Teradata Corporation (NYSE: TDC ), the world's largest company solely focused on data warehousing and enterprise analytics, has announced that a newly expanded Teradata system at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), one of the three mega-banks in Japan, became operational in late September 2008.
The marketing database, built on the Teradata Active Enterprise Data Warehouse 5500, is the largest marketing database in the Japanese financial industry, about four times as large as its predecessor.
Marketing databases used in Japan's financial industry are generally called "MCIF" (Marketing Customer Information Files). They are used to gather customer information on basic attributes, transactions, deposit/withdrawal details, contact history, and other data for effective marketing. SMBC has been using a Teradata-based MCIF since late 1990s for database marketing.
The recent expansion accommodates business growth, holding several years of detailed historical data on customer transactions, making it possible to enhance customer service by analysing and understanding transaction trends and changes more accurately. For example, marketers gain customer insight by exploring self-service terminal interactions affecting the customer's balance. Marketers can quickly analyse interaction frequency and changes in payee accounts, which helps the bank offer home loan service to customers who are considering purchasing a house, or card loan service to those who need a small amount of funds. Marketers also practice proactive marketing by using analytics to foresee customers' financial needs. When analysis shows that a customer is inclined to leave for another bank, it is possible to contact them in advance and make an offer that helps retain them and maintain long-term relationships.
The results of the data analysis made by the MCIF system are used across a variety of marketing channels such as branches, terminal networks, the internet and by the front-line sales force to identify prospects.
"We are honoured that Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation is building its Teradata system for querying its enormous amount of data," said Yukihiko Yoshikawa, president of Teradata Japan. "Teradata provides the best database solution featurining the unsurpassed performance enabled by parallel processing, flexible scalability and ease of administration. Our database is used by many financial institutions not only for marketing but also for better faster decision making in business management, accounting and operations."