Security Bank targets retail market

MANILA, Philippines - Security Banking Corp. has re-focused its energies to develop its retail market or specifically the so-called mass affluent, which represents 40 percent of the country’s banking system’s total revenue pool and 10 percent of the entire population.

Security Bank senior vice president Ma. Cristina A. Tingson said in terms of the retail market, the bank has aligned its service with one brand, one proposition, and one target market.

The mass affluent is defined as individuals within the income bracket of P600,000 and above, but not classified as high net worth individuals.

“This is the market that has a lot of needs. They are starting to build their lives, looking for homes, acquiring credit cards, thinking of how much they will save for the future, such as tuition,” Tingson said.

The age bracket ranges from 17 to 45.

Security Bank, known for its wholesale and corporate banking strength, undertook a study which showed  that the mass affluent are generally not satisfied with existing banking services.

Majority of respondents said they were not happy with their banks, which merely offer a slew of products, but are not really listening to their needs and wants.

“Our proposition is a bank that listens and knows your needs, puts you first, offer solutions that fit for your needs, and not just push products on you,” the bank official said.

It is a simpler and uncomplicated form of private banking but focused on the mass affuent and offers banking products fit for the target market. Private banking addresses the high net worth market.

The change will be implemented on all 244-combined branch network, and complete by next year.

Even with the targeted 24 new branches this year, the process of re-focusing will already be implemented.

The re-focusing should result in the retail bank segment contributing a larger share to the bank’s revenues, which has relied heavily on its core business focused on wholesale and corporate banking.

Last year, its income weakened due to lower trading gains. It posted a P5-billion net income last year, down 33 percent from P7.5 billion in 2012.

Expanding its retail base assures a steady stream of businesses that may be lower valued than the wholesale business. But the diversity of demand and the huge number of accounts offers huge returns and opportunities.