Foreign exchange deal allocation

This study sets out to identify the criteria that multi-banked corporate customersoperating in South Africa use to decide which bank to allocate each foreignexchange deal to.The foreign exchange market is highly competitive, in order to retain and growmarket share the banks operating in this environment must identify what criteriatheir clients use when deciding which banks to allocate their foreign exchangedeals to. This study focuses on the multi-banked corporate segment operating inSouth Africa.Based on the literature review the proposition derived was:The criteria that influence foreign exchange deal allocation decisions include: -- Trusted advisor / Relationship based on trust- Competitive prices for products and services- Quality and range of services and products- Accommodation of credit needsA qualitative research method, utilizing 16 in-depth interviews, was employed forthis study. The research instrument was a semi-structured questionnaire withmostly open-ended questions. Conceptual themes were drawn from the data andillustrated using the principles of Concept maps.The South African respondents identified “Processing efficiency” as beingimportant to the deal allocation decision. The proposition was therefore partiallyaccepted.