Bank of Montreal 1997 Annual Report Download - page 41

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 41 of the 1997 Bank of Montreal annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 104

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104

Bank of Montreal 180th Annual Report 1997 35
Electronic Financial Services
Strategic Investing for the Modern Banking Environment
Group Description
Electronic Financial Services (EFS), a new operating group in 1997, is made up of diverse North American businesses
which share a mandate to develop new technologies and channels of distribution and leverage information to provide
exceptional client service. Lines of business within EFS are mbanx, telephone banking, credit cards, smart cards and cor-
porate electronic financial services, cash management, trade finance, payments, institutional trust and custody, and
Cebra Inc. The Bancomer alliance is also managed by EFS. In 1997, EFS contributed approximately 14% of our total net
income and 5% of our total average assets.
Business Environment
Clients demand quality experiences characterized by speed, convenience, individual tailoring of services and multiple
channels of access. To be successful in this environment financial institutions must make good use of leading-edge tech-
nologies. They must be innovative in using information to anticipate and satisfy client needs. The primary challenge facing
EFS is the need to invest in new virtual banking opportunities while developing established businesses. To share the costs
of future technology investments and to attain the scope and scale necessary to compete in some lines of business, EFS
must continue to develop strategic alliances. Strengthening our North American scope will provide an appropriate arena
for future growth. The business strategies shown below will help EFS meet the challenges of this business environment.
Delivered Exceptional Client Experiences in Virtual Banking
•mbanx is on track to achieve its goal of 100,000 clients
by December 31, 1997. mbanx was launched in October
1996 as a virtual bank to serve time-pressed, financially
active clients. It has established itself as an industry leader
with innovations such as rewarding its clients for their
patronage, providing on-line mortgage applications,
inte
grating on-line banking with a special edition of
Quicken
TM
(personal finance software), and delivering
services through Bell VistaTM 350 telephones. mbanx is
the first bank in Canada to provide financial services over
the Internet. In addition to its own clients, mbanx sup-
ports the provision of Internet financial services to clients
of Personal and Commercial Financial Services.
•Launched mbanx in the United States as a PC banking
capability to serve clients in the Chicago area.
mbanx
U.S. has the mandate to develop electronic
delivery
channels for clients of Harris as well as to develop its
own client base.
•Expanded telebanking services in Canada and the
United States. The number of calls handled increased
78%, sales volumes increased 85% and over 400 new
employees were hired during 1997. Innovations in 1997
included the launch of new desktop systems to help agents
better service clients, new technology to improve auto-
mated call handling, and the launch of PC banking services.
•Established Cebra Inc. as a leading provider of digital
commerce solutions for business needs. Launched in
1996, Cebra has initiated an impressive array of solutions
that apply to a variety of industries. The major introduc-
tion in 1997 was MERXTM, an electronic tendering service
for government purchasing agencies and their suppliers.
Enhanced Product Offerings
•Introduced Tradevenue® in Canada and the United
States. Tradevenue is an innovative Windows®-based
letter of credit processing and management system that
enables companies to prepare and dispatch letters of
credit within 24 hours from their own desktop computers.
•Implemented imaging technology to improve the speed
and convenience and reduce the cost of documents pro-
cessing within our North American cash management
businesses. This technology has created new marketing
opportunities and has helped us to become a leader in
providing collection and payment services to Canadian
corporations. Imaging technology has also been imple-
mented for our U.S. clients and it has been well accepted.
•Started processing MasterCard applications and
approvals on-line, becoming the first financial institution
in the world to offer this service on the Internet.
•Rapidly expanded the Corporate MasterCard program
in Canada. The program now has over 3,600 member
organizations and over 25,000 accounts.
Key Business Strategies:
•deliver exceptional client experiences in virtual banking
•enhance product offerings
•form strategic alliances
•strengthen North American scope
Accomplishments in 1997
™
Quicken is a trade mark of Intuit, Inc.
™
Vista is a trade mark of Northern Telecom Limited.
™
MERX is a trade mark of Cebra, Inc.
®
Tradevenue is a registered trade mark of Bank of Montreal.
®
Windows is a registered trade mark of Microsoft Corporation.