Philippine Business Magazine: Volume 8 No.1 - Strategy
Beyond Banking
PlantersBank's innovative services spell the difference
By Delma L. Peyra

Why do people love Starbucks? Surely, it's not just the coffee. People keep going back to Starbucks not just because of the lattes or the espressos - but the chance to hang-out and keep conversations flowing in a relatively stress-free, clean, no-liquor establishment. Serving good coffee is a given, but offering a relaxing lifestyle to customers is something else.

In the same manner, in the banking industry, efficient financial transactions should be a given. But taking into consideration the total business needs of the customer, beyond traditional banking practices - is another whole and new ball game.
This ball game is where PlantersBank, already 40 years into servicing small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs), has zeroed in. "Very exciting - we are all very excited about all this," remarks the banks's Chairman, Ambassador Jesus Tambunting (former Ambassador to the Court of Saint James, United Kingdom and Ireland).

E-Commerce
The excitement which palpably exudes from Ambassador Tambunting comes at the heels of the bank's launch of its Internet service company in June last year. PlantersbankeCommerce.com is the vehicle by which the bank helps SMEs compete in the world market by allowing them to establish presence in the Internet. With tie-ups with the World Bank's International Finance Corporation, the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), and eVicor, a U.S. technology provider, the bank's dotcom empowers SMEs to compete on the same playing field as big businesses.

Ambassador Tambunting cites the trend of buyers worldwide - for example Wal-Mart - to require their suppliers (such as Gap) to be internet-enabled. This is driven, in part, by efficiency and speed requirements of companies to be able to monitor their orders. Here in the Philippines where a lot of SMEs are into trading and manufacturing, the challenge is for local companies to follow this trend. Missing this revolution will also hamper the competitiveness of local SMEs. Showing the bank's keenness in helping their customers, Chairman Tambunting says, "if we have to finance them to acquire PCs, we will do so."

Two focal points of PlantersbankeCommerce.com are the eShop and the eBusiness Center. The eShop serves as a company's vehicle to showcase its products and services, not only locally but also globally. If a company has an existing website, it can opt to link to the eShop. As a marketing tool, an SME can reach new markets and customers through automatic search engine registration. The more important benefit though of the eShop goes beyond this. The eShop is interactive as it allows a company to change its prices and catalogues, as well as accept transactions from existing and new customers, online.

The eBusiness Center, on the other hand, is a site where customers can establish their own private homepage. It also extends business advisory services such as inventory control, financial planning, audit and legal advice, as well as offer free consultation from the bank's panel of experts. This is also where one can find information from institutions such as the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

The potential benefits of the eShop and the eBusiness Center are hard to ignore. The chance to reach new markets is stronger for an internet-enabled company when it can do business and take orders 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from all over the world. Selling directly to customers via the Web also allows companies to save on marketing costs, thereby increasing profits. And unlike brick-and-mortar establishments, a company on the Web can maintain customer contact all the time.

The B-Club
Aside from the bank's dotcom, another avenue to further service its target market is through a membership program called the B-Club, the first of its kind in Asia. Launched in February 2000 with Cendant Corporation, a world leader in consumer marketing and membership services, the B-Club is a checking account with value-added services that are most useful to Filipino entrepreneurs. "We feel we have a distinct market with distinct needs also," explains Bobby Banaag, Plantersbank's Vice President for Corporate Communications on the rationale for setting up the B-Club.

To become a B-Club member, a business owner simply opens a P50,000-checking account with PlantersBank and he can avail of 30 benefits for free. The most appealing benefits to Filipino entrepreneurs are the insurance benefits (especially for those who travel frequently) and discounts on shipping costs through the bank's tie-ups with DHL and Aboitiz.

A useful aid to entrepreneurs who are just on the start-up phase, the program also offers audit, legal, and other business advisory services. PlatersBank gathered a roster of accredited companies that can serve the needs of small business owners. Banaag says, "we know these service providers and we have talked to them to give our members preferential treatment."

The B-Club, further explains Banaag, serves the bank very well as the members become loyal to the bank in the long-term. As proof of the program's achievement, he relates that based on their membership, about 73% are from fresh deposits - proof that a lot of clients came aboard because of the program.

Banaag'group also intends to take the B-Club to a higher level. Aside from improvements in services and benefits, members can look forward to a membership directory and networking meetings where business owners can meet prospective partners. "We want to make this business group a living program, not just a loyalty program," explains Banaag.

Small Means Big
PlantersBank - established in 1961, first as the Bulacan Development Bank - has not been sidetracked in its focus to finance the country's small-and-medium enterprises. Although the bank ranks 22nd (total assets: P19.8 billion) among the country's 47 commercial banks, it refuses to become a commercial bank. "We want to stay where we are because we don't want to lose focus," explains Ambassador Tambunting.

Staying where they are has enabled the bank to extend not only financing and more benefits - through its own dotcom and the B-Club - to a sector which has long been overlooked because of the relatively small size of business entities (P2 million to P60 million). Nevertheless, when combined the SMEs comprise 90% of the business entities in the country and provides 50% of total employment.

"Early on, I saw the impact of lending to small business owners," relates Ambassador Tambunting. This impact will even be more felt as PlantersBank opens more opportunities to its SME customers.