CHAPTER III: SOLUTIONS AND PROPOSALS FOR ESTABLISHING CARD
1. Some solutions for successful implementation of selected strategy
1.5. Boost payment via card
- Accept all types of card having trademark of International Card Centers
which have not much competition such as education, health, electric services, water, telecommunications, oil and petrol, road charge collection…
- Continue to boost online card payment service via intranet for domestic and international cards.
- Develop mobile payment service, making contribution to provide for customers a new payment method which is safe and convenient.
- Develop network of card accepting units. Network of card accepting facilities is an indispensable owner in the card payment process; it is direct communicating place with customers and is starting point of card payment operation. Thus, when there are more and more card accepting points in many areas and belonging to different business types, benefits of card using become increasing.
- It is needed to have regulations about award or promotion program to encourage card accepting units to reach great sales.
- Rationalize card using fee: currently, in terms of service fees for using international credit card in VCB is quite reasonable. However, it is also needed to study to give much more reasonable fees to attract customers. Apart from annual fee, cardholders also have to pay other fees such as fee for slow payment, cash withdrawing fee, fee for informing card losing, interest rate…These fees will make the card using more expensive compared to consumption in cash. Under the motto of “collect less from customers, but they will have much more customers” VCB needs to consider some following issues:
+ VCB can reduce interest rate of credit card lend to lower level than or equal to interest rate of other lending form.
+ Study to reduce fees such as fee for slow payment, fee for informing card losing…For example: Fees for informing card losing of VCB is 200 000 VND/card, this fee can be reduced to 50 000 VND/card…
- Improve quality of services and increase utility for card products. VCB pays attention to improvement of quality of services and attach customers to products of bank. VCB brings customers with many convenient payment performances: inter-bank transfer, online payment…It is needed to give out new products (prepaid) to expand customer types so that they will see that VCB non-continuously develops its utilities and always targets its customers.
Identify market and target customers:
Marketing of card should focus on target customers who are people living in cities, working in foreign organization, joint venture organization, Vietnam-based representative office of foreign companies or people working in sector having high income such as oil and petrol, post, airline, owners of enterprises…These people have high and stable income, have conditions to travel abroad, go on business in the country and to foreign countries, stay in hotels…In addition, there is also a part of foreign people who are investors, foreign experts having great daily consumption demand. An other part which on the increasing trend is pupil and students studying overseas. Pupils and students in the country are also potential customers in the future.
Carry out product policy, study customer’s demand to diversify products and make original and suitable patterns.
- VCB needs to classify existing customers according to the criteria of average credit deposit. Informatics system supporting for making customer groups having same credit deposit (for example 10 million dong, 20 million dong, 50 million dong…) Base on this, VCB studies demands of each group and give them suitable credit card services.
- With the goal to diversify card product, make good use of different market segment, so as to maximize income and profit for card operation.
Intensify customer care and keep old customers.
In parallel with development of new customers, VCB needs to keep old customers as expense for old customers are less than development of new customers.
Expand distribution channel, outlets of credit card product
- VCB needs to intensify product selling channel: through partners, coordinate with enterprises to cross selling their products….Normally, for a customer as an enterprise, VCB will provide lump sum service for the enterprise: give loan, international payment…and offer credit card. This has many benefits such as creating close ties with the enterprise, making its products be consistent with enterprise, creating competitive advantage…
Implement the expansion and advertisement strategy
- Credit card service seems to be new to Vietnamese people. Most of consumers and most of suppliers of services and utilities in the country are not familiar with card payment in stead of cash payment. Moreover, advertisement of credit card products in
newspaper, radio station and television station, intranet, advertisement panels along streets, advertisement on intranet, leaflet introducing card products, letter offering customers for introduction, organizing workshops to meet people who will be likely to use cards such as workshop on studying aboard, coordinating with tourism companies…
to introduce card products. Those activities are necessary and VCB should focus on advertisement to customers following typical features of credit cards:
+ Convenience (‘Buy now, pay later’) + Time of no interest, can be up to 45 days + Safe (‘remove risks of bringing cash along’) + Easy to access (‘No need deposit and mortgage’) + Allow them to buy what they want/need
+ Modern, convenient when shopping
- Base on psychology of customers in which customers want to buy goods at cheap price, VCB can sign contract with some supermarkets, shops so as those shops will accept sale off if customers make payment through credit card of VCB. In turn, VCB will have award mechanism for card accepting points base on % of amount in bill paid through cards. Card accepting points will be introduced to customers by VCB. By doing like this, it not only helps to encourage customers to use card, but also helps card accepting points increase sales as cardholders will receive sale off. Of course, this solution is only implemented in short time until card issued by VCB become familiar with customers.