Fintro and the Royal Belgian Hockey Association have just announced a new sponsorship agreement, which will enable the two parties to work hand-in-hand in a bid to reach the podium at the Rio Olympics in 2016.  With this sponsorship arrangement, Fintro is linking its image in the banking and insurance sector with that of the national hockey association and the national teams. 


Fintro, one of the BNP Paribas Group’s retail brands in Belgium, is thus reaching out to a new public and the new partnership is an excellent fit with Fintro’s stated values – professionalism, closeness to the customer and genuine commitment. The partnership, which will run through until end-2016 at least, will provide structural support for initiatives to be taken by the Association in relation to clubs and the national sides.  Through active involvement, Fintro intends to rapidly become a solid partner to Belgian hockey, a sport whose popularity is steadily rising. 

Fintro to be the leading partner to the national men’s, women’s and youth teams – Alongside the Association’s other partners BMW, Athlon Car Lease and Lotto, Fintro will seek to help Belgian hockey fulfil its high ambitions, the immediate targets being for the men to win a medal, and the women to achieve 8th place, at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Fintro branding will appear on the official shirts and shorts/skirts of the national men’s, women’s and youth teams. The Fintro logo will also be displayed on the uniforms of the 150 official referees in Belgium.

“We are hockey” – At the the press conference announcing the new deal, Fintro Head Michael Anseeuw underlined the aim of raising the profile of Fintro on the Belgian banking and insurance market.  “This sponsorship agreement dovetails perfectly with the repositioning strategy on which we embarked two years ago as it offers us the opportunity to introduce ourselves to new groups, especially young people.  What Belgian hockey and Fintro have in common is that they are both combative players in their respective fields and share values such as respect, fair play, and also innovation. For instance, Fintro is a pioneer in the use of social networks, such as the Facebook pages which our independent agents have set up. Indeed, Fintro sees the Association and the national teams as ideal partners. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank AG Insurance, with whom Fintro has a distribution agreement, who helped us to seek out this new partnership.”

Also at the press conference, the Association introduced the new national men’s team coach Marc Lammers. The Association’s Head of Marketing and Communication, Denis Van Damme, joined Marc Lammers in emphasising the great hopes which they hold for the sponsorship deal with Fintro.  “Working with such a high quality sponsor with strong business values can only help to raise the profile of hockey and those who are involved with the sport in Belgium. We’re especially delighted that Fintro has committed to assist our Federation in developing hockey further in this country and thus help Belgian hockey to shine in international competitions,” he told the audience.

See also our photo gallery below.

Fintro is part of the BNP Paribas Group, working in Belgium through a network of 310 self-employed banking agents and insurance brokers employing a total of 1,000 salaried staff. Its clientele consists mainly of individual customers, plus self-employed professionals and small businesses.

On the banking side, Fintro offers exclusively BNP Paribas Fortis products.  On the insurance side, Fintro agents are independent brokers who offer products originated by a number of different insurance companies. Being part of the BNP Paribas Group, Fintro maintains close relations with AG Insurance and Cardif.

The Royal Belgian Hockey Association – Hockey has for several years now enjoyed impressive growth in this country. The Association’s membership has doubled within ten years and has increased by a further 12% so far in 2012, standing today at 30,000. Results achieved at both club and national team level show that the standard of Belgian hockey is now close to the very top.

Belgian hockey has certainly been on a ‘winning streak’ in recent years, with growing popularity, driven by the excellent results achieved by club teams in the Euro Hockey League, the second qualification for the Olympics in a row for the men and a world ranking of eight. The women are now following the same path, having achieved a first-ever Olympic qualification for the London Games in 2012.  No less impressive is the title of European champions carried off by both the U18 and U21 boys, the European runners-up title won by both the U16 girls and boys, while events held here in Belgium are of ever-higher quality, attracting a growing number of spectators.

Quite apart from any competitive successes, the Belgian Hockey Association assiduously promotes basic values such as respect, fair play, tolerance, friendliness and the family.