In preparation for The Excellence in Retail Financial Services programme, we are inviting global thought leadership firms to support a region-wide survey of the competitive issues facing the industry. The findings of the survey will be presented in several different deliverables:

• a well marketed regional webinar for senior decision makers to be held in February 2010.
• a thought leadership white paper
• a one hour discussion during the Heads of Retail Financial Services Annual Meeting at The Excellence In Retail Financial Services Convention in Shanghai, China from 18-19 March 2010.

This is the largest annual gathering of senior decision makers in the retail financial services industry, bringing together between 20-30 retail bankers from across 20 countries. Opportunities exist for sponsored presentations during this all-important annual opportunity for decision makers to check with each other on key developments and trends in the industry.

In addition to the Heads of Retail Meeting, the two day event also features tactical thought leadership presentations from award winning banks as well as supporting organizations to the more than 200 senior bankers from across 20 countries attending.

Key topics and issues that will be covered in the two-day conference, workshops and bootcamps are as discussed in the Issues and Topics section above.

The formats that sponsoring organizations can participate in can be in the form of:

• Conference Sessions - a 20 minute speaking opportunity in a 1-1.30hr session
• Workshops -3 hr, 4.5hr or 6 hr workshop opportunity, including the coffee breaks but not the luncheons
• Bootcamps - these are very good 3-6 hr sessions that can be designed with group dynamics and practice sessions top help internalize the issues learnt.

The Conference, Workshops and Bootcamp section above will also include real-life case studies of award winning retail banks from across the Asia Pacific region and from around the world.

A black-tie dinner hosted by The Asian Banker, that provides the elite of the retail banking a chance to network with their global counterparts and reflect on their accomplishments in the seventh Excellence in Retail Financial Services Programme. 

This year the following categories of awards are run under this programme:

• The Asian Banker Excellence in Retail Banking - Retail Banker of the Year Award
• The Asian Banker Excellence in Retail Banking - Country Awards Asia Pacific
• Australia
• Brunei
• Bangladesh
• China*
• Hong Kong
• India
• Indonesia
• Japan
• Korea
• Malaysia
• Pakistan
• Philippines
• Singapore
• Sri Lanka
• Taiwan
• Thailand
• Vietnam

*For China, institutions are classified according to five categories: best retail bank, best joint stock retail bank and best city commercial bank, best state owned retail bank, and best foreign retail bank

• The Asian Banker Excellence in Retail Banking - Middle East
• Bahrain
• Jordan
• Kuwait
• Oman
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia
• UAE
• The Asian Banker Excellence in Retail Banking - Central Asia
• Kazakhstan
• Kyrgyz Republic
• Tajikistan
• The Asian Banker Excellence in Retail Banking - Europe
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Spain
• UK
• Best Retail Bank in Asia Pacific
• Best Retail Bank in the Gulf region
• Best Retail Bank in Central Asia
• Best Regional Franchise (Asia Pacific)
• Best Regional Franchise (Gulf region)
• Best Consumer Finance Business
• Most Admired Bank outside the Asia Pacific, the Gulf region and Central Asia
• The Asian Banker Excellence in Retail Financial Services - Product and Process Awards
• Best Consumer Credit Product
• Best Deposit Product/Campaign
• Best Retail Islamic Financing Product
• Excellence in Credit Card Business
• Best Internet-Only Bank
• Excellence in Internet Banking
• Excellence in Mobile Phone Banking
• Best Retail Banking Branch Innovation
• Excellence in Automobile Lending
• Excellence in Mortgages and Home Equity
• Excellence in Micro-financing
• Excellence in Bancassurances
• Excellence in Wealth Management
• Excellence in SME Banking
• Excellence in Remittance Business
• Excellence in Retail Risk Management
• Excellence in Credit Collection/Recovery
• The Asian Banker Excellence in Retail Financial Services - Special Awards
• Excellence in Customer Relationship Management
• Best Brand Building Initiative
• Excellence in Employee Engagement
• Excellence in Distribution Network Integration
• Excellence in Business Model/Revenue Diversification
• Excellence in Crisis Management

The opening keynote of The Excellence in Retail Financial Services programme is delivered by an industry leader in the country where the meeting will be held. It gives the main sponsor an opportunity to showcase achievements and explain policies to the international community.