A Corporate Banking Account Manager in the Digital World

A Corporate Banking Account Manager in the Digital World

Raoul is a quintessential Account Relationship Manager in the world of corporate banking, managing several large corporate and mid-market segment relationships across diverse industry segments. He needs to hunt for new relationships and grow existing ones as well, by increasing the bank s share of wallet while making sure that today s revenue does not become tomorrow s capital charge in the form of a non performing asset. A typical day is spent more with customers and less in the premises of the bank. Half-jokingly, his management asks/wonders why an RM would need a desk at the office, when he/ she needs to be mobile and out in the field selling all the time! A typical day sees Raoul meeting a prospect for pitching a corporate loan which magically opens the door for a whole world of other lucrative feebased business for the bank. A quick search on the internet reveals the latest developments in the company. Raoul knows that an acquisition is on the cards and armed with this information, meets up with the CFO to offer financing on attractive terms. A deal seems to be on the cards. On the way back, and while in the cab, Raoul gets busy with his tablet which is connected to the bank s intranet, filling out the details of the potential opportunity in the customer management platform deal size, key decision makers, risk issues, competition, expected pricing and other salient details. The report will instantly reach many members of the bank s senior management in corporate banking. Raoul then emails his credit analyst to prepare a credit application proposing a long-term loan for the acquisition. The application typically has multiple sections including a term sheet, sections on industry/ management/ financial analysis/ spreadsheets etc. While the analyst puts together the proposal, Raoul is on his way to meet the next corporate client, who has a significant international trade business. The company seeks a back to back letter of credit facility from the bank. Seemingly it s an innocuous transaction: all the bank needs to do is to issue an LC on the strength of another master LC received by the customer. But such a transaction could potentially carry an inherent timing risk arising from any delay in substitution of documents or due to non-conforming documents as per the master LC. Raoul assures the customer that he would revert on whether an offer was feasible after seeking credit approval. Raoul is on the move again, but meanwhile initiates on his tablet through the corporate loan origination system, a simple credit application with a term sheet and sends it to the credit analyst to work on further, and also sends an opportunity note to the trade finance specialist to examine the request and the risks involved. Again the customer management system comes in handy for the salesperson on the move! At the same time, Raoul gets an alert that his previous request for acquisition financing is now in his inbox awaiting completion of the term sheet. He spends a few minutes, while on the move to the next meeting, completing the term sheet and sends the credit application back to the analyst for further processing. The next meeting takes Raoul to a customer who is very active in Treasury transactions. The customer has un-hedged exposure to floating rate Japanese Yen which he would like to convert into a fixed rate US Dollar liability. This was a punt on the yen s strength against the dollar. Currency markets not being Raoul s core competence, and not being sure of the prudence of this move, he keeps his counsel. However, Raoul whips out his tablet and checks for any unutilized lines for the corporate customer online and confirms the availability of the credit line to the customer. It s time for lunch, and on his way to the nearby deli, Raoul fills in a crosssell opportunity form and sends it through the customer management platform to his Treasury colleague to take forward the opportunity to sell a derivative product. 2 Infosys

Raoul whips out his tablet and checks for any unutilized lines for the corporate customer online and confirms the availability of the credit line to the customer. 3 Infosys

Raoul has some time to kill after lunch, with his next client meeting an hour way. Quickly, he checks the corporate loan origination system in his tablet. There is a renewal proposal that is awaiting his recommendation. The customer is a blue chip corporate entity with impeccable financials and a credit rating of the highest order. Quickly the application is disposed of, with a strong recommendation to renew the facilities for another year. There is one more proposal for additional lines to a customer in the mid-market segment which would require more scrutiny. Raoul is quickly able to spot some key points that need elaboration and sends the application back to the inbox of the credit analyst with his observations. The next port of call is a problem loan customer in the steel industry. The latest Bloomberg commodities report that Raoul read on the move painted a dismal picture of the sector. With prices crashing, the ability of the customer to service debt would come down significantly. Raoul meets up with the client and tries to gauge the extent of the problem, the exposure of other banks, and discusses possibilities of debt restructuring. It would be a long haul, involving all the lending institutions coming together and entering into protracted negotiations. After the meeting, Raoul accesses the system and puts together a problem loan report with the help of his tablet, documenting the early warning signs of delinquency in the account and calling for an immediate downgrade of the Credit Risk rating of the customer. The report would reach the CEO s inbox instantly, given the size of the bank s exposure and its potential to significantly affect the bank s bottom line in the event of the loan turning non performing/past due. Raoul is now on his way to his last meeting, and gets an alert from the bank s trade finance system - a large fee earning bank guarantee transaction is held up and awaits his approval in view of a small breach in the limits. After checking the lines available and noting unutilized lines in the funded facilities, Raoul gets an e mail approval for the transaction from the credit approvers for issuing the bank guarantee by earmarking the unutilized funded lines, and then approves the transaction in the Trade Finance system from his tablet. The last meeting is the most difficult one; it s with a mid-sized company in default and Raoul is expected to assess if the account could be turned around or would need to be transferred to the Special Assets Department which would then decide to go for a work out, a one-time settlement or in the worst case, litigation. Raoul s meeting extends late into the evening. On the way back to the office, he completes the visit report in the customer management platform. The loan was headed toward a substandard classification which would entail a whole host of regulatory compliance actions, including reporting to the central bank on the status, de -recognition of accrued but un-serviced interest and making a provision for the outstanding principal, all with the potential to adversely impact the bank s quarterly results. He then reviews the next day s calendar, which is packed with customer visits. There is a supply chain financing deal involving corporate buyers uploading accepted invoices directly into the bank s system, followed by suppliers reviewing and choosing the invoices requiring discounting through the bank s portal. And another meeting scheduled with a 4 Infosys

large corporate entity for a multi-billion dollar syndicated loan deal, with the bank pitching for mandated lead arranger role, the system being in place for facilitating the book building process and exchange of documents with potential investors, electronically. Deal details are available through the opportunity information captured earlier through the customer management platform, which Raoul can review remotely before the meeting. It had indeed been a long but productive day spent with customers, but at no point in time, did Raoul feel out of touch with his colleagues and the bank s operations. With corporate banking entering the digital world, Account Relationship Managers like Raoul who are always on the move, can now access on the road, the bank s systems to initiate and recommend credit proposals, work collaboratively with credit analysts, quickly prepare visit reports and early warning submissions, approve transactions which need exception approvals, inquire on the bank s systems for customer exposure and unutilized lines, cross-sell opportunities instantly and much more. While Corporate Banks have always been encouraging Account/ Relationship Managers to be out in the field selling rather than warming their seats in the office, it is digitization which will enable the RMs and banks to truly achieve this objective thereby vastly improving sales productivity. Notably, investments in core/back end processing have been humongous, and banks would hopefully not skimp on IT budgets, when it comes to easing the life of their corporate banking rain makers! Author: Balachandran R Senior Product Line Manager Infosys Finacle 5 Infosys

About Infosys Finacle Finacle is the industry-leading universal banking solution from EdgeVerve Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Infosys. The solution helps financial institutions develop deeper connections with stakeholders, power continuous innovation and accelerate growth in the digital world. Today, Finacle is the choice of banks across 84 countries and serves over 547 million customers nearly 16.5 percent of the world s adult banked population. Finacle solutions address the core banking, e-banking, mobile banking, CRM, payments, treasury, origination, liquidity management, Islamic banking, wealth management, and analytics needs of financial institutions worldwide. Assessment of the top 1000 world banks reveals that banks powered by Finacle enjoy 50 percent higher returns on assets, 30 percent higher returns on capital, and 8.1 percent points lesser costs to income than others. For more information, contact finacle@edgeverve.com www.finacle.com 2016 EdgeVerve Systems Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Infosys, Bangalore, India. All Rights Reserved. This documentation is the sole property of EdgeVerve Systems Limited ( EdgeVerve ). EdgeVerve believes the information in this document or page is accurate as of its publication date; such information is subject to change without notice. EdgeVerve acknowledges the proprietary rights of other companies to the trademarks, product names and such other intellectual property rights mentioned in this document. This document is not for general distribution and is meant for use solely by the person or entity that it has been specifically issued to and can be used for the sole purpose it is intended to be used for as communicated by EdgeVerve in writing. Except as expressly permitted by EdgeVerve in writing, neither this documentation nor any part of it may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, printing, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of EdgeVerve and/ or any named intellectual property rights holders under this document.