Faced with the arrival of new players on the market, traditional banks have largely embarked on their digital conversion. This strategy seems to be bearing fruit, as they are gradually catching up with first-generation online banks and even neo-banks.
Most network banks offer remote account opening
According to D-Rating's latest Barometer on the digital performance of French banks, at the end of 2019, 11 neobanks totaled 6.1 million customers (up 43% in one year), compared with 5.5 million for the 7 online banks observed. Traditional banks are gradually catching up, thanks to aggressive pricing policies, historically low interest rates and the quality of the customer experience offered by their websites and apps. Today, 68% of banks offer their customers a digital service. The rating agency also points out that 61% of the historical players surveyed provide access to a consumer credit offer, compared with 16% in 2017.
BNP Paribas tops the D-Rating ranking
As was the case last year, BNP Paribas came out on top thanks to its online bank Hello Bank. It is the only bank to achieve a BBB+ rating, and is therefore approaching "digital performer" status, according to D-Rating. Two other groups saw their scores improve in 2019: BPCE and Crédit Agricole (BBB). The study highlights that the customer experience performance of these three banks exceeds the best neobank standards in some respects.
The Société Générale Group posted a stable score (BBB-). The bank was penalized by Crédit du Nord's poor digital performance. Arkéa received the same rating due to the unreliability of its account opening process. On the other hand, Crédit Mutuel de Bretagne's website stood out in terms of Cybersecurity. Finally, La Banque Postale remained stable (BB+), with a slightly below-average performance in terms of digital proposition and transformation dynamics.
Three banks saw their digital performance drop in 2019. For ING France (BBB), the independent rating agency noted a drop in customer experience performance, albeit with a strong internal transformation drive. Crédit Mutuel and HSBC (BB) were also affected.
D-Rating has identified several issues that banks will need to incorporate into their transformation plans from 2020 onwards. These include the commercial launch of 5G, which will accentuate the shift in usage towards mobile, advances in AI, the development of voice assistants on smartphones and tablets, the introduction of new authentication methods and public policies in favor of sustainable development.