BNP Paribas Fortis closes more than four out of ten branches, customers have to go to the post office

Yesterday at 06:58

Economy

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Bpost announced at the end of last year that it is selling its 50 percent stake in Bpost Bank to its banking partner BNP Paribas Fortis. This is now leading to a radical redesign of the banking landscape.

Bpost Bank will merge with BNP Paribas Fortis, which will replace Bpost Bank with banking through the 657 post offices. All post offices will have the green logo and the name of BNP Paribas Fortis.

BNP Paribas Fortis claims that this will give its customers 657 more branches, but that needs to be nuanced. The actual network of BNP Paribas Fortis, which was already scaled down from 789 to 386 offices between 2015 and the end of 2021, will be drastically reduced to 220 offices in the coming years. This is politically very sensitive, but BNP Paribas Fortis can maintain that it will remain present on the site through the post offices.

The trade unions of BNP Paribas Fortis were given access to the plans during an ordinary works council yesterday. There was also a works council at Bpost Bank yesterday, which will cease to exist as a separate entity.

No more consultancy services

The 220 branch offices that BNP Paribas Fortis will retain in the next phase will continue to offer full banking services. In the post offices, BNP Paribas Fortis customers will find only basic services. Customers will also be able to purchase current insurance products. But anything a bit complex won’t be there.

In some cases, it will be a step back for customers who already bank through post offices. It will no longer be possible to take out a home loan in the postal version of BNP Paribas Fortis. Consultancy services were also available in more than 130 Bpost offices, but those too are disappearing.

The Sutter

Banking services will be provided by postal staff who will also be responsible for the sale of stamps, registered mail and all kinds of postal services. Minister Petra De Sutter (Green) said earlier that she wants to use the post offices more and more to help people who cannot keep up with digital in all kinds of areas. In some areas, the post office could also sell SNCB products.

BNP Paribas Fortis must not only allow the post offices to be used for many services, Bpost has also said that it is also open to banking transactions of customers of other banks. For example, it remains possible to go to a post office and deposit money into a non-BNP Paribas Fortis bank account. Bpost is open to everyone for basic services. BNP Paribas Fortis only enjoys exclusivity when it comes to the sale of banking services, for example the opening of a new savings account.

No own staff

The staff of Bpost Bank will be transferred to BNP Paribas Fortis. This concerns 307 people, most of whom worked in central services. The bank promises to offer them a suitable job. BNP Paribas Fortis will not have a single employee of its own in the 657 new sales outlets. bpost gets a service fee of the bank, its size is unknown.

Bpost Bank’s 600,000 existing bank customersthe Banking through the post offices – but then under the banner of BNP Paribas Fortis – is also expected to be joined by a significant number of the major bank’s customers.

BNP Paribas Fortis is segmenting its customers and will write to its ‘basic customers’ with the message that they can now bank via post offices. Those who want to bank in the trusted full-fledged bank branch will be able to do so, but the price tag will be more expensive than in the post offices. 900,000 of the 3.4 million customers are expected to receive the message that their new bank branch is a post office.

Join us?

The 900,000 customers that BNP Paribas Fortis transfers to the post offices are also perhaps the least profitable. It remains to be seen how the post offices will deal with possible queues. Maybe it will be a number draw. Either way, there’s still some time to address the issue. The fact that the switch is delayed until 2024 would also have to do with necessary adjustments to the IT infrastructure.

It is expected that it will mainly enable BNP Paribas Fortis to close offices in rural areas without generating political resistance.

Banks have been scaling down their branch network for years as a result of digitization. In rural areas, bank offices are in danger of disappearing from the streets. Earlier this week it was announced that KBC Bank wants to put in a bus to provide customers with banking services after all. BNP Paribas Fortis can argue that it can offer more proximity than before, despite the downsizing of its own offices.

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