Belfius was not actually planning to launch a specific product in the battle for the government bond billions, as Olivier Onclin, responsible for retail banking among other things, made clear during a press conference. The bank-insurer relied on its own range of savings and investment possibilities, such as savings certificates, bonds, branch 21 life insurances and so on.
But now Belfius is coming up with its own initiative, a term account with a term of six months or one year and a gross interest rate of 3.80 percent. “It was a difficult decision, but we had to respond to the events on the market,” says Onclin. For example, competitor ING launched a term account earlier this week with a gross interest rate of up to 4 percent.
“It was a difficult decision, but we had to respond to market events”
Olivier Onclin
Belfius
Defensive action
Belfius CEO Marc Raisière said it was a “defensive action”, mainly to prevent money from flowing out. Subscriptions can be made from 2 September; only “fresh money” is eligible. This is money that was not yet in the accounts on Thursday, such as the government bond money that will be released next Wednesday.
Belfius is launching a second new product on Monday, the ‘Belfius BeLoved bond’. This is a one-year bond with a fixed interest rate (of 3.10 percent). What is special about it is that it is a ‘social bond’: the proceeds are used to (re)finance loans and investments in schools, hospitals and residential care centres.
A year ago, more than half a million people subscribed to a one-year government bond, good for a record amount of 21.896 billion euros. That money will be released within a few days, plus the interest of 2.81 percent net: all together more than 22.5 billion euros.
Belfius reopens offices without appointment
Belfius customers will once again be able to enter the bank office more easily without an appointment. In the cities, the offices will be open every day of the week, elsewhere this will be an average of two days a week. The bank-insurer announced this on Friday.
“We noticed that customer satisfaction was under pressure, partly due to the accessibility problem,” said Olivier Onclin, who is responsible for retail banking at Belfius, during a press conference. “That is why we are making a clear commitment” to increase accessibility. In concrete terms, the Belfius bank branches in the cities – around 150 of the 450 branches – will be freely accessible every working day from September and without an appointment. In the other branches, this will be an average of twice a week from January 2025.
Crown
“This is exceptional,” said Belfius CEO Marc Raisière. “Since corona, everyone has been working more and more by appointment.” For Belfius, it also means an additional investment, because “people have to be present in the offices every day, while on some days they may hardly see a customer.” Belfius also promises that there will be a ‘cashless machine’ in every office, where customers can carry out transactions such as transfers, checking their balance, etc.
The bank-insurer is also investing in other contact options for customers, such as via the app or by phone. For example, the number of employees of the telephone contact center will be increased by a fifth. Customers who have Belfius as their main bank will be able to ask to be called back within half an hour.