Selling more investments with IT

The disappointing returns on traditional banking products that are available today such as Savings-Current accounts and time deposits (0.5% and 2.8% on the average, respectively) can cause many depositors to question the belief that saving money is the best way to achieve financial security. Obviously saving money is better than spending it senselessly, as evidenced by the situation of millions of Filipinos who have become victims of their own financial mismanagement. However, with the dismal rates extended by most financial institutions on traditional banking products, savings seems to only be a marginal improvement over spending.

Many financial institutions such as banks have therefore recognized this as an opportunity to develop more sophisticated products that allow depositors to the most out of their funds. Today, mutual funds, trust funds and other investments are being actively marketed by banks to provide customers with higher yielding financial instruments. Though these products promise higher yields, they are also riskier and uninsured. Due to their volatile nature it was more difficult to explain the mechanics of these products and what the depositors should expect from these products.

A couple of years ago it was rather difficult to market investment products. Most depositors were interested in closely monitoring their investments and this would result in a large volume of client calls to the bank for updates on the performance of their investments.

With the internet, websites and portals have provided the means to more efficiently provide information to depositors. To find out more about how banks update depositors about their investments please visit:

http://info.bpiexpressonline.com/bpiprod/prodserv.nsf/Asset+Management/AMTGMainPage

Since accessing the information on these investments is more convenient with technology, banks are now selling more of these products and providing better customer service to those who have decided to take the next step towards becoming an investor.