Capítulo 5. Las políticas de ajuste en la Argentina de la Convertibilidad
C. Aspectos generales del proceso
5.4.6. Apertura y reforma financieras
6.1 Banco Postal – ECT’s Flagship ICT/Postal Product 6.1.1 BP Product line
Before BP, eCT’s financial services were extremely limited, consisting of money orders and some utility payment func- tions, in all representing less than 1% of corporate rev- enues.19 Today, BP offers computer-based, real-time basic
banking products through over 6,000 of eCT’s post offices. These products are based on savings, credit, and payment services including: – savings accounts; – current accounts; – checking accounts; – deposits; – withdrawals;
– account balance inquiries and statements; – loans and microcredits, including “e-loans”; – credit cards;
– bill/invoice/tax payments;
– payroll and social benefits payments.
19 “The Role of Postal Networks in expanding Access to Financial Services – The Latin American and Caribbean Region”; report by World Bank
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BP: Flagship product of Brazil’s ICT/Postal networkBP fees are lower than Bradesco’s (and most commercial banks’) and its offices are open for longer hours. Lending services are based on small loans with the credit risk wholly assumed by Bradesco. A post office current account requires an identity card, a social security number, and proof of resi- dence; each client is provided with a debit card. One impor- tant principle is that BP was expected to turn a profit from the outset, albeit a modest one. each account is charged a monthly fee of 1.65 USD which covers 14 free transactions per month (four balance inquiries; four withdrawals; four printed statements and two money transfers). There is a charge of 0.32 USD for transactions beyond the first 14 trans- actions. The percentage of transactions processed by BP can be characterized across the network as shown below:
Transaction type % of total transactions
Bills, invoices, tax payments 38.5 Account balance/statements 19.2
Deposits 18.0
Withdrawals 17.2
Social benefit payments 3.7
New accounts 0.7
Loans 0.4
Others 2.4
Total 100%
6.1.2 BP customer profile
BP’s financial products are aimed at lower and lower-middle income individuals. Considering the minimum guaranteed monthly salary in Brazil of 272 USD, the customer base can be characterized as:
Salary Percentage
Up to minimum monthly wage (272 USD) 56% 1 to 3 minimum monthly wages (816 USD) 37% More than 3 minimum monthly wages 7%
As shown above, 93% of BP account holders earn 816 USD or less per month; nearly 60% of account holders who also have their salaries paid through BP earn 153 USD or less per month. The typical savings or current account holds between 120 and 240 USD. This demonstrates that BP’s customer base has fulfilled the basic goal of the BP project, namely to make formal financial networks more accessible to the unbanked and other lower-income individuals.
6.1.3 BP growth and expansion
The BP network has grown significantly over the past seven years. As shown in Chart 6.1.3, most of this growth was in the first five years, indicating that distribution of financial services through the basic postal network may be reaching its limits and that further expansion will have to be through postal franchise units. Today, over 6,000 post offices (91% in the interior) in more than 5,000 municipalities are con- nected to the Internet and offer BP services. Furthermore, over 9.5 million new checking accounts have been opened since 2002 and over 600,000 people visit BP branches every day; over 1.2 million BP transactions are now handled on a daily basis. By the end of 2006, 1.93 million loans had been granted by BP and today, more than 700,000 pensioners receive their payments through BP. BP currently has 5.3% of the national correspondent banking business and 34.4% of the correspondent market for account openings, 24.4% for deposits, 17.4% for withdrawals, and 18.3% for loan transactions. Furthermore, except for the first year of opera- tions, the amount of withdrawals from accounts has stayed relatively low, indicating that customers see their deposits in BP as a long-term investment. 2'521.00 4'499.00 5'483.00 5'461.00 5'585.00 5'882.00 5'946.00 6'050.00 3'882 4'744 4'790 4'878 5'029 5'110 5'159 2'228 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 BP outlets Municipalities
Chart 6.1.3 – Growth of BP Newtork
BP: Flagship product of Brazil’s ICT/Postal network
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6.1.4 Future plans for BP
As discussed above, deployment of BP through corporate post offices may be reaching a natural limit and therefore plans are being discussed to extend its reach to franchise units. There is also an ongoing effort to improve quality of service throughout the BP network. Popular investments such as security bonds and mutual funds could probably be offered next year, and new financial products such as postal insurance are being considered for the future.
Snapshot of BP on June 9, 2009 Counters 12,134 Offices 6,050 Coverage (100% of municipalities) Transactions* 1,136,983 New accounts 4,267 *Record day for
transactions: 1,981,539 on 10/9/2007
6.2 Incorporating ICT within ECT
6.2.1 Improving ECT management and control
In addition to establishing an ICT foundation for the deploy- ment of BP, the Corporate Network described above has also enabled eCT to strengthen its own management and the overall direction of the corporation. It should be noted that before the Corporate Network was developed and deployed in 2001, eCT relied on off-line systems to gather, analyze, and distribute critical management information and data. This limited the amount and timeliness of data collected and was a significant cost element. eCT also uses ICTs to measure quality of service, perhaps the most critical element in the success of any postal operator, and today achieves the following very high levels of service.
Quality of Service Target % Achieved (to Oct 2009)
Within cities D+1 98% City to City D+1 98.1% State Capital to/
from Interior D+1 98.1 Interior to Interior ≥D+2 98.1% State Capital to State
Capital Ranges from D+2 to D+3 88.5% (mainly D+2)
Source: ECT
ICTs are also key elements in managing and controlling eCT’s extensive transportation and processing networks which include 26 airline links, 637 surface links, 57 major process- ing plants, 6,246 collection and delivery links, 34,000 collec- tion points, 50,000 delivery routes and 46 million addresses.
6.2.2 Strengthening ECT postal products
Incorporating ICT into eCT’s operations and retail network has provided opportunities to develop new, customer-driven products and services and to make existing products better and more competitive. As an example of the system-wide integration made possible by ICTs, volume discounts can now be given to large volume mailers on a nationwide basis irrespective of where mail is deposited or collected. High- value, time-sensitive products can be tracked and traced throughout their journey, putting them on an equal footing with competitors. eCT can now also offer SeDeX, eSeDeX, and SeDeX Mundi (international eMS) through a computer- ized system that supports delivery of goods ordered over the Internet, (over 70% of eCT parcel traffic is generated this way) and overnight delivery of time-sensitive parcels. In its first five years, eSeDeX (designed for parcels ordered over the Internet) enjoyed 188% growth (3.4 million items in 2004) and in its first six, SeDeX achieved 1,234% growth (five mil- lion items in 2004).
eCT also offers a hybrid telegram product that allows cus- tomers to send a telegram domestically or internationally via the Internet with direct delivery by postal personnel. Reverse hybrid mail is another ICT-enhanced product that allows customers to scan documents such as forms and vouchers and then transmit them electronically for digital or physical delivery. eCT’s interactive website provides information and transactions covering: postal products and services (basic postal products, direct mail marketing, tracking and tracing, telegrams, etc.); financial services (BP, electronic bill and tax payments, money orders and other money transfers); and goods transfers (exporta Fácil, Correios Log services20). It also
provides e-commerce opportunities (CorreiosNet Shopping, Correios Online) and other commercial services (e.g., digital certification) as well as a portal to e-Government services (pension verification, notice of government contracts, etc.). Future improvements to existing services are being consid- ered, such as automating a number of basic postal services to make them more accessible to customers and the possible introduction of a hybrid mail product to serve both national and international destinations. The sale of notebook com- puters for teachers is another growing ICT-related project. Bradesco provides the financing; eCT collects the notebooks from the manufacturer, then transports and delivers them to teachers at their homes. In the future, this project could be expanded so that the sale, financing and delivery of any prod- uct, not just computer notebooks, could be handled through a seamless ICT/Postal/Financial channel.
6.2.3 Sustaining ECT finances and universal service coverage
establishing BP has allowed eCT to maintain profitability and to strengthen universal service; in some post offices, BP revenues now exceed postal revenues. This service has increased the profitability of many local post offices that were
20 Correios Log provides customized consulting logistics services and computerized management of customers’ warehouses, inventory, dispatch,
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BP: Flagship product of Brazil’s ICT/Postal networkhitherto losing money (through banking transaction fees and increased walk-in business), and thus helped to keep these offices open. As shown in Chart 6.2.3, this has enabled eCT to maintain profitability and even increase it after 2003, despite flat and in some cases declining mail volumes.
Chart 6.2.3 – ECT profitability vs volumes
Furthermore, incorporation of BP has helped eCT maintain coverage and employment. In 2002 eCT had 5,300 post offices; today, it has 6,197 post offices including over 400 new offices opened in remote rural areas. employment has also grown; in 2002 eCT had 95,700 employees, today it has 113,000. From an employee morale standpoint, BP has
-5000 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Revenue (millions SDRs) Expense (millions SDRs) Result (millions SDRs) Letters/100 inhabs
provided an opportunity to give eCT employees extra rec- ompense in the form of bonuses for both management and employees as well as hiring new employees. These employees now have more interesting and potentially more profitable jobs.
Thus the universal postal network has been maintained and even expanded, primarily by incorporating technology and expanding beyond the basic postal portfolio to include bank- ing services and other ICT-based products. As a result, individ- ual and business customers see eCT as more responsive, and post offices as a one stop shop for their business transactions.
6.3 Impact beyond ECT – using ICTs to support national development and growth
From a wider perspective, combining ICT technology with postal presence has significantly enhanced the numerous nationwide services that are provided through the eCT net- work. These services have both societal and economic value and it is unlikely that any network other than eCT’s could make them as accessible to as many people in as many places. The chart below lists just some of these services and also shows the distinct value that ICTs and postal components bring to their delivery.
Chart 6.3 – Services distributed through the eCT network
Product/service Coverage/ description ICT added value Postal added value Economic/social Benefits Election
Voting 5,561 municipalities115 million voters 250,000 machines
Real time voting Reduced fraud electronic voting box – flexibility Trusted sites voter verification Locale customized
More voter participation Improved accountability Increased social inclusion Reduced rural isolation
Medicine
Distribution Nationwide Track/traceData gathering Information sharing
extended network
Controlled distribution Rural areas reachedImproved national health
Product/service Coverage/ description ICT added value Postal added value Economic/social Benefits Schoolbook
distribution 120 million books/year 136,000 schools 32 million students
Track/trace
Data gathering Predictable shipping“Last mile” delivery Customized by locale
Higher education levels Greater competitiveness
Address database
management 46 million addresses Automated updating Added-value product offering for advertisers Information for mass mailersInformation for security, taxes
E-Government Applications, permits, legal documents, social security verification
Online access On-site certification of
government documents Travel/waiting time savedTwo-way communication Accessible government
E-Commerce CorreiosNet: online shopping Listing of SMes on website Track/trace Designed for Internet-based businesses
Door to door collection and delivery
Secure handling Overnight delivery
economic activity growth Stimulation of SMes
Exporta Fácil Simplified process for exports below 50,000 USD
Track/trace
BP: Flagship product of Brazil’s ICT/Postal network
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Product/service Coverage/ description ICT added value Postal added value Economic/social Benefits International financial remittances – VIE All municipalities (6,050 post offices) UPU based – 20 countries eurogiro – 22 countries electronic money orders – 20 countries Fully automated in Brazil Money laundering control coordinated with national authorities Comprehensive national coverage established relationships with other postal operators
Lowest price and exchange “spread”
Strong support for SMe and rural economic growth
Reduction of illegal remittance market
Digital
certification All the benefits of the traditional paper- based postmark for electronic documents
Date and time stamping, digital identity capture, content verification/ encryption. Combined with traditional postal products
Proof that the content of an electronic message has not been altered
Increased and simplified document verification
One example of the benefits provided by “wiring” the eCT network is the success of exporta Fácil (“easy export”). As part of the national endeavour to promote simplified export procedures for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, eCT introduced “exporta Fácil” via its network. Between Jan- uary and September 2003, exporta Fácil’s volumes grew by 192.4% in terms of items and eCT eventually captured 32% of this segment of the export market; overall, exporta Fácil increased the national export base by 10%.21 Another area
is public access to the Internet and digital communications, also available through eCT’s network and facilitated through the assignment of permanent e-mail addresses to custom- ers. The distribution of critical government services such as dispatch of medicines and schoolbooks, and providing voting facilities through the postal network has not only added value to the postal network, but has also allowed the government to reach out to more remote areas of the country by using established and reliable transportation and delivery systems. The extension of voting facilities has boosted democratization and social inclusion and increased governmental accountabil- ity, while greatly expediting elections.
Another important area where ICTs have added value to the postal network is e-commerce. The e-commerce market in Brazil grew at a rate of over 40% a year from 2002 to 2005. eCT was determined to enter this market to offer more options to its customers and created CorreiosNet: an Internet-based virtual shopping mall.22 CorreiosNet has three
areas of activity:
– Selling eCT’s products and services. – Selling third-party products. – Taking integrated logistics orders.
These activities were brought online in a series of projects from 2003 to 2005 and have shown steady growth in the ensuing years, while supporting overall economic growth.