Spanish behemoths court their clients

摘要

Santander Central Hispano (SCH) and BBVA, the two Spanish banking behemoths, have discovered The Client. Put simply, they both appear to have realised that getting a larger share of wallet of existing clients is the way forward. However, this is a strategy often called cross-selling -that most banks in the developed world have found rather more difficult to implement than appears at first sight. It is also one born of the fact that Latin American earnings have been problematic in the past two years, so investors welcome a renewed focus on Spain. "In a merger you forget the client so you have to put the emphasis back on the client. The idea is to regain market share and improve services which had declined," says Enrique Garcia Cande-las, head of retail banking at SCH. Both banks have seen their double digit market shares drop as a result of their respective mergers. "Our strategy is to make the client more satisfied, not to sell more products," he adds, alluding to the bank's reputation for being product-driven.