Feedback needed: Is the profitability of banks adequate?

Banking and Finance DLC for Capitalism Lab
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In your testing, do you think the profitability of banks is adequate?

Yes, I think the profitability of banks is reasonable in comparison with other industries.
6
30%
Banks are too profitable. Their earnings should be reduced.
1
5%
Banks are way too profitable. Their earnings should be reduced significantly.
1
5%
Banks are not profitable enough in my opinion.
5
25%
Banks' profitability is way too low. Need to increase it significantly.
7
35%
 
Total votes: 20

JasonLJJ
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Re: Feedback needed: Is the profitability of banks adequate?

Post by JasonLJJ »

David - I will try to run the scenario analysis with your suggested approach.

Also, I think the possibility to invest the deposits into riskier asset classes (i.e. global stock market, credit card loans, national government bonds or perhaps even create a "global private equity fund" asset class etc.) would be a great option. I think the general view in the community is that banks are not profitable enough and need measures to boost profitability. I personally believe that the customer deposit level is good and while the volatility in the deposit growth rate is still quite high (and can turn negative), it is much better than prior versions and we are close to the finish line on that.

On the other hand, I noticed that there is more acceptance in the community for raising the deposit cap + including penalty for withdrawal as well as allowing cities to deposit surplus cash into the bank account - is this something you can raise with the dev team to implement in the next update?

Jason
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David
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Re: Feedback needed: Is the profitability of banks adequate?

Post by David »

Also, I think the possibility to invest the deposits into riskier asset classes (i.e. global stock market, credit card loans, national government bonds or perhaps even create a "global private equity fund" asset class etc.) would be a great option.
I will forward your suggestions to the dev team.
I think the general view in the community is that banks are not profitable enough and need measures to boost profitability. I personally believe that the customer deposit level is good
In response to the community's feedback, the new version 6.1.07 will see an increase to the upper limit of Personal Savings Rate modifier from 500 to 600 on the New Game Settings menu.
and while the volatility in the deposit growth rate is still quite high (and can turn negative), it is much better than prior versions and we are close to the finish line on that.
The new version also slightly reduced the impact of the economy on the amount of customer deposits so that customer deposits will shrink less during an economic downturn.
On the other hand, I noticed that there is more acceptance in the community for raising the deposit cap + including penalty for withdrawal as well as allowing cities to deposit surplus cash into the bank account - is this something you can raise with the dev team to implement in the next update?
In the new version, you will be able to set a value up to 100 for the deposit cap in a script.

As for the allowing cities to deposit cash into a bank account, which is a new feature request. I've forwarded your suggestion to the dev team. For your information, I have put together a summary of the process the dev team typically use for evaluating new feature requests from the community:

The type of user requests that receive the highest priority is bug fix requests, followed by requests for addressing gameplay imbalance.

For new feature requests that require development time and resources, they will be considered by the dev team based on the following factors:

1) Their amounts of development time and resources required

2) The number of users in the community who want the new feature, to be gauged by a poll. Typically a poll with 15 positive votes will start to get the attention of the dev team, and a poll with 30 positive votes will convince the dev team to put a serious effort into evaluating its implementation feasibility.

3) The dev team's own assessment of the feature's impact in improving the game and the development resources it demands (the impact/cost ratio)

4) Whether the new feature will introduce any unintended drawback in gameplay balance, or complicate the interface too much, or create a loophole.

Requests for improvements or changes to existing features will be evaluated in the same manner.

Then from the list of requests, including ones from different subforums covering the base game and various DLCs, those that scored the best in the aforementioned evaluation will be added to the dev's task schedule for implementation.

I also pasted the above summary into a post on the Suggestion forum for those who are interested in knowing more about the evaluation process: http://www.capitalism2.com/forum/viewto ... =14&t=7052
Freemarket
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Re: Feedback needed: Is the profitability of banks adequate?

Post by Freemarket »

Is there any way to get out in cash when issuing loans in banks? or is it permanently frozen working capital? It turns out I can never stop the banking business without loss of invested funds due to the lack of maturity of loans if I invest only my own funds without attracting deposits.
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Re: Feedback needed: Is the profitability of banks adequate?

Post by David »

Freemarket wrote: Mon Nov 25, 2019 5:22 pm Is there any way to get out in cash when issuing loans in banks? or is it permanently frozen working capital? It turns out I can never stop the banking business without loss of invested funds due to the lack of maturity of loans if I invest only my own funds without attracting deposits.
Once your bank has issued loans to borrowers, you must wait for the borrowers to repay them.
Freemarket
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Re: Feedback needed: Is the profitability of banks adequate?

Post by Freemarket »

David wrote: Tue Nov 26, 2019 4:59 am
Freemarket wrote: Mon Nov 25, 2019 5:22 pm Is there any way to get out in cash when issuing loans in banks? or is it permanently frozen working capital? It turns out I can never stop the banking business without loss of invested funds due to the lack of maturity of loans if I invest only my own funds without attracting deposits.
Once your bank has issued loans to borrowers, you must wait for the borrowers to repay them.
but how can I understand exactly when the loan will be repaid? on the sheet with the information of loans issued I see only the interest rate of lending and the rating of the borrower
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Re: Feedback needed: Is the profitability of banks adequate?

Post by David »

but how can I understand exactly when the loan will be repaid? on the sheet with the information of loans issued I see only the interest rate of lending and the rating of the borrower
The loans have a mix of different terms ranging from 1 to 5 years. I did a test with the latest version 6.1.07 by pressing the "Stop" sign icon on the Overview page and stopping issuing new loans. It took about 2.5 years for all existing borrowers to pay back their loans.
gamebak
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Re: Feedback needed: Is the profitability of banks adequate?

Post by gamebak »

It seems that the bank always requires additional capital, I'm always getting the message to transfer funds.
The issue is that no matter how I diversify my loans, it seems that I always have to transfer cash (even with A && AAA), so it doesn't even feel like I'm making any money, that I can ever get out of the bank.

Maybe this issue can be improved a bit?
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David
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Re: Feedback needed: Is the profitability of banks adequate?

Post by David »

gamebak wrote: Wed Nov 27, 2019 8:51 am It seems that the bank always requires additional capital, I'm always getting the message to transfer funds.
The issue is that no matter how I diversify my loans, it seems that I always have to transfer cash (even with A && AAA), so it doesn't even feel like I'm making any money, that I can ever get out of the bank.

Maybe this issue can be improved a bit?
This has been improved in the latest version 6.1.08.
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Re: Feedback needed: Is the profitability of banks adequate?

Post by JohanPB »

As I'm one behind the suggestion implemented in 6.1.08, I can tell this will change bank profitability by a lot - and I do mean a lot.

It will change bank profitability and growth potential so much that the current poll results may be irrelevant now, since it will need another full round of testing.
JasonLJJ
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Re: Feedback needed: Is the profitability of banks adequate?

Post by JasonLJJ »

Hello David

May I ask if update 6.1.10 will have the suggested improvement of allowing cities to deposit money in the bank / purchase bonds as well as changing bank branch size to 2x2?

Is there a forum post where we can post our thoughts on other features you can add to the bank ? Have a several thoughts

Can't wait :D!
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