MUFG's Ranjana Clark on Digitization and ESG

Ranjana Clark, a longtime Most Powerful Women in Banking honoree, sat down with American Banker on August 3, 2022. Clark was there as part of the cover shoot for the Most Powerful Women in Banking print issue. Clark, who has been traveling extensively in Japan and China during the past year, talked about how clients are dealing with the current economic climate and how the bank is responding to clients' needs.

Transcription:
Mary Ellen Egan (00:09):
Hi, welcome to our video series, our Leaders video series. I'm Mary Ellen Egan, and I'm here with Ranjana Clark, the head of Global Transaction Banking at M U F G. Thank you for joining us today. We're going to talk a little bit about her career and specifically, what's going on with the economy and what's going on with inside of her bank. So on the consumer side, we've read a lot and, most of us have been personally impacted by problems witht he supply chain. Have your corporate clients felt some impacts or some challenges due to supply chain issues?

Ranjana Clark (00:37):
It's definitely had significant impact across industries, but what I would say is that the impact is variable depending on the industry that you sit in. So, for example, our energy clients, whether it's oil and gas, natural resources—clients as we all know, we all read the news. They have seen a significant increase in demand and profitability for an investment really for those industries. In some of the consumer facing industry, branded goods and so on, we're seeing shortages, we're seeing higher prices, we're seeing margins compressed, and certainly all of that has had significant impact on the end customer, which is the consumer.

Mary Ellen Egan (01:26):
I know that you have been very focused on digitization and integration of processes At M U F G, how has your bank been able to differentiate themselves from offerings that other banks are doing?

Ranjana Clark (01:38):
What I would say is probably a couple of things in terms of the core question of differentiation with regard to digitization, you always begin with the customer in mind. It's not about us, it's not about the technology, it is about the needs of the customer, the consumer. We always put the customer in the middle and figure out how we solve their pain points. So really that is what will drive demand. That is what will drive adoption because it is not about providing the product, it's about getting adoption of that product. In terms of core differentiation for M U F G, for our firm, I think our differentiator is in our network—we are in over 50 countries, many of them in very challenging geographies. We've invested significantly in Asia, we're growing very fast. Many of those countries are challenging in terms of regulation for our clients to operate in. And they have an ideal partner in M U F G and also in network that we provide them. That's how core differentiation is the network

Mary Ellen Egan (02:45):
On that front. Can you talk about the digitization of your sale process that you made during this past year at the bank?

Ranjana Clark (02:52):
So sales commercialization is about one thing. At its core, it's really making sure that our customers know the value that we provide across all our geographies and across our network. So in terms of the core of this, it is about ensuring that our sales staff, our bankers, everybody who faces a client is completely and 100% confident about the offerings that we provide across geographies. And then it's really about connecting our network so that our clients know the value we can provide.

Mary Ellen Egan (03:32):
So ESG is a hot topic amongst in the industry. And you launched green deposits this year, and first it was in the US in February, correct. And then in Australia, Japan, and China. So what exactly is green deposits and what impact do you think it will have?

Ranjana Clark (03:47):
So ESG is on everybody's mind, whoever, whether it's the consumer corporate boards, regulators, as it should be for our green deposits per se. We launched it in February of last year in the Americas, and now we have launched it in multiple geographies and we will continue to expand the number of countries and regions where we continue to provide this product. Essentially, it is backed by loans or commitments that we as an institution have made and that have a particularly green orientation to them.

Mary Ellen Egan (04:33):
So anything that's more sustainable.

Ranjana Clark (04:35):
Sustainable, right,

Mary Ellen Egan (04:35):
Exactly. As far as the economy or economics or even socially sustainable. So it's all across all the board.

Ranjana Clark (04:42):
Exactly.

Mary Ellen Egan (04:43):
All the three ESGs

Ranjana Clark (04:45):
As they say. Exactly. <affirmative>

Mary Ellen Egan (04:47):
Some economists are concerned that we're heading into a recession. What advice do you have? One for the peers in your industry, and then for your clients.

Ranjana Clark (04:56)
So with regard to recession, I think nobody has sort of the perfect crystal ball in terms of reading into it. I would say two things. One, the indicators are very mixed. And secondly, I think whether it's consumers or companies, corporates or peers, I would say we all need to tighten our seat belts and be prepared. Certainly hope for the best, but really be prepared because the data is very mixed.

Mary Ellen Egan (05:26):
Well, thank you so much for your time today.

Ranjana Clark (05:28):
Really appreciate. Thank you, Mary Ellen. I enjoyed the conversation.

Mary Ellen Egan (05:30):
Thank you. Me too.