Digitization is rapidly transforming Argentina’s financial industry. In 2017, less than 50% of the population had a bank account, but since 2018, the use of QR codes to make and receive payments to digital mobile phone wallets has exploded. The trend accelerated even further during the 2020 pandemic, when many Argentineans made digital payments or used a digital wallet for the first time.

Traditional banks and new fintech startups alike must adapt to this new digitized financial landscape, which is one reason why Banco Macro’s first objective is to know its clients and what they want. While it is the second-largest bank in Argentina, Banco Macro has the largest and most widely dispersed branch network in the country. Close to 8,000 staff serve more than three million customers from 460 branches, from the hustle and bustle of Buenos Aires to the many sparsely populated remote towns of the interior provinces. Today, the bank has 1.5 million digital customers, adding more than 20,000 new digital customers each month.

As customers shift to an increasingly digital banking experience, the bank adjusts its offerings to meet this demand. While already undergoing a digital transformation initiative, the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic forced the bank to accelerate longer-term plans to fit much shorter timelines.

New tools as an agent for cultural change

While Banco Macro had adopted some cloud tools, especially for video conferencing, the bank was still working primarily with an on-premises solution. Team members could not easily get full access to their work tools while out of the office. With such a widely dispersed workforce, making it easier to work on the same documents and share ideas remotely was a high priority.

“The pandemic required not only that the banks evolve technologically and go digital, but it also forced our employees who started working remotely to change their way of working,” says Juan Caillon, Banco Macro’s Chief Data Officer (CDO). “And this way of working, where customers prefer to interact digitally rather than coming into the branch, is here to stay. Customers have gotten used to it and are not thinking about going back.”

Although the bank had workers of all ages, a high proportion were employees with many years of seniority and experience working with pre-existing processes and tools. Any new solution had to be both intuitive and adoptable by its established employees, while innovative enough to attract digital-native talent in the future. Banco Macro considered this an opportunity not just to implement a new technology, but to implement a cultural change and a new way of working.

Migrating as a cultural challenge, not just a technical challenge

From the beginning, the migration to Google Workspace was conceived as a cultural change in management process, rather than just adding an extra tool to the bank’s arsenal. Working with experienced Google Partner eSource Capital, Banco Macro followed the partner’s plan to the letter.

Three components were instrumental to a smooth and successful transition. First, commitment from the top level down, with the CEO as the first person to migrate and other leaders soon after. Second, identifying team members to provide peer-to-peer support as Google Guides. These Guides are early adopters who help their colleagues onboard onto Google Workspace, offering immediate answers to “How do I…?” questions and ensuring they have support throughout the entire rollout process and beyond. Lastly, a supportive communication strategy with “immersion sessions” for each team member one week before their migration. During an immersion session, the migration team shared how the changes were going to impact them and what to expect on the first day of using the new tools. It was a space for both training and reassurance.

Due to the number of employees, the geographical diversity, and the significant changes proposed, Banco Macro believed that the migration would take from six months to one year. But the entire team of 7,700 was migrated in exactly four months.

Secure storage, secure access, and faster response times

For a company in the financial sector, keeping sensitive customer data safe is a critical factor when selecting a new tool or technology. While the previous on-premises solution met security needs, it didn’t allow the flexibility and remote access that Banco Macro needed for its team members. Some tools could be accessed remotely via VPN, but others required physical presence in the office.

With Google Workspace, team members could access all of their tools and information from a computer or mobile device, simply by having an internet connection. “With Google Workspace, we were able to deploy two-factor authentication, which had not been available to us before,” explains Caillon. “We found a lot of robustness in terms of security, which informed our decision-making process.”

Meanwhile, cloud storage not only allows secure access from anywhere, but increased storage capacity. Banco Macro’s previous email provider restricted inboxes to 1MB of storage, so people had to delete emails or save them on local PC drives. Consulting an old email was not possible out of the office. Today, with Gmail’s scalable mailbox capacity and efficient search bar, old emails can be pulled up from a phone whenever needed.

All these capabilities support another of Banco Macro’s key objectives: agility of response. Customers receive faster responses, as employees aren’t tied to the office and have emails and information accessible at the click of a button.