Winners rationale

Client experience is the crux of private banking services, especially when market uncertainties are compounded by social distancing measures, as was the case in 2020. Credit Suisse morphed what could have been a severe disruption of business into an opportunity to showcase its ability to provide seamless communication and investment ideas execution by extending its digitally advanced client journey and by optimising the RMs’ client engagement process through clear KPIs.

Credit Suisse has long been at the forefront of digitalisation in private banking. In 2020, the bank recorded a significant increase in the adoption of its digital servicing tools on the back of the consistent investments in its cutting-edge digital private banking platform and channels.

Credit Suisse Chat and Spark, developed in 2018 and 2019 respectively, became crucial communication channels for idea creation and communication when face-to-face meetings became unavailable. In 2020, the bank augmented the Credit Suisse Chat’s function to cover dissemination of market outlook content and a large number of clients were onboarded with this tool across different social apps. In 1H20, the bank recorded a 400% increase compared to 2H19 in messages exchanged on Credit Suisse Chat between clients and RMs.

Spark delivers regional-specific investment ideas and data-driven recommendations inspired by news events based on clients’ preference. It supports automated and collaborative workflows to increase RM efficiency. In the first ten months of 2020, there was an over 500% increase in product searches on Spark and a 76% increase in the number of visits.

Succeeding in a better transmission of investment ideas to clients, the Digital Private Bank platform empowered clients with self-serving capabilities and received a 238% YoY increase in equity trading volume, with 61% originated on the platform. To speed up transactions without compromising compliance standards, 85% of all private banking orders were covered by ISAP, an investment suitability tool with fully automated disclosures. In addition to ensuring a smooth trade execution, Credit Suisse showed its attention to detail by automating the verification process in requests for changes in contact details. Close to 30% of client users adopted the change, even though no marketing push was made.

On top of refining client-facing digital tools, Credit Suisse spent great effort in streamlining RMs’ workflow and prioritising their daily tasks via digital innovation, so that they could serve clients in an effective and timely manner. The bank rolled out a new feature in 2020 for all client-facing employees to view their pending action items in an organised manner on one dashboard and allow them to proactively manage their mandatory deadlines. Clearly defined KPIs are designed and communicated to staff, with their financial, risks and leadership performances illustrated in scorecards to drive employees’ productivity.

Just as Rome wasn’t built in one day, Credit Suisse’s success in delivering best-in-class private banking services to clients has been the fruit of years of dedication and application — and was demonstrated convincingly in a year upended by COVID-19.

Credit Suisse is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Client Experience for 2020.