Driving digital transformation at Banco de Chile

Autores/as

  • Felix Lizama
  • Manuel Aranda Gutierrez Bank of Chile
  • Pablo Bustos Faret Bank of chile
  • Ismael Oliva Facultad de Economía y Negocios, Universidad de Chile

Resumen

On October 1, 2018, Eduardo Ebensperger, general manager of Banco de Chile finished the final adjustments to the presentation that he had to make to the board of directors. The appointment was in two weeks and nothing should be left to chance. Delivering valid and compelling arguments to gain board approval for the bank's new guidelines was imperative. At a global and local level in banking, important changes were taking place in the way of delivering products and services, which added to new regulations imposed by the Superintendency of Banks and Financial Institutions of Chile, between 2013 and 2016 on the reduction of the TMC (see annex Nº1, evolution of maximum conventional rates), generated a great impact in the industry, to the level that some of the main banks such as Banco Santander and Banco BCI began processes to close their consumer divisions, units that served the lower income segments. Banco Chile was not exempt from this tendency. Modernizing the bank and determining the continuity as such of the consumer division, CrediChile, had to be evaluated. It was difficult to take action, since the commitment of the institution in its 125 years was with the development of the country and people from all socioeconomic segments, creating opportunities to improve the quality of life and thus contribute to a more inclusive and supportive society. . The link with collaborators was key in management, they permanently strengthened it through training, development programs, delivery of benefits, etc. The proposal that Ebensperger would present involved an improvement in processes and providing Banco de Chile branches with more technology in order to absorb the demands of CrediChile customers and all customers in general, who were increasingly interested in a digital banking model, which eventually meant a significant reduction in branches and collaborators. At that board meeting, the actions initiated years ago in an incipient process of digital transformation were also to be evaluated. Ebensperger had several questions, but one focused his attention: could a new digital business model be carried out considering the bank's own social commitments and with the collaborators?

Palabras clave:

Digital transformation, Bank of Chile, Strategy