The US and European banking industry is currently undergoing a transformation with traditional service suites being overhauled or supplanted by mobile or Peer-to-Peer (P2P) ) technologies. BNP Paribas has embarked on an ambitious three-year plan to help broaden this focus, whilst shifting its resources to a more digitalized future.
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The French lender is slated to invest €3.0 billion as part of a three-year business plan as it looks towards the future. With the current banking climate in Europe seeing massive closures of branches and a shifting emphasis away from traditional banking services, BNP Paribas is looking to stay a step ahead of its competitors across the continent.
The recent investment follows on the heels of a more concerted effort from BNP Paribas to diversify its banking suite into a more digitalized approach, including the deployment of P2P technologies and other Fintech capabilities.
Last month, BNP Paribas launched a new Open Innovation Project to help kindle investments and alternative measures in the banking space. The overall goal of the development was to stay competitive in the dynamic world of banking, whilst also providing startups with the necessary investment conditions.
As such, BNP Paribas’ investment will aim to generate nearly €3.4 billion in savings between 2017 and 2019 alone, and will see the closure of several branches – in conjunction with this shift, the lender will also dramatically increase its spending on digital initiatives by a factor of 50% over the same period.
The closures do not necessarily correspond to a net decrease of jobs at BNP Paribas, as the bank is also looking to fortify its personnel with staff members of different skill sets, including an emphasis on data analysis. Ultimately, BNP Paribas is betting on a continuation of current trends and movements away from traditional banking services.
