Retail Banking in CEE: Exploiting the Potential of ... - Roland Berger

IMPORTANCE OF MICRO BUSINESS – HIGH POTENTIAL WITH SEVERAL QUESTION MARKS 11
ATTRACTIVENESS AND GROWTH POTENTIAL OF THE MICRO SEGMENT FOR
CEE BANKS
In 2012, the majority of the interviewed banks regarded micros as a highly attractive
segment compared to other client segments (e.g. private clients, corporate segment).
Two thirds of the banks forecasted an even increasing importance (compare fig. 2).
The background of this attractiveness is the identified growth potential which has several
reasons:
From the CEE banks' perspective,
micros are attractive because they
represent growth potential in a
stagnating market
> As a result of the crisis, segments have become mature that used to be easier to
serve and access in the past than the micro segment.
> Micros have been neglected for not being a homogeneous set of clients and therefore
their banking penetration is low (especially in loans).
> Only a limited number of micro clients were not able to reach the critical mass
required to make banks feel comfortable.
> The micro segment currently represents a large number of non-tapped banking
potential.
> Many micro-company owners are affluent clients thus offering potential both at
the business and the private side.
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Source: Roland Berger Strategy Consultants
The majority of the banks with an advanced micro-business strategy reported this segment
as being one of the most profitable within their institution. Generally these banks
particularly focus on defined micro sub-segments and use customized micro risk-assessment
scoring-models.