Banks and financial institutions are the main components of the Mexican financial system. These agencies are the last element of the system and they are the ones who deal most directly with the general public. That is why banks and financial institutions require highly efficient technological tools with which they can carry out the day-to-day operations.
The clients of these institutions tend to have mistrust when using electronic means to carry out their transactions online since the main flow is money.
For this, banks and financial institutions have been adopting a range of applications designed to meet customer needs and to have a more direct relationship. Terms like CRM and e-Business are increasingly common in this environment.
Introduction
Currently, the companies and institutions that make up the financial system require an advanced technological infrastructure to be able to carry out all their services. These services are mainly made up of credit cards, account statements, stock market quotes, account management, among others.
In this way, financial institutions need to meet the demands of their clients in a satisfactory way, which requires a reliable service in such a way that the client leaves his money in the hands of some institution. The information technologies used by these institutions are regulated by government agencies in a continuous and strict manner.
In the case of Mexico, these systems are regulated by the National Banking and Securities Commission.
Due to this strict regulation, these institutions must integrate all their systems to provide clients with a security service in the management of their money.
With tools such as CRM, financial institutions provide better service to clients and ensure their money by having greater control over it, generating better profits for the institution and for the client.
For this there are many companies focused on providing solutions for financial institutions.
The objective of this research is to find the characteristics of the information technologies used by financial institutions and the way in which their integration provides better service and security to customers.
A current overview of the components that make up the Mexican financial system is presented. The role of ITs in banks and financial institutions is analyzed if the implementation of tools aimed at providing better customer service, such as CRM and e- is proposed. Business.
In the conclusion, emphasis is placed on the importance for clients of security and good management of their money.
Methodology
For the preparation of this article, the bibliographic resources available in the ITESM Digital Library were used, in particular the Proquest Business Periodicals database was used, as well as from different Internet sources, such as magazines and specialized sites.
The Mexican financial system
The Mexican Financial System, also known as the Mexican Banking System, is made up of interrelated institutions or organizations that carry out activities aimed at attracting, administering, regulating, directing and channeling economic resources of national and international origin (Figure 1).
These activities can be carried out by saving or investing in individuals and companies, as well as by loans requested by companies through the issuance of titles (documents that are worth money), through which it is intended to obtain an economic benefit from of its incursion in any of the modalities of the system. On the other hand, the members of the system receive economic benefits for the performance of their activity.
The Mexican Financial System is coordinated by the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit through CONSAR, the CNBV and the CNSF and the Banco de México, which control and regulate the activities of the institutions.
One of the most important organisms is the National Banking and Securities Commission that coordinates and regulates the operation of Commercial and Development Banking Credit institutions and Auxiliary Credit Organizations.
It is in charge of monitoring and auditing banking operations and is authorized to sanction. Commercial Banking is made up of the institutions in charge of carrying out financial intermediation for profitability purposes and is the center of financial activity.
It captures resources from the public with which it grants financing or "credits" and with this it performs its function of promoting the operation and development of companies as a complement to the investment of industrial, commercial and service companies.
A bank is the credit institution considered as commercial banking, whose main function is to provide public banking and credit services. It is the point of contact between people who entrust you with money and people who request it through credits. Table 1 shows the evolution of banking in Mexico
Table 1. Evolution of banking in Mexico. Banking Center of the State of Nuevo León, 2003
| 1821.- | Once independence is complete, there is no Financial System |
| The Mint and the Monte de Piedad subsist | |
| 1830.- | First Bank: Avio-Textile Industry Bank. |
| 1837.- | Banco de Amortización de la Moneda de Cobre. |
| 1854.- | The commercial code is constituted. |
| 1864.- | Bank of London, Mexico and South America-Capital |
| 1880.- | Bank of London and Mexico-Serfín-; and National Bank |
| 1895.- | Bolsa de México, SA |
| 1897.- | The General Law of Credit Institutions is promulgated, limits the power to issue banknotes, sets rules to establish branches and grant credit, the SFM is reorganized |
| 1907.- | The Mexico City Stock Exchange is reorganized; With the revolution, 1910 comes excessive issuance of paper money by each contending group. It collapses and the Mexican Financial System stops working. |
| 1914-1916.- | Various Measures and Decrees to redirect the Mexican Financial System; Issues counterfeit banknotes, circulating in cash. |
| 1917.- | The new constitution establishes a new SFM founded on the government monopoly of the banknote mission, under the jurisdiction of the SHCP, the Bank of Mexico is organized, it is empowered with the issuance of banknotes, to set the exchange rate against the Commission National Banking and Insurance. (Now separated into CNB and CNSF). |
| Central Bank, national credit institutions start their operations; Banco Mercantil de Crédito Agrícola, HIP, and O. Públicas, Banco Mercantil de Comercio Exterior, Nafin., Almacenes Nacionales de Depósito, private institutions emerge. | |
| 1925.- | Bank of Mexico. |
| 1931.- | Organic Law of Banco de México. |
| 1934.- | National Financial. |
| 1946.- | Rules and Regulations for the National Securities Commission to regulate stock market activity. |
| 1975.- | Law of the marketc of values. |
| 1976.- | Multiple Banking Rules. |
| 1977.- | Petrobonos issue. |
| 1978.- | Cetes issue. |
| 1980.- | Issuance of commercial paper. |
| 1982.- | National Banking Nationalization |
| Establishment of generalized exchange control. | |
| 1990.- | Reprivatization, reestablishment of a mixed system of banking and credit services. |
| 1991.- | Formation of financial groups. |
Financial services
The financial services sector is changing rapidly and is becoming highly competitive. Financial institutions try to protect their customer base, as well as compete for new business.
Financial institutions offer a mix of products and services with different characteristics, including:
- Intangibility. Boyes, Stone (2003) defines that they are physically intangible, they cannot be touched, tested, melted or seen. The services are varied and adjusted to the needs of each client. Inseparability. The service is inseparable from the source that provides it, in other words production and consumption occur simultaneously with the service. Financial services cannot be produced before being required and stored to meet demand. "When a service is not used when it is available then the capacity of the service is wasted."
Matching supply to demand is very important to financial services across all channels.
- Fiduciary responsibility. Financial institutions have implicit responsibility for the administration of their clients.
Financial institutions have a wide range of services. Financial services are generally directed to the client's intangible assets, such as loans, investment products.
The role of information technologies
The dynamics of the financial sector is distinguished by its marked competitiveness. To remain in this market, it is required to provide the best service and the best cost. This service must offer reliability, availability, agility and quality of information. Highly efficient information technologies are required, capable of evolving flexibly and quickly.
Investment in technologies is also required to be gradually financeable.
The financial market requires applications of high complexity and speed, since its business lies in the operation of information for proper decision-making.
Stock analysts, agents and professionals in the financial sector require applications to operate new investment and credit instruments.
The technology that meets this need is the Object Oriented Methodology, which makes the implementation of an application represent the designer's conceptual model in a more natural way.
This facilitates the design of the programs which, being more extensive, are more understandable.
The costs are reduced, since the investment of the systems lasts longer and the programming and maintenance efforts are less. (Without author, 2004).
Electronic banking
The Internet is a new channel to free banking services. A PC, modem, and software provided by the financial services provider are required.
Electronic banking (e-Banking) means according to Khalfan, Alshawaf (2004) the provision of information about the bank and its services through a page on the World Wide Web.
Currently, Internet-based banking services provide clients with transaction services such as accessing their accounts, the ability to move their money between different accounts, make payments or apply for loans and other complementary services.
Due to the great competition that exists in the banking sector, banks have taken great interest in electronic platforms for the delivery of financial services.
The biggest benefits of adopting electronic banking are listed below:
- Better quality in customer service Increase in the number of clients Increase in profits Ability to reach a broader market Cost reduction Ability to collect customer information Improve the use of technological resources Improve business processes Better relations with customers and suppliers Improve fast delivery of products and servicesReduction of errors
Despite these benefits, it has been argued that electronic banking does not meet customer expectations and fails to deliver what the customer needs.
Culture is an important factor for electronic banking. Nations are unique on many levels, from purchasing preferences and security concerns to national telecommunications infrastructure and regulatory measures designed to protect the country.
The most important reasons for banks not to use electronic banking are security, errors when making transactions on the Internet, lack of knowledge of the use of the service and reluctance to change the current way of dealing with banks.
CRM AND CROSS-Selling
Information technologies based on CRM (Customer Relationship Managament) and cross-selling (cross-selling) currently have a growth trend in banks. Gajardo (2004) defines CRM as a business model whose strategy is intended to identify and manage relationships in those accounts that are most valuable to a company, working differently in each one of them in order to improve effectiveness on customers..
Banks have tried everything from installing database management systems to implementing CRM systems across the enterprise. Attracting and retaining a valued customer is the foundation of any CRM implementation.
Cross-selling is a great market strategy for many financial institutions. Jarrar, YF (2001).
The objective of sales through service systems is to understand customers in such a way that the organization can adjust any offer to them.
It is necessary to pay attention to what they are buying, what they would buy, the financial products they are buying from other companies, the market segment they are in, the best way to approach them, the way to measure their reactions., the way to ensure their satisfaction, the skills required by the work team, how to motivate them, what systems are required to support them.
Regarding the technological infrastructure, there are two main requirements to ensure that all the parts are united: the common standards for central systems, in such a way that the separate systems can be linked, and a central data bank accessible to all.
In this context, there are two different types of technologies that support the customer relationship strategy Jarrar, YF (2001):
- CRM, interactive systems such as support, campaign management and sales automation. Customer intelligence, which provides tools to capture, store, process, access, organize and analyze customer data.
This is the area where most banks find no problems. Considerable investment is required in patching old technologies and acquiring new systems.
Predictive modeling systems build behavioral models to predict response rates, cross-selling opportunities, fraud potentials, and credit candidates.
Banks must have an integrated view of customers.
The objective that the information is integrated is to have a personal and financial profile. Data that must be integrated includes: customer satisfaction, customer needs, customer complaints, customer loyalty, customer personal and financial profile, customer portfolio values, history of customer contacts, segmentation of customers and the profits generated by each customer.
Currently the most heard term in business is CRM.
The potential danger is that banks see CRM as a remedy for future success. By implementing a software package to manage customers, businesses can improve customer retention rates, increase cross-selling, and reduce costs.
CRM as a whole is a concept that is just beginning to be used and many organizations have already invested a lot of money for its implementation.
E-business
For many years, financial institutions have developed a series of service tools, techniques, and processes, which have traditionally been distributed by channel.
Remote channels have been in use for many years and the advent of e-Business has created new opportunities to innovate in terms of products and channels. The following sections mention some opportunities in which the proper application of e-Business can be very useful for financial institutions. Boyes, G., Stone, M. (2003).
Opportunities related to financial products
There can be a wide variety of opportunities with financial products, including:
- Dynamic products.
Financial products can be handled more smoothly. For example, customers can change the attributes of their credit cards via the Internet, they can move their money from one financial product to another, offset a debit balance with a creditor.
- Custom website and aggregation.
Aggregation accounts are defined as a collection of information from different online sources to display on a single screen.
Using this type of account, customers can view details of various of their accounts online and other useful online information. The information presented to the client may be about their bank accounts, savings accounts, credit details, their investment portfolio, personalized services and email.
- Product differentiation.
Financial products like accounts, and credit and debit cards have little difference in cost.
Financial institutions try to ensure that these products have a differentiation in terms of the added value of their services.
This is possible through online transaction-based accounts where there may be an opportunity for service providers to deliver messages to the customer and to personalize the use of their interface. Boyes, G., Stone, M. (2003)
- Product portability.
The solutions applied to current accounts can be transferred to other financial products that are traditionally uncomfortable to change.
With e-business, financial products are delivered in a more streamlined manner, giving the client comfort and agility in their transactions.
Channel-related opportunities
Regarding opportunities with communication channels, it is possible to find the following opportunities:
- ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) functionality. ATM functionality can be developed to allow customers to complete applications for loans, credit cards, mortgages, etc. Boyes, G., Stone, M. (2003).Voice over Internet Protocol. Internet-based technologies have rapidly brought Web-based voice services, which have been used by companies to conduct corporate meetings, conferences and seminars. This technology can be used in the distribution of financial products. Branch of the future. Convenience and comfort are becoming more important at the same time that financial institutions try to increase their participation in the client's portfolio. the pay. Through this system,Money transactions can be electronically sustained over the Internet, from issuing the invoice to collecting payment. Mobile communications. Financial institutions seek to migrate transactions, products and services to the customer to cheaper channels. With more efficient communication channels, it is possible to carry out a large number of operations and transactions in the shortest time.
Risk-related opportunities
The opportunities related business risk refers to the certainty with which transactions are made.
The opportunities are as follows:
- Customer safety. Financial institutions can take steps to raise the security profile and educate clients on security issues. Digital signatures. Financial institutions can shape the standards of digital signatures.
Currently, great importance is given to security when making transactions, as fraud cases frequently arise due to the lack of security in online transactions.
Marketing related opportunities
One of the most important topics in all E-Business is related to marketing, among the opportunities are:
- Site Marketing. These sites can be used to develop new staff benefits and marketing. Internet Marketing and Branding. The Internet, cell phone and interactive television can create new ways to deliver brands that are not copies of approximations tried and tested in conventional applications. A good image of any site attracts attention and creates confidence in users. It is extremely important to have the required advice so that the sites reflect a good image of the services.
Conclusions
The environment that exists within the financial sector is highly competitive. That is why financial institutions must seek the appropriate mechanisms to approach clients and generate the trust required for them to choose services.
That is why day after day these institutions implement their information technologies with the most appropriate tools to preserve customer loyalty. Customers currently seek security when conducting their transactions electronically.
Through more efficient communication channels with the agile flow of information, financial institutions have been adopting a new way of working and securing the assets of their clients.
With these tools, more and more customers will use these electronic means in their operations and will keep the service that best suits their needs in the short term.
