The Banking Scene

13/09/2022

No better way to celebrate our 6th birthday than with a BBQ. What a pleasure to welcome all our members, friends and partners for 2 hours of speeches and panels (you can read my lessons here: https://thebankingscene.com/opinions/my-payments-bbq-lessons-2022), and excellent networking.

Our audience got all the inspiration needed to make the best possible BBQ during a rainy evening, thanks to the lovely setting at De Warande and the open dialogue of these expert speakers:

- Gottfried Leibbrandt, Chairman of the Board at Betaalvereniging Nederland (Dutch Payments Association), and author of the book "The Pay Off: How Changing the Way We Pay Changes Everything"
- Tom Lambrecht, Country Manager Benelux & Nordics, Sopra Banking Software
- Inge Ampe, Chief Commercial Officer, Argenta
- Frank Stockx, Chairman, Isabel Group
- Hemakiran Gupta, Europe Head for Banking, Insurance and Financial Services, Tata Consultancy Services
- Kathleen (Cassy) Ramsey, Non-Executive Director, serving the board of Mercury TFS (powered by PagoNxt) and Degroof Petercam
- Geert Matthys, Head of Marketplace Solutions and Payments Acceptance Settlement, Deutsche Bank

Pictures can be found here: https://thebankingscene.com/events/tbsbbqnight22-september-8-de-warande-brussels

We cannot wait to welcome you again, on October 25, in Bozar!

16/09/2021

About that BBQ we had last week! This was so much fun! We almost regret our decision to have this BBQ only once a year ☀☀☀.

Thanks again to our partners SWIFT, In The Pocket, Finastra, EBRC -European Business Reliance Centre, Zuci Systems, and a special thanks to our valuable speakers:
👉 Etienne GOOSSE, Director General at European Payments Council (EPC)
👉 Saskia Devolder, Head of Europe North at SWIFT
👉 Maarten Kerkhofs, Chief of Staff at In The Pocket
👉 kristine de lepeleire, General Manager at CEC-UCV
👉 Dirk Hermans, Blockchain Lead at KBC Bank & Verzekering

02/07/2021

One of the primary reasons for Belgian consumers to switch a bank is because of a mortgage. Needless to say how essential mortgages are for banks in the overall service offering. On the other end, mortgages are vital for most consumers to access the housing market to buy their own property.

20% of CO2 emissions are currently coming from residential buildings. So mortgages have a pivotal role to play in stimulating more sustainable living, as we learned during The Banking Scene Afterwork on June 10, with Elisabeth Minjauw, President of the European Mortgage Federation and Programme Director Sustainability and Compliant Credits at BNP Paribas Fortis.

“It’s true that today when a person wants to buy a home, they come to the bank for advice”, Elisabeth said. “We see it our duty to help customers and inform them about the goals we have to reach for 2030 and 2050 because people today don’t always realise to which extent they will also be affected by those goals.”

An equally important conclusion from this session is that banks cannot make the shift to sustainable living alone. It requires a well-orchestrated collaboration with all stakeholders involved.

Green mortgages for sustainable living is more than a label. With a direct impact on a bank's (future) financial results, acting now is imperative for the industry

22/06/2021

A bot for every employee, a reality of myth? Today it is a myth, but this session clearly showed that it is a realistic dream for the near future, if there is the will to achieve it. It will require plenty of change from a human, technological, and governance standpoint, but the upside is a happier customer, a more energised workforce, and a more efficient organisation overall.

With the rise of RPA-based attended bots we are getting closer to a bot for every employee. What is required to make this a reality?

17/06/2021

Will EPI (european payments initiative) and a digital euro contribute to a uniform European payments landscape? In my opinion, it will, although the audience had more faith in EPI after this session to accomplish this. 43% said that the digital euro together with EPI would contribute to this goal (21% at the start of the session), with another 43% sharing their faith in EPI but not in the digital euro.

Although together they stand stronger against the international superpowers, Inge did note that EPI and the digital euro should be considered two different tracks, in both of which the private sector can deliver services: “In the end, private parties are there to make shareholders happy and to make a profit. The interest of the central banks and the ECB is, of course, to look after the interests of citizens making sure that everybody is included.”

The goal of open banking was not to create a uniform landscape, but to promote innovative new services.

With PSD2 and open banking to stimulate innovation, EPI and the digital euro (CBDC) are told to create more uniformity across Europe

31/05/2021

Automation helps organisations manage sudden high volumes, ensuring good quality and avoiding the cost of temporary resources and exposing their employees less to sudden volumes to keep people engaged with a healthy work-life balance

The human factors behind automation at ING and NIBC Bank: employee engagement, customer experience and cost avoidance

26/05/2021

Reconnecting digital banking in a human way

It is time to rethink digital banking, to align it to customer expectations and to make it more human again in a connected way.

26/03/2021

Argenta is a Belgian savings banks, currently number 5 in the retail banking market. We know that the European banking landscape is under pressure. Over the last 10 years, the number of European banks reduced by almost 30% because of regulatory pressure, low-interest fees, tremendous investment in digitalisation, changed customer expectations etc.…

Banks will encounter more challenges in the future, but, as Hedwige Nuyens concluded earlier, Marc, who is also a board member at ESBG (European Savings Bank Group), believes in savings banks’ future.

“We see an incredible variety amongst savings banks in Europe: in Spain, you have some of the most prominent players who compete really with the big universal banks; in Germany, you have the small and mid-side savings banks to the supersized Landesbanken. What they all have in common, to my feeling, is that element of proximity and supporting the local economy.”

With Marc Lauwers, CEO of Argenta, we discussed what purpose and sustainability means to them and how they contribute to a better future for human and society

17/03/2021

The highlight of our session on March 4, with PeteratCake of CakeDotApp in my view, was the question of whether banks can truly fulfil the mission of being invisible and pro-active if they remain loyal to a mobile-first strategy. What do you think?

What must change for banks to become true financial advisors, doctors of a customer's financial health?

15/03/2021

Investor needs are rapidly changing and their appetite for is growing. They are looking for non-traditional data and to help with decision-making and take advantage of opportunities. Read the Refinitiv blog here: https://bit.ly/3buDtHE

11/03/2021

In a very open dialogue, Karel Baert, CEO, and Claire Godding, Head of Diversity and Inclusion of Febelfin joined us to talk about Banking for Good and we evaluated how the industry is doing in that respect, and we looked at the future.

With Karel Baert, CEO and Claire Godding, Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Febelfin, Belgian Federation of banks, we discussed what "Banking for Good" means to them

18/02/2021

I partnered with AionBankfor their inaugural Financial Life Moments Guide and put together a few suggestions to better spend and save that can help both students and the working population reduce financial stress and improve financial wellbeing.

tips & tricks to consume smarter, manage money better, and save more in the end