BPI EXPRESS ASSIST (BEA) Qorus Banking Innovation Awards 2013

BPI continues to face more difficult environments than anticipated. Interest rates, already at record lows in previous years and initially widely expected to rise, further dropped and spreads further narrowed. Customers continue to be more demanding, and competition more fierce with most players increasingly turning to pricing as the major lever to gain market share. The retail market segment(branches), in particular, was a critical battlefront given the segment’s relatively bigger spreads, its growth potential, and BPI’s strong leadership position in this space. BPI also is faced with the task of being able to handle a net 500,000 increase in client base using the existing infrastructure while delighting existing and new clients such that the “BPI-experience” deepens relationships and attracts more low cost deposits. This, in practical terms, meant more transactions per branch. How to increase throughput while enhancing the customer experience continues to be a challenge. Key to BPI’s success here included delivering in the areas of: customer centricity, growth through innovation and operational excellence. Thus, the BPI EXPRESS ASSIST (BEA) project, the first fully automated customer transaction assist facility, was born. A facility that would cut waiting time for the customers using the new touch-screen experience and which leverages on existing bank technologies which directly links to the tellering system of the bank. This is truly a very attractive proposition and will surely be a breakthrough if successfully implemented … that’s if the intended customer benefit will truly be realized.