Customers

Thanks to our
Customers
Internet
Innovators: United States
Year: 1964
The security agencies faced a very
genuine concern: how would the
authorities communicate following a
nuclear attack.
The first solution to this problem was
made known in 1964. The
communications network would be
designed from its origins with no central
authority control.
The first large and ambitious network was
made by the Advanced Research Projects
Agency (ARPA). Four computers were
already connected in California and Utah
by December 1969 in a network known
as ARPANET. Thanks to this, scientists
and investigators could exchange
information and make use of remote
facilities.
Customers
With our eyes always on the
future, in Bci we offer the
support looked for by small
and medium businesses for
developing and progressing.
We also give confidence and
efficiency to all our customers
in a world of constant change.
During 2003, Bci continued to innovate in terms of
products and services offered
to its extensive number of customers
In the survey prepared by
Procalidad, an initiative involving
the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez,
Adimark and the National Centre
of Productivity and Quality, Bci
was distinguished from among
the countries in Chile best
evaluated by their customers in
terms of the quality of service
given.
Prize awarded by Procalidad.
46 47
Thanks to our
Customers
Bci among the companies
best evaluated by its
customers
I
n a survey prepared by Procalidad, in
an initiative involving Universidad Adolfo
Ibáñez, Adimark and the National Centre
of Productivity and Quality, Bci was
distinguished as being among the
companies in Chile best evaluated by
its customers for quality of service.
This distinction was granted within the
membership companies category which
covers those companies that require a
contract, are under a public restriction
or need a decree to be able to give or
receive the service.
The measurement of the National Index
of Customer Satisfaction involved 13,213
interviews of men and women over 21
years of age in Santiago and the 5th and
8th Regions who declared being users
of the services measured. At least 500
interviews were used for each of the
industries evaluated.
Bci therefore took various actions in 2003
to improve and complement its services
to this sector.
Agreements with
professional associations
Bci signed various agreements with the
Chilean lawyers, engineers and architects
associations for providing integral services
to their members on preferential
conditions, with Bci’s participation in their
events.
Small and Medium
Industries, SMIs
This customer sector, part of Retail
Banking and called the Businessmens
Segment, is of special concern to Bci
because of this segment’s importance
to the national economy.
One of these actions was the Bci
Businessmen programme prepared by
the Business School of the Universidad
de Los Andes jointly with Bci which
completed its second and third cycles
during 2003. This study programme is
directed to small and medium business
customers of Bci in order for them to
use various management tools in their
businesses. Bci has thus sponsored
since 2002 the Jorge Yarur Banna Family
Businesses Chair at the Business School
of Universidad de Los Andes.
It has also prepared special areas for
attending customers in this sector,
attached to the Central Office Business
Centre in Santiago and the 11 de
Septiembre branch in Providencia.
Financing and Services
Among the various forms of financing
that Bci provides, notable is its high
participation in commercial loans for
businesses, with a 12.2% market share,
and foreign trade finance, with 16.2%,
while Bci’s share of total loans is 11.2%.
During 2003, Bci continued to innovate
in terms of products and services offered
to its extensive customer base which
enabled it to increase its strong share in
the customer sector comprising
municipalities and universities, providing
them with services through Electronic
Banking, principally in collections and
payments.
Bci programmed numerous economic
discussions in Santiago and the regions
led by a well-known economist which
enabled customers to be informed clearly
about economic conditions at the
international, country and regional levels.
Auditorium and graduates from
Bci Businessmen Programme
A financing system was designed for
them called Multiline that can be operated
through internet at any time on any day
of the year. This saves customers
considerable time and loans are cheaper
than current ones for the sole fact of
having contracted them by remote
means.
As another motivation for small and
medium industries, Bci in 2003 continued
to grant the Businessman of the Month
prize, based on an evaluation that takes
into account entrepreneurial effort and
the results obtained, under the
supervision of an external consulting firm.
TBanc
The Bci remote banking service, called
TBanc, is unique in the market and has
completed five years in business with
important growth. Customers have no
need to make physical visits to the bank
for making transactions. TBanc attends
to its customers Monday to Sunday, 24
hours a day.
Because of its results and the
acceptance of this agile service model
in the market, its operations were
extended to the 2nd, 4th and 8th
Regions, in addition to the existing
Metropolitan and 5th Regions.
TBanc executives
At the same time, Bci is participating in
the television programme “Business
Outlook” on the Catholic University’s
cable channel 13, in which successful
businessmen share their experiences.
The Manager of our Businessmens
Segment, Marcos Castro Vega, is a
member of the panel that replies to
different questions posed by
businessmen, and the programme also
invites high-level guests who analyze the
country’s economic and business
situation.
Electronic Banking, which provides
electronic collections and payments
services, was extended to smaller
customers. The Bci E-Pyme service was
created to enable small businesses to
channel their daily treasury transactions
by this means and so improve their
performance.
Virtual Banking Services
The services offered to our customers
over the internet attract an ever greater
market acceptance due to the large
range of transactions that can be made
over our web pages, by both individuals
and companies.
In its last report, the consultant Speer &
Associates, which analyzes the web
pages of 148 banks in North, Central
and South America, distinguished two
Chilean banks as among the best 25,
one being Bci. The consultant evaluates
numerous web characteristics including
the site navigation facility, the number of
transactions offered and the type of
information available.
As in previous years, the Diario Financiero
awarded prizes for the best web pages
in Chile. Bci was third in the E-Banking
category.
In addition to the numerous services
offered by remote control over the
internet, including Bci CashExpress,
whose wide operating coverage was
described in the Annual Report 2002,
the product E-Factoring Bci was offered
this year, the first electronic factoring
Web-site third place price
service in Chile, allowing companies to
publish in detail their past and future
payments at the www.bci.cl/empresas
address. For their part, the suppliers of
goods and services can consult their
payments by internet and finance their
invoices receivable. This modern method
of factoring also strengthens relations
between companies and suppliers.
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Thanks to our
Customers
VISA Bci Corporate
Advertising Campaigns
The Comex Bci page provides complete
information on letters of credit, foreign
collections and payment orders. This
service, which even allows payment
orders abroad, is being tested by some
customers but it is expected to be
extended to all foreign trade customers
in early 2004.
The Internal Tax Service has promoted
the payment of value added tax (VAT)
over the internet for taxpayers with
monthly invoicing of over Ch$50 million.
Bci has prepared a product for these
purposes that customers are using with
growing interest, reaching 15,500 VAT
payments in December 2003, compared
to 2,230 payments in January 2003.
Transactions processed by the Bank’s
Automated Clearing Centre, for interbank
transactions on behalf of customers and
the public, totalled 15,627 million in 2003,
with Bci’s share being 29.7%.
Bci has achieved significant market
advances with the support of different
advertising campaigns.
Under the slogans of “Change to Bci”
and “Rely on a different bank”, these
campaigns were well received by the
public, enabling the number of current
accounts to increase by 7.6%.
With the “20,000 Bci Lucky Chances”
promotion, supported by an attractive
advertising campaign, Bci managed to
activate credit and RedCompra cards
that were previously inactive, by 34.2%
and 8.5% respectively.
The “The Bank at a Distance” campaign
served to reinforce the TBanc brand,
attracting new customers who wished
to do their banking transactions by remote
control.
Bci created the VISA Bci Corporate credit
card for more efficiently managing
expenses, especially travel and
representation, incurred by executives
on behalf of their companies. This
provides a complete information system
to facilitate control of such expenses,
avoiding cash advances and including
travel assistance cover, vehicle rentals
and 50 days financing without cost.
A property of 4,000 square metres
located at Avenida Bernardo O’Higgins
2,432, Santiago, brought together
different communication units and
telephone operation distributed
b e t w e e n Te l e m a r k e t i n g B c i ,
Telenegocios Bci and Teleservicios Bci
nucleuses for the commercial line and
two operating support units as support
nucleuses.
Risk Management
New TBanc and Telecanal building
Technological
Infrastructure
In response to the sustained growth in
operations and their medium-term
projection, a sum of US$7.3 million was
invested to renovate and increase the
capacity of the central computer
platforms. Apart from significantly
improving the service quality of the
different channels, the technological
architecture was validated by the
international company TCS, subsidiary
of an Indian company.
Multi-Channel Services
Model
With an important investment, a building
was exclusively equipped for the
management of Telecanal and TBanc,
consisting of attending and offering
services to present and potential Bci
customers through multiple
communication channels at their choice,
with high-quality response times. In order
to access with customers easier and
more agile, the different service channels,
both telephonic and via internet, were
used.
As announced in the Annual Report
for 2002, the new instructions of the
Superintendency of Banks and
Financial Institutions on loan
classification and provisions were
complied with last year. Bci chose
proven international models which,
adapted to local conditions, enabled
it to establish internal classification
systems.
Under the responsibility of the
Corporate Risk Area, these systems
seek to group business debtors
according to the degree of risk
assigned to them on the basis of
historical information held by the Bank,
accompanied by predictive models of
probability of non-compliance and
expected losses.
Debtor behaviour models are being
developed for the Bank’s mass or
group debtors.
For financial risk, market risk control tools
have been maintained with respect to
instruments forming part of the Bank’s
assets in order to check the effects of
price fluctuations on their liquidity and
yields.
The liquidity risk is that assumed by the
Bank or any of its subsidiaries in holding
a position in a certain currency that
prevents compliance with commitments
with a creditor, investor or customer.
Interest rate and exchange risks make
the production of expected profits
uncertain due to the adverse movement
of these variables and their volatility.
Market risk is managed on the basis of
a structure of limits, procedures, controls
and policies defined by an assets and
liabilities regulatory committee comprising
the senior management, and ratified by
the board of the Bank.
An independent unit of the treasury area
is responsible for checking its positions,
with powers and professional
competence to identify, evaluate and
control the risk exposure of the market.
Interest rate and currency risks are
controlled by the use of VaR (Value at
Risk), SeR (Spread at Risk) and MVS
(Balance sheet sensitivity to market
values) tools. All these measures have
limits set by the board of the Bank,
normally in relation to basic capital.
Apart from the Bank’s own systems of
individual and group classification and
risk assignment, commercial managers
are provided with internal and external
reports that periodically analyze the
situation of the different sectors of
economic activity.
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