Rising to the challenge: Transaction banking in Asia-Pacific

Transcription

1 10 McKinsey on Payments September 2012 Rising to the challenge: Transaction banking in Asia-Pacific Transaction banking, which encompasses trade finance, cash management and securities services, is drawing renewed attention and investment throughout the Asia-Pacific banking industry. The increased focus is driven by the significant size and growth potential of the region s transaction-banking revenue pool, as well as by the realization among global and domestic banks that transaction banking not only provides greater returns on risk-weighted assets, but also deepens client relationships (Exhibit 1). This article identifies four strategies that bankers are using to capture opportunities in transaction banking. Akash Lal Vinayak HV Tommaso Natale Raffaela Ritter Sunghman Seo Reet Chaudhuri Rapid market growth With post-risk revenues of more than $195 billion, Asia-Pacific accounts for 35 percent of the world s transaction banking market the largest share globally. From a regional perspective, transaction banking accounts for about 40 percent of Asia s corporate and institutional banking opportunity, and the market is expected to grow approximately 13 percent annually, generating revenues of $350 billion per year by This will expand Asia s share of the global market to 41 percent. Cash management, comprised of deposit income and payment fees, represents the largest transaction banking revenue pool (80 percent of the total); however, trade finance and security services also continue to be important drivers (Exhibit 2, page 12). Economic growth and increasing business sophistication are driving the expansion of Asian transaction banking. Furthermore, structural change in economic hot spots throughout the region is creating fresh opportunities. The developments include: Intra-Asian trade now 20 percent of global trade is growing at a 14 percent compounded annual rate, and is extending well beyond the traditional hubs of China and Japan to include Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and other national markets. New trade corridors are opening. For example, Asia s trade with Latin America grew at a 17 percent compounded annual between 2005 and 2009 (Exhibit 3, page 12). Similarly China and India have rapidly developed trade links with Africa to

2 Rising to the challenge: Transaction banking in Asia-Pacific 11 meet expanding energy, mineral, metal and agricultural needs. This is occurring even though 75 percent of trade finance transactions between India and Africa fail to obtain trade financing (the large volume of petroleum and mineral deals rapidly exhausts established country and/or commodity limits in both regions). Consequently, over half of all Indian-African transactions are structured and executed in London, thus creating opportunities for banks that have connections to the India-Africa trade corridor through London banks. Changes in several industrial sectors are creating important opportunities. In India, for example, the power generation industry faces coal shortfalls of up to 30 percent this year. This major disruption will likely require importing coal from Indonesia and Australia, as well as equipment from China, to replace lost power-generating capacities. Such changes typically lead to greater demand for transaction banking. Some 700 emerging Asian companies have been growing consistently by at least 10 to 15 percent annually. These Asian champions, each with $500 million or more in revenues, are rapidly globalizing and have significant cross-border payment and trade finance needs. To capture the opportunities in these trends banks must adapt to changing customer needs and preferences. Much like lending, transaction banking has long been a key Exhibit 1 Transaction banking adds economic value and improves customer retention Transaction banking s contribution to economic value added Operating profit over RWA, percent 5.3 Transaction banking s impact on customer retention Example, years +29% Source: McKinsey Corporate bank Transaction bank Credit-only relationship With transaction banking services

3 12 McKinsey on Payments September 2012 Exhibit 2 Asia s share of global transaction banking revenue pools will reach 41% in 2015, driven by cash management Global transaction banking revenues Post-risk revenues, U.S.$ billions Americas Asia transaction banking revenues Post-risk revenues, U.S.$ billions Securities services Trade fees EMEA 175 Payment fees Asia-Pacific Deposits Source: McKinsey Asian Transaction Banking Profit Pools Asia-Pacific share 36% 41% Cash management share 80% 80% Exhibit 3 Asia s trade connectivity with the Middle East, South/Central America and Africa has seen double-digit growth Trade transactions U.S.$ billions North America 870 1% CAGR 1 Europe 1,144 5% CAGR Middle East % CAGR South/Central America % CAGR Africa % CAGR Asia 3,959 5% CAGR CAGR Source: McKinsey Asian Transaction Banking Profit Pools Notable growth areas Notable bilateral trade routes Asia to Brazil, 20% Asia to Venezuela, 29% Notable bilateral trade routes Asia to Nigeria, 21% Asia to Egypt, 23%

4 Rising to the challenge: Transaction banking in Asia-Pacific 13 driver of customer relationships with primary banks. In fact, transaction banking alone gives these banks about a 50 percent wallet share among their customers. But as Asian companies become more sophisticated and develop more internal buying centers, they are starting to search for best-of-breed solutions. A McKinsey survey of more than 125 large and 200 mid-size Asian companies reveals that, on average, large corporations use more than 30 banks (Exhibit 4). To capture transaction-banking business from these companies, banks need to significantly improve their capabilities. Many local and regional players are now investing heavily to improve their product and service offerings to compete with large specialists. This will in turn place more pressure on smaller players to make strategic choices about where and how they will compete. Transaction banking approaches are growing more complex as companies focus on liquidity management. This will boost demand for technological sophistication in straight-through processing, the integration of corporate finance and capital markets, and overall processing efficiency. McKinsey research shows that Asia s mid-size and large corporations are already turning to transaction banks for comprehensive cash management, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems integration, and online trade finance and cash management. Because of these changes, competition continues to intensify. Recent research by Greenwich Associates suggests that from a customer perspective the capabilities gap between Asian and global players is rapidly diminishing (except in service). Indeed, in some countries, such as South Korea, domestic incumbents are considered superior Exhibit 4 In Asia, many domestic companies have relationships with 30 or more banks Many domestic corporations are using the services of more than 30 banks Domestic corporations Number of banking relationships, percent of respondents Asian multinational companies (MNCs) use several regional/global banks supplemented with a number of balance sheet providers Asian multinationals Number of banking relationships, percent of respondents Most global MNCs use the services of 2 to 3 global banks throughout the region supplemented with 1 to 2 local banks per market Global multinationals Number of banking relationships, percent of respondents >30 41 >30 30 >30 5 Source: McKinsey CIB Survey of Asian Corporates Feb to May, 2011

5 14 McKinsey on Payments September 2012 to their global counterparts. Moreover, Asian companies especially Chinese firms are more aggressively tapping Asian banks for cross-border expansion. With attention focused more aggressively on transaction banking, regional and domestic banks are rapidly upgrading their IT capabilities to meet client needs. And Asian companies are increasingly turning to banks for international cash management services within the region. China s banks, in particular, are experiencing a significant upturn in this regard. All this is prompting global bankers to develop integrated, crossborder, capital management and trade financing solutions. Winning strategies As with any large, diversified, regional market, an all-inclusive approach has little chance of achieving more than modest goals. To thrive in the new environment bankers will need to realign their organizational strategies to address the capabilities, objectives and starting positions of each institution they pursue, whether it s a multinational corporation, regional institution or local business. Competitive strategies that are generating positive results throughout Asia have the following common characteristics: Sales coverage and productivity excellence Leading banks focus on improving their transaction banking coverage models, which typically take one of three forms: Relationship manager-led: Relationship managers (RMs) manage the client relationships and call on the bank s transaction-banking specialists as needed. Client service team-led: RMs manage the overall client relationship with transaction banking specialists working as part of client service teams. The specialists may meet with clients independently, but coordinate their efforts with the RMs. Transaction banker-led: Transaction banking specialists manage the primary client relationship and coordinate most of their activities through their own transaction banking departments. Generally, this approach is reserved for multinational corporations and financial institutions that have substantial transaction banking needs. High-performing banks optimize the links between their client relationship managers and product specialists through account planning, shared key performance indicators and incentives. They also adopt integrated views of client wallets and track the share they capture. Leading banks also work to improve their transaction banking profits using approaches to cross-selling foreign exchange contracts. For instance, a leading U.K. bank in Asia noted that its trade specialists were seldom offering ordinary remittance products for open-account trade transactions because the flat fees involved provided little profit opportunity. Moreover, the foreign exchange revenue was accrued entirely to the treasury, rather than shared with the trade unit. Consequently, the bank instituted a revenue-sharing agreement that resulted in a 25 to 30 percent uplift in foreign exchange revenue by the second year. Additionally, banks are introducing opt-out contracts in which the default option is purchasing the contract from the transaction bank with foreign exchange already embedded in the transaction banking platform.

6 Rising to the challenge: Transaction banking in Asia-Pacific 15 Segment-specific strategies Targeting specific market segments enables institutions to develop more compelling customer value propositions. Promising opportunities include: Small and medium enterprises (SMEs): Pursuing growth from SME clients generally requires offering them access to product expertise and having a solid understanding of the services they require. Relationship managers typically have an integrated role with SME customers. Electronic banking platforms that combine capabilities for collections, payments, liquidity management, basic borrowing (such as short-term overdrafts) and perhaps ERP integration can meet the needs of most domestic SMEs. Industry segments: Industry-specific value propositions for sectors such as Corporate Banking Lens: Addressing the information challenge in transaction banking A number of global trends are leading to a renewed focus on the transaction banking sector. These trends include the globalization of trade, the increasing importance of liquidity management and a heightened emphasis on securing relationships in a world where both competition and clients are becoming more global and sophisticated. Transaction banking is also particularly attractive in the current economic context because it often has relatively low regulatory capital requirements. The current global revenue pool for transaction banking amounted to over $500 billion in 2011 and is expected to grow by 10 percent on an annual basis to reach $750 billion by Competitive advantage in the sector is attained through scale, selective coverage, segment focus, product and service innovation, and excellence in execution. Regardless of strategic approach, transaction banking players have historically shared a common challenge: the dearth of accurate and reliable information. The elusive nature of information in transaction banking is a reflection of the market s fragmented character: multiple countries must be covered, each with its own data sources (e.g., national statistics, central banks and automated clearinghouses). Public information on cross-border activity, particularly at the trade-corridor level, is limited. Consider the fact that the top 100 trade-finance corridors account for less than 42 percent of total trade activity; and the top 10 account only for 13.5 percent. Moreover, banks struggle to develop a consolidated view across transaction banking products and regional activities within their own organization. To address this challenge, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) and McKinsey have jointly developed a tool to provide a stronger foundation for decision-making in transaction banking. The Corporate Banking Lens combines SWIFT s unique, virtually real-time perspective on global cross-border payments and trade-finance flows with proprietary perspectives from McKinsey s Global Payments Map, which gathers detailed information from more than 40 countries representing 90 percent of global GDP on transaction volumes, values/turnovers, liabilities, fee and interest income and often profits. Corporate Banking Lens information is available at a granular product level. The resulting insights are both global and granular, with data on individual corridors and further splits by currency. By combining this wealth of information with a syndicated client survey, the Corporate Banking Lens enables transaction bankers to set objectives, monitor progress on a frequent basis, benchmark their progress against industry and peers, understand deviations from plans and take corrective actions when needed. Insights are provided through an on-line tool that can be used by multiple parties within each bank, helping create alignment and fostering a data-driven management approach that is needed to succeed in transaction banking. Contact CorporateBankingLens@mckinsey.com for more information. 1 Cash management revenue pool based on McKinsey Global Payments Map

7 16 McKinsey on Payments September 2012 healthcare, transportation, infrastructure and automotive can be key to capturing transaction banking flows (Exhibit 5). Public sector: Becoming the dominant player in a particular public sector, such as transit collections or government-toperson payments, may present overlooked opportunities. Product innovation Most successful players focus on new product opportunities. Examples include: Enhancing supply chain finance capability: Generally, reverse factoring or buyerled supplier finance has been a well-understood and well-addressed opportunity. In Asia, however, two gaps are apparent. One is in distributor financing, an area in which few traditional banks have been willing to risk product innovation. A leading nonbank player has found success by targeting distributors and incorporating financing as part of a larger supply chain and logistics solution that provides better insight into flows while enabling superior risk management. TradeCard and Visa s Syncada, for instance, are platforms that can provide integrated supply chain and financing solutions that permit collaboration between buyers, suppliers and their banks. The second opportunity is in optimizing payments where supply chain fragmentation has left gaps. Banks are finding considerable success with offerings such as cash collection and management information systems (MIS) for telecom dealers, Exhibit 5 Industry-specific approaches can help capture a larger share of transaction banking business Transaction banking Exploration and development Production Refining and processing Payments to vendors (e.g., well site service vendors) Payroll processing Primary distribution and storage Secondary distribution Retail Letters of credit (LC) with forex hedging Bid bonds Trust and retention account Liquidity management LCs purchase of crude Forex hedging Structured trade finance products Cash collections from retail stations Excess funds deployment in overnight money market Performance guarantee Credit against receivables commodity financing, warehouse financing and bill discounting Vendor financing Dealer financing Collection from dealers Current accounts Bank guarantees Financing Pre-project advisory Debt capital raising E2e risk management Working capital Interest rates hedging on loans Term loans for maintenance and expansion with rates hedging Integrated solution across working capital, foreign exchange and financing Source: McKinsey analysis Insurance

8 Rising to the challenge: Transaction banking in Asia-Pacific 17 Measures of Asian banking This article was based in part on the following McKinsey research tools: Asian Transaction Banking Benchmark: This benchmark is the result of a comprehensive, qualitative and quantitative survey designed to assess four major aspects of transaction banking: strategic priorities and performance; market segmentation and buying behavior; change investments and technology; and organizational structure. Profit Pools in Asian Transaction Banking: An overview of banking revenues by country, showing major profit pools and customer segments. Future of Corporate and Investment Banking Survey: A comprehensive bi-annual survey involving personal interviews at more than 250 large and mid-size corporations to assess their perspectives on the industry. For information on participating in one of the surveys, contact us at paymentspractice@mckinsey.com. and by in-sourcing hospital financial services, such as insurance claims management, invoicing and bill reconciling, and vendor payment processing. Internationalization of the Renminbi: Regulatory relaxation is prompting a dramatic rise in use of the Renminbi (RMB) as a trade settlement currency. Many players are leveraging this change to capture the flows being converted to RMB, while also expanding their capabilities in foreign exchange and related areas. Smaller, similar growth opportunities exist for Asian currencies such as the Singapore and Hong Kong dollars and the Malaysian Ringgit of countries where offshore accounts are being established as a result of intra-asian trade growth. Selective technology investments While global transaction banks frequently make multi-million dollar technology investments, the most successful are adopting client perspectives that enable them to target their investments in three critical areas: reporting and other value-added services; front-end platforms; and processing infrastructure. Leaders in each segment have made astute technology investments that address their own clients needs. For example, while domestic banks focus on basic exception management, billing and reporting at the single-country level, their pan-regional counterparts are developing multi-country frontline portals that will deliver a consistent client experience as well as a common billing and MIS platform regionally. Notably, the scale of investment needed can differ by a factor of three to five across these strategies. * * * An increasing number of Asian companies have broader, deeper and more strategic transaction banking needs, and expect distinctive, value-added products and services. While leading banks have already worked to improve service quality, product offerings and marketing strategies, they will need to do even more to tap these opportunities. Akash Lal, Vinayak HV, Tommaso Natale and Sungmahn Seo are principals in the Mumbai, Singapore, Milan and London offices respectively. Raffaela Ritter and Reet Chaudhuri are associate principals in the Vienna and Singapore offices respectively.