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Q&A: Vijay R. Parekh

V.R. Parekh:
On a high

A one-on-one with Vijay R. Parekh, President, International Consumer Card & Small Business Services, American Express Bank

Q. What is your global financial services (GFS) strategy?

A. American Express has a very clear strategic framework against which it is operating. The GFS came into being three years ago when we realised that we had significant assets - the most affluent customer base in the world and a physical presence and experience in markets for a number of years in serving in the payments and financial services businesses. But on a priority basis we focused on the top 25 markets where we realised that we have a very large opportunity to expand our product sets. There are segments of people who have differentiated needs and if we can offer them a premium value, they will do more business with us. So we launched very high-end products like the platinum card (which came to India a few weeks back). We also launched products in different categories of partnerships. We also realised that because we have a global presence, we can make the investment decisions into some of the most sophisticated technology platforms which when looked at by itself, is very expensive, but when leveraged over 25 markets, we can do something that few others can do. This has allowed us to go into a variety of different segments and partnerships and meet the needs of different customers and expand our franchises.

Q. What about the results?

A. The results have been phenomenal for us. In the last three years when we look at our growth rate, India's growth rate is three times faster than the international growth rate. By having a strategic focus, we are able to grow our franchise - our topline is growing , our bottomline is growing, our franchise is growing.

Q. How do you ensure retention of the card customer?

A. We have built several processes (for that) and one of the processes is the customer focused sales. Here if one customer calls and says that he's not interested or happy with our products, we will have our service agent take the time to understand the problem and because we have multiple products and services, we will take time to explain to the customer that the product (under consideration) may not be right for him. So we'll address his need with other products that are available.

Q. In the top 25 markets, what are your key markets?

A. In growth, India is the fastest growing market followed by Canada, UK, Mexico and Australia.

Q. So what's the India experience?

A. India is growing in payments and financial services hugely fast because only one percent of consumer spending is on cards. In the US, it is in excess of 15 per cent. So, the opportunity that the Indian consumer has to move in the payment arena, is tremendous.

Q. How do you benchmark yourself against the competition?

A. Our first goal is to ensure that the value proposition we provide meets the need of that segment so that when the customer compare our products with the competitors, they can see if our product is providing him superior value or not. We make very sure that our products and services are competitive enough in the minds and hearts of customers.

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