On July 14th 2004, BOCOG announced that Bank of China was appointed the official banking partner of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. For the past four years, the Bank has made lots of preparation to enhance its risk management level, service quality, outlet reconstruction and production innovation, etc. With the Games only one week away, Bank of China stands ready to serve the Games to the best of its ability.
Preparation Stage: Overall Arrangement of Financial Service Strategy
Back in 2001 when Beijing won the bid to host the Olympics, Bank of China established relations with Beijing municipal government and designed the financial service plan for the government and the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG). With persistent efforts, it finally became the sole banking partner of Beijing 2008 Olympics and Paralympics. To better serve the Games while enhancing its service quality, the Bank began its Olympic journey with “hardware” and “software” reconstruction.
To address the game-time financial service demands in core Olympic zone, Bank of China set up five temporary outlets located in Athletes’ Village, Media Village, IBOC, MPC, and IOC Headquarters Hotel and refurnished its branches with wheelchair ramps, lower counters and barrier-free signs to allow better access for all customers. During the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Bank will open “Olympic Express” at the outlets around the sports venues, designated hotels, airport and scenic spots.
To assist foreign institutions and individuals that need financial services during the Games, the Bank, at the request of BOCOG and with the support of the PBOC and SAFE, launched “Olympic Temporary Accounts” service for qualifying non-resident legal persons. The Bank also prepared for other financial products and services, e.g. foreign currency exchange, traveler’s check, safe box, etc. The Bank’s call centre at 95566 began to offer the pioneering multi-lingual services covering English, French, Japanese, Korean and Spanish, all of which have strengthened BOC’s distinctive brand value.
To better serve the Games, the Bank sketched out BOC Guide for Qualified and Civilized Services and recruited financial service personnel from its pool of internationalized talents; meanwhile it organized a number of training sessions for frontline staff on foreign language, business skills and service etiquette.
As BOC President Li Lihui noted, “Since the first day as an Olympic partner, Bank of China has adopted ‘Serving the Olympics’ as its theme and ‘Faster, Higher and Stronger’ as its aim. We are fully dedicated to improving Olympic financial service and innovating relevant products in an effort to enhance our international service and innovation ability.
Warm-up Stage: Careful Examination of Financial Service Goals
Bank of China successfully finished the first part of its Olympic journey in outlet and “software” reconstruction. Afterwards it launched warm-up exercises to check whether the goals of Olympic financial service have been attained. To better know the Bank’s preparation, the author paid a visit to its outlets for an “experience” interview.
At Bank of China Beijing Branch, it was found that the Bank’s service has risen to a new level. In the business hall, each counter served designated business with the duty manager ushering in customers at the door gate. Clerks were guiding the use of wheelchair ramps which allowed better access customers with a disability. Lower counters were installed, ramps were built in front of ATMs, and standard English was printed on vouchers like RMB checks, all of which reflect BOC’s high quality service.
In a visit to the five temporary outlets, the author found the construction has come to an end. Staff there introduced that two temporary outlets would be operating in Qingdao for Sailing Games. These outlets provide major personal and corporate banking business to address the service demands in core Olympic zone.
Indeed Bank of China has done more than expected four years ago. During the visit, the author saw many customers came to consult on the application procedure and features of the first Beijing Olympic-themed BOC VISA Olympic card, whose issue volume has exceeded over 2 million. In two years, the Bank has developed many Olympic-themed financial products, such as BOC VISA Olympic credit card, BOC VISA Olympic-themed HKD Pre-paid Card, Fuwa (Beijing Olympic mascot) Certificate of Deposit, the Olympic Growth Account, and Olympic Temporary Account, teaming up as the BOC Olympic bank card series. With distinctive products and services from its peers, the Bank did a remarkable job in Olympic financial product innovation, receiving warm market recognition.
To better serve foreign tourists and athletes that come to China during the Games, the Bank set up special foreign currency exchange counters at all outlets. When the author himself exchanged some money at an outlet, the duty manager led him to the exchange counter and showed the rates displayed on the electronic board nearby. The clerk told him that, “Customers need to first present valid personal ID document and fill out the exchange memo. Currently there are 17 types of convertible currencies at our Bank, including EUR, GBP, USD, HKD, NTD and MOP, etc. The maximum amount per person per year is USD 50,000 or equivalent. When exiting the territory of China, one may re-exchange the unused RMB back foreign currency within 24 months. For FX cash no more than USD500 at bank and exchange outlets and for FX cash less than USD1, 000 or equivalent at departure (within the territory yet outside customs), valid ID documents are required. Otherwise both valid ID documents and the original exchange memo are mandatory.” Considering possible increase of exchange business volume, the Bank has set up more exchange counters accordingly.
To enhance staff quality and follow the idea of “People’s Olympics”, the Bank has organized a number of training sessions on business skill, service etiquette, foreign language and Paralympics service, followed by several supervisions and inspections on the services. Besides, the Bank recruited over 400 volunteers within its global networks to further support foreign language service at sports venues.
All the improvements are aimed to provide quality, efficient and convenient financial service to the athletes, officials, media staffs and tourists during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Bank of China is confident that its professional service can withstand the strict examination by customers.
Sprint Stage: From Financial Treasurer to Corporate Citizen
As the official banking partner of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Bank of China’s service quality and ability have been fully acknowledged by all circles of society. The Games also provides comparative advantage and rare opportunities to the Bank’s own development. As an outstanding corporate citizen with high reputation, Bank of China promoted the Olympic spirit in its Olympic marketing campaign to create more value for clients, partners, investors, employees and the public. The Bank is also actively dedicated to social welfare undertakings to repay the society and to perform its social responsibility.
A century-old bank celebrates the 100-year Olympics. Talking about the development opportunity brought by the Olympics, BOC President Li Lihui said, “First of all, the Olympic Games further enhanced our brand value and international reputation. As a supporter and participator of the Games, we provided Olympic financial service and innovative products, organized Olympic-themed events, participated public welfares and built on our corporate culture. In doing so we combine the Olympic spirit of with our brand so as to gain more market recognition and to promote our brand image and value.”
As the sole banking partner of the Games, Bank of China brings its business and service competence into full display, which further enhances the its presence and reputation worldwide, injecting new vitality into this century-old bank.
“Secondly, the Olympic Games provided rare opportunity to strengthen our differentiation strategy and domestic comparative advantage. We made full use of its Olympic rights to develop domestic business, carry out product innovation and enhance its service level. The products and services designed on the Olympic platform are unique and unduplicated, firmly supporting our differentiation strategy. ”
“Thirdly, the Olympic Games brought opportunity to expand our market share in retailing and fee-based business. We participated all of BOCOG market development programs, including sponsorship program, Olympic licensed product program, Olympic ticketing program and torch relay program. At present, the sales volume of Olympic licensed products has surpassed RMB 2 billion with a gross profit of 15%-50%. It greatly enhanced the marginal efficiency of BOC outlets and development of fee-based business. The Olympic tickets program drew many customers to experience our brand and service for the first time and expanded our customer resources, promoting cross-sale of its products and services.”
With the approach of the long-awaited 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Bank of China is calling on the strength of its 20,000 employees to serve the Games to the best of its ability. With its innovating products, global networks and multi-lingual financial talents, the Bank, as the pacemaker in the journey of Olympic financial service, is striving for breakthrough in its service level and ability.
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