The challenge
Operating in a competitive marketplace
Canadian Western Bank (CWB) is part of the CWB Financial Group, a diversified financial services group that provides specialized services in business and personal banking, and trust and wealth management across Canada.
Previously CWB offered customers a limited international payments service that was only accessible in-branch. Only a few currencies were available, and feedback from customers was that foreign exchange houses and large banks offered more competitive rates.
Anthony Danda, VP Product, Client Solutions, CWB Financial Group elaborated, “We identified an opportunity to provide extra support to our business clients through international payments, in addition to the products and services they were already using. But our limited currency range and inability to offer competitive pricing was a challenge.
“Customers had to visit a branch because we couldn’t accept wire instructions by fax due to fraud risks, which wasn’t always convenient for them. Processing these requests was also resource intensive, so our treasury team was reluctant to expand our international wire services.”
The solution
Shifting international payments online
After reviewing its options, CWB chose to partner with Convera for its close cultural fit and similar commitment to business clients.
“Convera was committed to working with us from design to implementation, and marketing support after going live. This commitment reflected our own dedication to clients,” said Mr. Danda.
CWB now uses Convera GlobalPay for FI, a digital platform that streamlines the management of international payments in over 140 currencies across more than 200 countries and territories, at favorable rates and with minimal fees.
“The most enticing thing,” says Mr. Danda, “is that GlobalPay for FI could also be integrated into our business online banking platform which meant customers could transact at their own convenience without having to visit a branch. “Convera was dedicated to ensuring our business online banking system was integrated without impacting our service, and we were fully trained on the platform.”
The results
Convenient payments help retain customers
Implementing GlobalPay for FI has helped put CWB on the map as an international payments provider amongst business clients who weren’t previously aware of this service. CWB has expanded its offering without placing additional pressure on its treasury team who have welcomed the new streamlined payments process.
Mr. Danda continued, “The platform is very intuitive, white-labeled to match our branding, and it’s much easier to set up beneficiaries compared to our previous processes. Pricing is very straightforward, and we are now market competitive which means customers are happy.
“A key selling point for us has been the Quick Quote feature on the home page, which allows customers to get live market rates. Once they’re logged in to the platform it literally takes less than five minutes for a customer to send a payment.”
CWB has also had success expanding its wallet share and approaching new markets through marketing support from Convera, which provides a range of resources and insights to build successful integrated campaigns.
CWB has also experienced an improvement in compliance procedures. GlobalPay for FI enables customers to input valid beneficiary data and complete their own due diligence before sending a payment. And Convera now completes a review of all wire details and only reaches out to CWB if further information is required for a wire payment.
Partnering with Convera has really helped us stake out ground amongst our top five competitors. We’ve begun to expand our business services further by referring customers with hedging needs to Convera, which has increased our customer satisfaction.”
Anthony Danda
VP Product, Client Solutions – CWB Financial Group
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