Technological ecosystem
Currently, for both mobility and home, we are evolving in an ecosystem where technology plays a central role to further assist the customers. Mobility is different and car insurance has been totally revisited because people don‘t move around like they did a decade ago. Insurers have adapted. This type of insurance, which used to depend on the vehicle, now depends on the person.
As far as the home is concerned, climate change with its share of disasters (floods, drought, fires) worries clients, who fear they will no longer be insured. The risks are multiplying, premiums are rising and the bancassurer has taken on the role of risk manager. Customers increasingly want to be reassured or advised by specialists. The importance of bancassurance, with distribution being an important factor, has increased.
For corporate, additional risks have emerged over the past years – such as cyber security – and force insurance companies to adapt their product offering accordingly.
Data industrialization
Coming back to the banking sector, digital processes are being deployed more in retail for everything beyond banking. For Belfius, insurance is not beyond banking, it is our business. On the other hand, the number of partners in other areas has increased and contributed to the strengthening of our ecosystem, both in mobility and home protection.
For corporate banking and business banking, we have achieved an extremely advanced industrialization of corporate data. However, we still need to meet the entrepreneur at some point, because it is he or she who will ultimately convince us to issue a loan. But our bankers are already much better informed and the entrepreneur is accompanied from a 360° digital point of view, as is also the case in retail. This makes it much easier for the CEO and CFO. Bankers like us are investing massively in this target.
Emergence of the GAFAs
In private banking and wealth management, asset management is industrialized using robots that understand the context, the issues and provide possible answers. In addition to this industrialized solution, we developed more important methods of communication and expertise with people especially in a world where complexity and uncertainty are increasing. Our bankers and pension managers bring real added value to the clients.
During crises, banks and financial institutions have proven their resilience. Beyond market concentration, local banks will continue to exist because each country will ultimately defend its own interests. There is no revolution in our sector except for the emergence of the GAFAs (an acronym for the tech giants Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon). We are able to compete with other banks, but much more challenging are the GAFAs or the type of company that has such a large volume of customers, such trust with their customers and considerable financial resources.
Accompanying clients
As far as ESG is concerned, it is our societal responsibility to accompany our clients in their transition. As a strongly Belgian-anchored bankinsurer, with the Belgian federal government as sole shareholder, we are also very attentive to the more vulnerable, for whom the costs of the energy transition are greater.
We are more concerned than ever about remaining a winning company with a strong brand and to continue offering a working environment where employees feel good. This is what allows us to continue to be attractive on the job market and to continue to retain competent people. In addition, Belfius continues developing diversity because it brings richness and other perspectives in key discussions and debates.
