On 1 January 2024[1], bpost bank will be integrated into BNP Paribas Fortis. This will come about via a horizontal merger. Following this, the legal entity bpost bank nv/SA, in which BNP Paribas Fortis has been the 100% shareholder since the beginning of this year, will be dissolved. Customers of bpost bank will become clients of BNP Paribas Fortis from 1 January 2024. The brand name bpost bank will disappear from that date as well. This merger will enable BNP Paribas Fortis to capitalise on the strengths of both parties: on the one hand the proximity and service capabilities of bpost bank's 1,300 counter personnel and 410 dedicated advisors, and on the other the expertise and offer of BNP Paribas Fortis, to the benefit of all customers.
New services for bpost bank customers already from this year
For bpost bank customers, nothing will fundamentally change before 1 January 2024. However, at the initiative of shareholder BNP Paribas Fortis, bpost bank will already be adding a number of services to its existing offer from this year onwards, such as ‘non-life’ insurance products (home, liability, vehicles and legal assistance). After 1 January 2024, customers of bpost bank, by then clients of BNP Paribas Fortis, will continue to be able to do their banking in the post office in the normal way.
The physical network is and remains important to be an accessible bank for all
BNP Paribas Fortis attaches great importance to an inclusive banking offering. In the first place, the bank wants to achieve this by helping those customers who wish to do so, to be able to bank digitally. With digital workshops and personal guidance to its customers, this has been a focus area for the bank well before the pandemic. The bank will therefore continue with ‘digital onboarding’. And yet even though there is a general trend towards digital banking, we do not ignore the fact that, for various reasons, an important group of people cannot or will not use digital tools today. For this reason alone, a sufficiently large physical network for all basic financial services remains necessary. This role will be fulfilled by post offices. At the same time, for specific, more complex issues, customers who already do most of their banking digitally will be able to fall back on face-to-face meetings at a branch, in addition to remote advice.
Significantly expanded network from 1 January 2024
At the end of 2021, BNP Paribas Fortis had a network of 386 branches for both service and customised advice. This network will increase from 1 January 2024 with the addition of post offices (currently 657), which are geographically distributed all over the country. The extended post office network will help BNP Paribas Fortis develop long-term relationships that are close to and more adapted to the client, letting advisors in the proprietary branch network and call centres focus more on providing advice for more complex needs, and this to all the bank’s clients.
27 centres for Private & Wealth clients
In addition to its extensive network of bank branches and post offices, BNP Paribas Fortis will, in the future, have 27 dedicated Private Banking & Wealth Management centres. Sixteen of these will be so-called ‘client houses’ where the bank assembles in one location the expertise to serve both the private and professional interests of BNP Paribas Fortis clients in the best possible way.
bpost bank staff to reinforce existing BNP Paribas Fortis teams
BNP Paribas Fortis aims to find a suitable position within BNP Paribas Fortis for each and every employee of bpost bank. Opportunities and interest in joining the BNP Paribas Fortis teams or, in some cases, managing an existing or new team, will be discussed with all of the bpost bank employees.
Two major acquisitions in a short period of time:Ingenico In-store and bpost bank
With the acquisition of Ingenico’s Belgian and Luxembourg in-store business by its subsidiary Axepta BNP Paribas Benelux and the acquisition of bpost bank, BNP Paribas Fortis has made two major acquisitions in a short period of time. Through these acquisitions, BNP Paribas Fortis wants to further focus on improving the service to its clients in terms of accessibility and processing of card payments.
Press contacts BNP Paribas Fortis :
Mr Hans Mariën | Head of PR & Press
+32 (0)475 74 72 86
hans.marien@bnpparibasfortis.com
Press contacts bpost bank:
Mr Frédéric Jonnart | Member of the Management Committee and spokesperson
+32 (0)2 545 63 24
press@bpostbank.be
BNP Paribas Fortis (www.bnpparibasfortis.com) offers the Belgian market a comprehensive range of financial services for private individuals, the self-employed, professionals, companies and public organisations. In the insurance sector, BNP Paribas Fortis works closely, as a tied agent, with Belgian market leader AG Insurance. At international level, the Bank also provides high-net-worth individuals, large corporations and public and financial institutions with customised solutions, for which it is able to draw on the know-how and international network of the BNP Paribas Group.
BNP Paribas (www.bnpparibas.com) is the European Union’s leading bank and key player in international banking. It operates in 68 countries and has more than 193,000 employees, including nearly 148,000 in Europe. The Group has key positions in its three main fields of activity: Retail Banking for the Group’s retail-banking networks and several specialised businesses including BNP Paribas Personal Finance and Arval ; Investment & Protection Services for savings, investment and protection solutions ; and Corporate & Institutional Banking, focused on corporate and institutional clients. Based on its strong diversified and integrated model, the Group helps all its clients (individuals, community associations, entrepreneurs, SMEs, corporates and institutional clients) to realise their projects through solutions spanning financing, investment, savings and protection insurance. In Europe, BNP Paribas has four domestic markets: Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg. The Group is rolling out its integrated retail-banking model across several Mediterranean countries, Turkey, Eastern Europe as well as via a large network in the western part of the United States. As a key player in international banking, the Group has leading platforms and business lines in Europe, a strong presence in the Americas as well as a solid and fast-growing business in Asia-Pacific.
BNP Paribas has implemented a Corporate Social Responsibility approach in all its activities, enabling it to contribute to the construction of a sustainable future, while ensuring the Group's performance and stability.
