consolidated annual report - Gruppo Banca Sella

COMMERCIAL AND DISTRIBUTION POLICIES
COMMERCIAL POLICIES
The results achieved during the financial year were
reached playing, as usual, on the distinguishing marks
of the Group:
• strong local franchise;
• personalization of customer relationships;
• pursuit of a constant improvement in the quality of
products, also thanks to a constant technological innovation;
• careful attention and constant commitment towards
the values of privacy, transparency and correctness
in customer relationships.
The commercial activity of the Group, respecting the
above mentioned principles, pursued the following objectives:
• development of new customers through the offer of
new products and services personalized to the different
needs of the various segments;
• increase of the activity of existing customers by improving
cross selling, also through specific actions,
carried out with the support of the Group Marketing
Department;
• high quality of services, aiming at the excellence of
products offered, always analysing and selecting
them beforehand;
• attention for the composition of customers’ portfolios:
customers are helped in their dealing and investment
activities also by the new “Risk Thermometer”,
a tool easy to use and to understand, which helps
them understand the degree of risk related to each
investment, so as to clearly and accurately evaluate
it.
The attention of all companies of the Group was focussed
on services levels, in the various phases of creation,
production and distribution of products, being
convinced that customer retention derives from excellent
service levels and from the quality of products.
The monitoring of quality is also controlled by
the “Service Charter”, which, giving customers details
on 36 services in a complete and understandable
way, fixes maximum time limits for the granting
and execution of services, lacking which a specific
form of reimbursement is provided for.
As regards the need for transparency and correctness
in customers relationships, the banks of the Group
joined the “Patti Chiari” project, promoted by the Executive
Committee of ABI ( the Italian Banking Association).
The initiative was created with the aim of improving
quality in customer relationships on the whole, giving
them clear and understandable information on banking
products and services and therefore offering the opportunity
to homogeneously compare the various offers.
In September, complying with the rules for all eight
initiatives promoted the project, the four Italian banks
of the Group obtained the “Patti Chiari” certification by
the external and independent Committeee controlling
the correct putting into practice of each instrument.
Commercial initiatives were developed through:
• rationalization of the range of products and identification
of different targets of customers;
• development of the Sella World Service project, offering
a range of initiatives to foreign customers;
• distribution of new plastic cards combining the credit
and debit functions, including also the possibility
to pay by instalments, and of revolving credit cards;
• as regards consumer credit, new revolving co-branded
credit cards and cards specifically thought for online
payments were launched;
• launch of the “Prestidea” brand for personal loans
combined to an optional insurance policy, which
will take over the payment of instalments in case of
inability to work, disability or death;
• reorganization of the range of mutual funds by the
merge of some of the products;
• launch of new sections of the sicav under Luxembourg
law dedicated to institutional customers;
• issue of a floating rate five year maturity bond within
the Banca Sella EMTN Programme;
• increase of the offer of insurance products with the
launch, by the insurance company CBA Vita, of 12
index linked policies, of a capitalization policy aimed
at the earmarking of retirement allowance and of a
long term care policy to cover self-sufficiency;
• the participation to “Internet Trading Forum”, first
Consolidated annual report 2004 - 181