Commercial Bank’s social media campaigns drive banking educationsponsored

The Qatari banking sector demonstrated strength and profitability while maintaining resiliency during the pandemic, backed by central bank policies and new regulations. Meanwhile, the government has also pushed for the use of new technologies to enhance efficiency and customer experience.

Qatari banks continuously explore new sources of revenues and diversify their strategies by investing in new technologies, funding small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and enhancing customer experience by providing new digital solutions.

Strategy transformation
Commercial Bank of Qatar responded to the changing needs of customers during the pandemic by providing a secure, simple and safe banking experience. The bank also increased engagement with customers by giving regular updates across its social media platforms, which helped enhance customer experience.

Hussain Al-Abdullah, executive general manager and chief marketing officer at Commercial Bank, said, “At the onset of the pandemic we came up with the campaign #Qatar_is_Calling_StayHome. We’re among the first banks to work with the government to promote a healthy lifestyle. The idea was to educate people, share awareness about precautions that need to be taken in order to keep everybody safe during the pandemic. #Qatar_is_Calling_StayHome campaign was viewed by more than a million people”.

#Qatar_is_Calling_StayHome campaign provided a step-by-step, multilingual guidance for customers. Meanwhile, the bank’s second campaign, #GoDigital, demonstrated the digital services and products to customers.

“#GoDigital reflects our DNA as an innovation leader bank in Qatar. This campaign aims to encourage our customers to use our digital platforms from the comforts of their home without visiting the bank’s branch,” Al-Abdullah added.

Through these campaigns, the bank shared informative and educational posts to guide customers on how to use digital products. It also covered general health and government advice, new branch guidance, mobile options for SMEs and corporate customers, and other retail digital services.

Targeted campaigns
Commercial Bank gained more than 3,000 new followers on Facebook, the number of posts increased by 92%, and the total number of interactions exceeded 126,000. The campaigns also reduced physical visits to branches and increased the number of digital users.

Customers responded positively, reflected by high use of mobile and internet banking by retail customers, which increased by 17% logins per day between 20 January and 20 March 2020. PayCard logins increased by 70% a day while digital remittances showed a 26% rise in the same period.

Commercial Bank also spread awareness on cybersecurity by shedding light on fraud and personal information protection through its #CBsafe campaign. The campaign revolved around the theme “check, stop, report”. The bank provided tips on identifying scam attempts and how to respond to them, and advised people not to share their passwords or respond to vishing calls. The bank conducted regular email and SMS campaigns to help customers recognise fraud and online scams, while tips on safeguarding personal information and safe banking practices were posted on the bank’s website and other digital platforms.

Digital transformation
Commercial Bank is committed to product innovation through diversification of offerings to adapt to the changing customer lifestyle. This is reflected in the success of its 60-second remittances initiative, which provides seamless and secure international fund transfers at competitive exchange rates to over 30 countries including Bangladesh, India, Jordan, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Turkey and the UK. It enables customers to make transactions in a fast and secure way.

The service targets all customer segment types with a mobile app dedicated to blue-collar customers. More than 95% of remittances were processed via digital channels. The volume increased 17 times since 2017 and recorded a 98% growth in 2019. Significant volumes were seen in key diverse countries such as India, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.

It recently launched digital innovations to enhance customer experience and support its digital focus strategy. It introduced Apple Pay, a secure and private way to pay. Customers can make contactless payment just by holding their iPhone or Apple Watch near a payment terminal. The solution makes it easier to pay for food and grocery deliveries, online shopping, transportation, and parking, among others. Apple Pay can also be used to make payments in apps on Apple Watch. The bank launched direct payment service in cooperation with General Tax Authority. With the solution, bank customers can make their tax payments online in a secure way through the bank’s corporate internet banking (CIB) platform. It also introduced CB video relationship manager. The service enables premium customers who are with Commercial Bank Private Banking and Sadara to meet their relationship manager without having to visit a branch or a lounge.

This is a sponsored article and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the publisher.