Digital Bank Winners Reap Win-Win Rewards

Corporate banking needs are changing rapidly, as companies shift more and more functions to an online environment. Global Finance’s World’s Best Digital Bank awards honor the banks that best understand these needs and anticipate clients’ changing requirements for digital banking platforms.

Global Banks Dominate Corporate/Institutional Awards

A global platform that integrates different channels and offers online features and connectivity solutions, automating transaction and treasury processes, ensured that Citigroup received the highest number of corporate/institutional digital-banking awards in all corners of the globe. A client-experience and client-collaboration center in the bank’s innovation lab helps Citi provide its corporate customers with tools to operate both locally and globally in a seamless and efficient manner. Looking forward, Citi is counting on its investment in a Big Data platform, blockchain and application programming interfaces (APIs) to safeguard its position as a digital leader by enhancing its digital capabilities and generating cost savings.

Citi’s commitment to its corporate customers in Africa resulted in 14 country awards and a sweep of the subcategory awards for the region. Citi also performed well in Central and Eastern Europe—but the region saw a good mix of national and regional bank wins. While Tinkoff Bank was singled out as Russia’s best investment manager, its compatriot Sberbank secured three of the subcategory wins and the overall country award. Sberbank has developed a highly customized website and machine-learning algorithms; its digital customer-relationship-management capability helps the bank enhance customer experience and stay ahead of competitors.

While Citi also dominated the awards in Latin America, Bancolombia drew attention for the success of its online strategy in creating memorable client experiences. Between 70% and 90% of the bank’s products are available online and Bancolombia’s corporate online banking app allows corporate clients to check products, prepare and approve transactions, and request documents and up-to-date information on Colombia’s financial markets.

In Western Europe, Citi took all the country awards—bar Cyprus, which went to Hellenic Bank, and Turkey, which went to Yapi Kredi. Turkey’s Yapi Kredi Bank also picked up three subcategory awards thanks to its interactive website, which supports a consolidated dashboard and customization for private-banking customers. Yapi Kredi launched a mobile-banking app last year that includes biometric features; the launch of Self Service World enables Yapi Kredi’s merchant members to create campaigns on their own for Yapı Kredi’s individual customers.

In North America, Citi took both US and Canada country awards, but Wells Fargo won the lion’s share of subcategory citations. Wells Fargo provides corporate clients with capabilities on different platforms, including web-based mobile, direct transmissions, and integration with customer systems; corporate clients can also enjoy a customized presentation to enhance the user experience.

Citi won all the Asia-Pacific country awards except for Singapore, which went to DBS Bank; DBS was singled out for a very clear website-design strategy. With over 90% of its products available online, automation, chatbots and biometric authentication all help improve customer service by reducing manual processes. The editors gave Taiwan’s CTBC Bank special commendation for its social media marketing, which includes separate social media pages for big individual projects and products and has helped the bank lift transaction volumes and value.

In the Middle East too, Citi won multiple country awards; but local banks also fared well. Jordan’s Arab Bank launched a new cash-management and trade-finance corporate platform, ArabiConnect, which powered 25%-to-50% year-on-year growth in the percentage of customers using online cash-management and trade-finance services. Egypt’s Commercial International Bank (CIB) uses data analytics to drive a customercentric approach, aiming to maximize profits from existing products, customers and channels.

Big Data, AI Drive Consumer Awards Winners

Technology was also a major driver of Global Finance’s Best Digital Bank Awards on the consumer side, where the awards were dominated by banks that made the best use of data and artificial intelligence (AI) to provide a targeted and seamless user experience.

In Latin America, no one bank dominated, but Bancolombia and Banco Popular de Puerto Rico attracted special mentions. Bancolombia uses cookies to provide customizable content based on the client’s residency and behavior patterns. Services include cloud-based internet banking, Big Data for cross-selling, and robo-advisory that uses AI for investment advice, all contained on a website based on responsive design such that web pages work well over a variety of devices.

Banco Popular’s clients can access their accounts and other services over an Apple watch app or Touch iD for iPhone 5 and up, and Fingerprint Access for Android 6.0 or more-recent versions. The mobile app enables consumers to control their finances anytime and anywhere, with an integrated platform that does transfers, payments and other functions.

National banks were winners in every country in Western Europe that participated in the awards. Special commendation was reserved for both Garanti Bank and CaixaBank. Turkey’s Garanti Bank offers a customer-friendly and responsive web design that analyzes visitor behavior to maximize conversions. The bank also uses behavioral targeting to fine-tune campaigns on its website.

Spain’s CaixaBank boasts a plethora of digital innovations, including MyFinance, CaixaPay and one-click account opening. Integration across channels enables Caixa customers to initiate transactions or processes in one channel and complete them in another. While making digital banking easier for customers, Caixa also provides excellent security: Its CaixaBankSign is a three-factor approach authentication feature protecting customers from online fraud.

In Central and Eastern Europe, regional banks took the consumer honors, with Tinkoff, Sberbank, TBC and Slovakia’s Tatra banka sharing the subcategory awards. Being branchless, Tinkoff offers 90% of its products and services online. Advance technologies, including straight-through processing (STP), cloud computing, social media as a platform, analytics and single sign-on all help improve customer satisfaction.

Sberbank offers the majority of services online and is looking to aggressively ramp up technology infrastructure and software. Tatra has introduced inducements for prospective customers, including face biometry, a chatbot, AI and finance-planning tools. In another former Soviet republic, Georgia, TBC Bank offers more than 90% of its products online, which has helped it achieve cost savings of more than 30%.

In Africa, Standard Chartered’s customer commitment is reflected in the numerous consumer awards it picked up this year. Readily accessible features include a video-chat service, single sign-on, and online services including fund transfer, bill payment and rewards points. A global-link feature helps customers access global market information by logging in to the mobile app, while face and fingerprint ID ensure secure login.

In the US, Bank of America’s AI virtual assistant, Erica, provides 24/7 customer support. The bank also offers features such as cloud computing, single sign-on, multicountry/currency transactions and a fully automated account-opening and onboarding process. HSBC in Bermuda provides single sign-on and partial STP.

Asia-Pacific saw mostly national and regional bank wins; but Citi, Standard Chartered and DBS stood out in the region. DBS offers an impressive range of digital services and enjoys a digital-activity rate of 80%.

Our Best Islamic Bank category honors institutions that offer the most digital services and products that are Shariah approved. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, for example, offers multichannel, Shariah-compliant digital-product offerings in deposits, lending and payments.

As the mortgage industry is also undergoing digital transformation, we honored the best mortgage banks by region for the first time this year. With over 90% of its mortgage products available online, Saudi Arabia’s Bidaya Home Finance offers an especially successful example of how banks can use digital to enhance the customer experience. Taiwan’s E.SUN Financial Holdings has been able to slash price inquiry and comparison time from three days to three minutes and cut mortgage application times from seven to three days.