Rabobank Corporate Netherlands: Turning the Smartphone into an Engine of Bottom-Line Growth

Set in late 2011, this case study enables the discussion of a bank's possibilities to develop new business amid drastic technological and macroeconomic changes promising to revolutionize the whole payment value chain. In particular, several emerging technologies - such as near-field communication (NFC) - promised to turn mobile payments into a trillion-dollar industry in a period of less than five years. The case invites students to step into the shoes of key decision makers in Rabobank's initiatives for mobile services, such as mobile payment, m-commerce and other mobile wallet services (including mobile marketing, couponing and loyalty cards). The team behind mobile opportunities is aware that it also faces sizeable threats, from, for example, the entry of a whole new set of players into the payment value chain (including mobile network operators such as Vodafone, payment card networks such as MasterCard and Visa, as well as over-the-top players such as Google, Apple and PayPal). Michael Dooijes, head of Strategy & Innovation at Financial Logistics, and Gertjan Rösken, senior business development manager at Financial Logistics, have to decide how to optimize Rabobank's first-mover advantage in this market and leverage its unique brand equity in order to avoid the threats posed by these new entrants. Simultaneously, they must implement a mobile strategy capable of becoming an engine of growth for Rabobank's corporate business in the Netherlands. The Strategy & Innovation team is thus considering several paths for growth and has some pressing issues to consider, for which students will need to propose solutions while putting together a comprehensive marketing plan. Yet, Michael and Gertjan know that they cannot target all options and have to make choices, coming up with a concrete plan capable of convincing key decision makers within Rabobank that mobile-based strategies can become the key engine of bottom-line growth at the company.