of live, accurate data and know exactly who their customer is. Now they must read this data with care and consideration, and deliver accordingly. New card products, services around relationships can be made and retained by listening, watching and, most importantly, by action."
He also warned that new channels of distribution are changing the competitive landscape for cards.
"The dividing line between banks and telcos particularly is fast fading. No longer does one need a 'pin striped suit' to be in the card space. Indeed, telcos and even traditional retailers all have access to real-time customer data and they are showing nimbleness to market. On the other hand, the banking sector is rather slow to the trot."
The summit's keynote speaker, internationally-acclaimed evolution biologist, futurist and business consultant Dr Elisabet Sahtouris suggested that the cards sector should be looking to forge collaboration, not increased competition.
"It is human nature to pull together in times of crisis, indeed to self-organise collaborative solutions. This cycle provides a wonderful opportunity for the (world's) financial markets to do just that.
"The cards sector should identify a cards solution that greases a well-serviced economy instead of fleecing the man on the street with huge interest rates and hidden charges of the back of extended credit."
She suggested that profit should not be made on money and encouraged the room to give serious consideration to the fundamentals of Sharia'a, and the science of Islam.
Echoing the theme of customer service and delivery in summit, Robert Ainey from Bahrain Association of Banks said more focus and investment is required on customer service.
More than 150 regional and international players attended the summit at the Mšvenpick Hotel Bahrain.
