Saturday, July 21, 2007 Int’l bank to target youth
TO secure a position in Cebu’s consumer financing industry, the international finance arm of General Electric (GE) is working on attracting young Cebuanos.
GE Money Bank (GE Money), a savings bank, sees a growing market for consumer finance instruments in the province, fueled by younger people.
Ched Limson, GE Money senior vice president for investments and branch sales, said the bank will be taking advantage of Cebu’s young market which has a high spending capacity.
“We want to start while they’re young so they feel the relationship with us through the years,” she said. Citing an official survey made by research firm TNS Trends, Limson said the average consumer in the Philippines is between the ages 20 years old to 24 years old.
Education
This is why, she said, it “makes perfect sense” for GE Money to cater to this age group.
However, Dondi Yap, sales officer for GE Money in Lapu-Lapu City, said GE savings bank branches in Cebu have few young clients.
This is the reason the bank is working on educating young people about proper management of their assets and, most importantly, finding the right investment tool, he said.
One of the strategies used by GE Money to attract younger clients is its ATM 500 savings account, said Eric Montelibano, assistant vice president for corporate communications. He said with ATM 500, young professionals and even students can open an account with the bank for a minimum deposit of P500.
The account holder has six months to try and increase the minimum deposit, he said.
While there are doubts on whether or not young people are good borrowers, Limson said the responsibility of loan payments not only lies with the client but the bank as well.
“Banks are like piggy banks to them (young people). They can’t wait until the 15th or 30th to withdraw and spend their money. But that is what we are here for. We spend a lot of time looking for ways for them to be able to save and discipline their money,” she told a press conference at the Casino Espańol de Cebu yesterday.
Future
“As they mature, they will need credit to secure their future,” Montelibano said.
He said GE, for instance, has been conducting surveys in the academe to try and determine the banking needs of the students.
In general, among the possible products that will answer the banking needs of Filipinos are Internet-based services, remittance infrastructure and automated teller machines (ATMs).
These products and services are all geared toward increasing GE’s customer-touch point in terms of providing accessibility, convenience, and better after-sales service, Limson said.
As part of its corporate social responsibility, Montelibano said GE Money is educating college students to venture into entrepreneurship as a viable option for employment and income generation through assistance provided by several banking institutions.
In Cebu, GE Money Bank branches are located in Plaridel St. in Cebu City, Keppel Building at the Cebu Business Park and in Lapu-Lapu City. The three branches have a total of 7,000 depositors.
GE Money has 30 branches nationwide and has presence in 55 countries with more than 130 million customers worldwide. (MMM)
