Itaú CorpBanca pushed Colombia digital: 9% to 81% of loans sold by app
After the 2016 merger, the bank migrated CorpBanca Colombia to the Itaú brand and rebuilt around digital channels, targeting breakeven there in 2018.
What was changed
In March 2018, Itaú CorpBanca CEO Milton Maluhy laid out how the bank formed by the 2016 merger of Itaú Chile and Chile's CorpBanca would turn around its Colombian unit, which had reported a recurring net loss of 21.5 billion pesos (US$36.1 million) for 2017, hit by loan losses and operating expenses.
The transformation ran on two tracks. First, migration: all CorpBanca Colombia clients and branches were being moved to the Itaú brand, with completion expected by the end of March. Second, digital: a market study fed wholesale and retail strategies focused on digital, backed by 20 multidisciplinary teams and what Maluhy called an end-to-end strategy, 'from back office to front office'. By January 2018, 81% of retail installment loans were sold via the internet or app, up from 9% in April 2016.
The goal for 2018 was around breakeven in Colombia — 'not an easy task but we're working toward it', Maluhy said — with consolidated ROE aimed at about 15% over the following years. Group-wide, the bank reported consolidated recurring net income of 61.46 billion Chilean pesos for 2017, up from 38.83 billion in 2016, while deliberately planning to grow slower than Colombia's banking system as it re-priced its portfolio.
Why it worked
The merged bank chose digital distribution as its edge in a market where it would not fight the big banks on retail scale.
Migrating every Colombian client and branch to one brand consolidated two identities into a single platform for the new model.
Multidisciplinary teams working back office to front office made the digital shift operational rather than cosmetic.
Slower, more profitable growth was an explicit choice: repricing the portfolio mattered more than market-share chasing.
What can be applied
Move the channel before celebrating the brand: a ninefold shift of loan sales onto digital rails came from rebuilding processes end to end, not just launching an app.
Aftermath
The bank expected the migration to complete by end-March 2018 and targeted Colombian breakeven that year. Maluhy said 2018 would show 'the bank we want for our clients and shareholders'. Chilean lending was forecast to grow 6–8% with a stronger economy.