Resum
Before the financial crisis of 2008, Spain was one big bank. With 40,000 branches of financial institutions Spain was the country with the largest number of banking establishments in the world, with an average 95.87 branches per 100,000 persons, i.e. almost one branch per 1,000 people. There are many reasons for this enormous number of branches but the two most important reasons are political and cultural. The political reason was the protectionism traditionally exercised by the government over banks, the scope of which went further than setting interest rates. This policy prevented banks from using pricing to attract customers, forcing them to concentrate on their services: the main one being the proximity of the neighbourhood branch. Because interest rates were set, the branch nearest the customer would win the fight. The second reason is cultural and concerns the Mediterranean way of doing business: personal contacts, verbal agreements and handshakes. This business model based on personal contact, which gradually declined, also prompted the opening of more branches.
In a country with one branch per 1,000 inhabitants, banking is very personal and neighbourly. People get used to having a branch next door and speaking to staff personally. It was against this backdrop that the Dutch banking group aimed to implement a new banking concept based on a simple model with relatively low operating costs by taking advantage of direct channels, i.e. telephone and internet, without a single high-street branch.
Idioma original | Anglès |
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Estat de la publicació | Publicada - 1 d’abr. 2011 |
Publicat externament | Sí |