Detailed SWOT Analysis of Scotiabank – A Canadian Multinational Bank

Products & Services by Scotiabank

Serving more than 25 million customers, Scotia bank provides a wide range of services. Some of them are:

• Commercial banking
• Personal banking
• Wealth management
• Corporate and investment banking

Close Competitors of Scotiabank

Due to its successful positioning and being ranked as one of Canada’s Big five banks, Scotiabank has some close competitors which are:

• The Royal Bank of Canada
• Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC)
• Bank of Montreal
• Toronto-Dominion Bank

Now since we learned about the bank, let us have a look at the SWOT Analysis of Scotiabank.

SWOT Analysis of Scotiabank

SWOT analysis of Scotiabank is an examination of the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This allows the organisation to understand its market position, as well as what areas need to be addressed and where it can shine. It also aids the corporation in strategizing its business framework and elements affecting its growth.

To better understand the SWOT analysis of Scotiabank, refer to the infographics below:

Below is a step-by-step detailed guide to help you with the SWOT analysis of Scotiabank.

Strengths of Scotiabank

Scotiabank, being one of the industry’s leading corporations has several advantages that enable it to prosper in the marketplace. These advantages not only assist it in retaining market share in existing areas but also in expanding into new ones.

• Extensive Network: The bank has more than 89,400 employees at 2,000+ branches in Canada & North America, making Scotiabank the 19th largest bank in the world.
• Wide Range of Portfolio: The variety of personal banking and financial services the bank offers acts as one of their strengths wherein they can be benefited from various offerings.
• Brand Reputation: Scotiabank has been in the business of banking for a large number of years. Also, with the variety of secure services, it provides such as Scotiabank’s Digital Centre which is backed with secured digital channels to provide its users to securely transact with Scotiabank. These big steps made Scotiabank established as a leader in the industry. This helps the corporation to gain a reputation and get recognized easily.

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• Strong Digital Marketing Strategy: With a very strong online presence on every social media site has built a strong customer relationship. Want to know how social media works as a strength for Scotiabank? Then you must check out the benefits of social media marketing to get the answer to your query. 
• Best in its Country: The Bank is the best in Canada in terms of multinational banking and financial services. Also, it is positioned at No.1 as the best Canadian bank which in itself is one of the biggest strengths for the company.
• Goods Returns on Capital Expenditure: Scotiabank is relatively successful at executing net income of CA$9.96 Billion from annual revenue of CA$31.25 Billion.

Weaknesses of Scotiabank

A company’s weaknesses keep it from realising its greatest potential. To assist the company to excel in all areas, one should assess the weaknesses and seek to improve them.

• Limited Success Across the Core Business: Although Scotiabank is one of the leading organisations in its industry it faces challenges in moving to other product segments with its present culture.
• Cash Flow Problems: There is a lack of proper financial planning at Scotiabank regarding cash flows, leading to certain circumstances where there isn’t enough cash flow as required leading to unnecessary unplanned borrowing.
• Need to Invest More in New Technologies: According to the country’s scale of expansion and the geographical areas Scotiabank needs to invest more money in technology to integrate the processes across the board. Currently, the investment in technology is not on par as per the vision of the company.
• Customer Service: Improper customer service, as well as lack of solving customer queries, can cause a negative image of the brand. This can either be through mouth publicity or by any other means.
• Depend on Canada & US: Scotiabank’s global presence is not up to the mark. The bank is dependent more on Canada & US. Also, Scotiabank lags behind the top Canadian banks in terms of several branches. 

Opportunities of Scotiabank 

Opportunities are external strategic factors that the company can use to help it grow. Here are the opportunities that Scotiabank can look into:

• Several Acquisitions: The bank amalgamated with several other Canadian financial institutions through the years will support Scotiabank to grow the credit card business in the US and Canada which will ultimately lead to growth in customer base.
• More Expansion in the US: Creating the network of retail banks in the US will help the bank to expand in the US. Also, Scotiabank’s wealth and insurance business in the US will become one of the huge opportunities for the whole company.
• New Clients from Online Channels: The company has invested a significant amount of money in the internet platform during the last few years. This speculation has provided Scotiabank with a fresh deal channel. In the coming years, the company may take advantage of this opportunity by better understanding its customers and meeting their needs through massive data analysis.
• Moderate Growth Rate: Following a moderate growth rate in the business, a financial uptick and increase in client spending provide an opportunity for Scotiabank to attract new clients and increase its share of the total industry.
• Development of Technology: Since the FinTech industry is growing at a very rapid pace, there are advancements in technologies too. Using these kinds of technologies can increase efficiency and decrease cost.

Threats to Scotiabank

External factors that might affect the bank are called threats. These issues need to be addressed soon so as to not harm the company further. Threats for Scotia bank are 

• Regulatory Charges: The bank belongs mainly from North America and Scotiabank is mainly focusing on expanding its business more in the United States. While taking advantage of this the government can charge regulatory fees for the same. 
• Competitor Technical Advancements: New technological advancements by a few competitors within the sector constitutes a threat to Scotiabank since customers who are drawn to this new technology may switch to competitors, reducing Scotiabank’s overall market share.
• Pandemic: Financial losses incurred by companies as well as individuals can cause a threat to the bank in repayment of loans. 
• Increased Marketing Efforts: Due to the rise of digital marketing, there is an increasing number of promotional messages which are being sent by competitors. It clutters up the space, which leads to losing out on customers. Scotiabank is well versed and trying to adopt a variety of the latest digital marketing skills to get ahead of the competition. You must also check out these skills to achieve the same. 
• Rising Controversies: Scotiabank has been in several controversies as recently in 2013 Scotiabank got a $100M wrongful dismissal lawsuit for committing securities regulatory violations. Such controversies if continued can negatively affect the business of Scotiabank.

Now that we have come to the end of this thorough SWOT Analysis of Scotiabank. Let’s see the summation of this article in the conclusion.