MODERN EXCHANGE
WINNER: MONEY EXCHANGE CATEGORY
Modern Exchange was named ‘Oman’s Most Trusted Brand’ of 2018 in the Money Exchange Category. In an interview with Muscat
Daily, Philip Koshy, general manager of Modern Exchange, discusses the outlook for Oman’s money transfer industry and the brand strength of Modern Exchange in Oman.
Modern Exchange has been operating in Oman for many years. In your view, what are the main factors that contributed in making Modern Exchange Oman’s Most Trusted Brand?
There are many factors which contributed to our success: Digitisation, innovation, our customer-centric approach and trend setting.
Technology has been a major contributor in driving our business with success eg: Zero Minute Remittance. The application programming interface (API) integration with almost all the major banks has enabled us to offer Zero Minute Remittance service to customers. Remittance through our online portal, mobile app etc will be added to portfolio for providing more convenience for customers.
We have installed kiosks at all our branches, which enable customers to carry out transactions without any manual intervention, and we are planning to install offsite kiosks in the near future. We also introduced automated customer registration process including OCR technology (optical card reader system for capturing the image of civil ID) to reduce the turnaround time for processing transactions.
We consider that customers are the main pillar of our growth. We are exploring possibilities of incorporating critical marketing inputs into our decision-making process to provide personalised and professional service with the help of technology. Our internal customers are vital in driving the day-to-day business.
Rewarding loyal customers, free insurance to all our customers etc differentiate us from our competitors.
What are the challenges that you face on a daily basis in running op- erations successfully as the best money exchange in the country?
The decline in the number of working population and more focus on remittance business by local banks are some of the challenges we are facing in this industry.
Given that customer satisfaction is the number one reason for repeat business, what kind of quality control activities have you put in place to assess customer services that your employees provide on a realtime basis and how do you keep on improving it?
We have been constantly tracking feedback from customers and taking appropriate action within the stipulated time as per the customer grievance redressal policy. Customer retention index, response from customers through various channels like customer feedback form, tele call, website and mails etc are recorded for analysis and improving the service. Visiting the high net-worth individual customers as part of customer profiling also provides valuable feedback.
The economic slowdown in the GCC over the past three years amid weakness in oil prices continue to affect most sectors in 2018. However, many economic experts are predicting a recovery in 2019. What is your outlook for Oman’s remittance market given the changing conditions?
We expect the market to be stable and do not foresee much recovery in a short span of time.
Are you planning to further increase the number of Modern Exchange branches in Oman?
Yes, we will be expanding our business and are expecting to touch the 50 branches mark by the end of this year.
Do you see cryptocurrencies as a threat to existing players in the money exchange industry? How do you plan to deal with this?
In this part of the market, cryptocurrency is not that much popular. Our major corridors are India, Pakistan and Bangladesh where it is not legal, so it is not affecting our business at all.