In 2000, energy made up 11 per cent of our exports. Today it is almost 20 per cent. And oil is now by far our most important commodity. Its share of commodity production roughly doubled in the past decade, to close to 50 per cent today (Chart 16). But recently, energy transportation bottlenecks in North America have been limiting this positive product mix effect.
The call centre is another channel that captured the imagination of banks as well as customers. At these centres, enormous amount of information is at the fingertips of trained customer service representatives. A call centre not only cuts down on costs but also improves customer satisfaction. Moreover, it facilitates 24x7 working and offers the “human touch” that customers seek.