BNP Paribas aims to capitalise on growing demand for mobile banking services with the launch of the first pan-European bank dedicated to mobile and online customers.
France’s biggest bank by assets is targeting 500,000 customers in five years for the start-up, set to be branded Hello Bank.
The idea is a key plank in BNP’s 2014-2016 development plan, to be unveiled towards the end of this year, with other priorities set to include further expansion in the US – the bank’s second biggest market by revenues – and Asia. Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, chief executive, recently embarked on a three-year €2 billion cost-cutting plan, in which digitalisation plays a key role.
France and Spain have among the highest demand in Europe for online banking services with more than one in 10 mobile phone subscribers using their mobile to access banking.
But a survey published last month by Forrester Research identified JPMorgan Chase and La Caixa, respectively, the US and Spanish banks, as leaders in terms of mobile banking services. – Copyright The Financial Times 2013
