Most of us have heard of the quote “Banking is necessary. Banks are not.” by Bill Gates. It is becoming increasingly important to be innovative and potentially disruptive through technological advancements. Industries revolve around being consumer-centric, and any lag in following consumer trends, from the business-perspective, can be troubling. The banking sector is no different. Banks are argued to become irrelevant as we move to a digitised world and landscape. Due to this, banks have a duty to diversify and develop adjacent value propositions that also address non-core needs; to create an overall platform that users enjoy or reach for, beyond the traditional banking needs.
KBC Group N.V. is a Belgian multi-channel universal bank-insurer that operate in Belgium, Ireland, Central Europe, and South-East Asia (KBC, 2020). They are a forerunner and frontline player when it comes to innovating and expanding services targeted towards consumers. Currently, a strong focus has been placed on AI and data driven analyses to allow for “fast decision making-processes” (Huybrecht, 2020). KBC dove into their digital strategy back in 2017 with a budget of 1.5 billion euros (Hope, 2020).
KBC has always been fast with hopping on the bandwagon. Back in 2018, it was the first European Bank allowing users with Alexa the ability to use speech technology to organize banking affairs or check their balance (Huybrecht, 2018).
‘In light of the fast-changing customer expectations, we reassessed our group’s ‘More of the same, but differently’ strategy at the end of 2019 and identified where our focus should lie in the years ahead. With ‘Differently: the Next Level’, we’re continuing down our chosen route, but are now shifting up a gear. – Johan Thijs, CEO of KBC Group
Next, we have “Kate”. Kate was announced past June, this year, as the first AI powered personal digital assistant for clients. It acts as a voice operated smartphone application with a full-rounded experience: “organize banking affairs…., retrieve personal documents, make investment suggestions and even buy and pay for a train ticket” (Hope, 2020). Kate not only performs the simple banking transfers, but also provides smart suggestions such as switching energy provider (there may be one that is 40euros cheaper than what you are paying) (Hope, 2020). This means Kate will join the current list of AI assistants such as Alexa by Amazon, Google Home, and Siri (mbs.news, 2020). MbS News (2020) has even gone as far as suggesting that KBC “claims a place under the sun next to Google and Amazon”.
The exciting thing about Kate is, as outlined, it will go beyond your typical banking or financing application. Not only is it smart and AI-powered, it will we able to help with any type of question ranging from “switching energy supplier to arranging a hospital check-in with your insurer” (mbs.news, 2020). Essentially it aims to be a “service platform of which banking services is one of the modules” (mbs.news, 2020).
Platforms are vastly replacing product business models and will continute to do so. The future of any company lies in their digital strategy and the ability to innovate. This is how giants such as Apple, Amazon, and Google have thrived. KBC, a (mere?) Belgian bank, has now jumped on this trend too. I wonder what will be next?
Kate will be launched in November for personal clients and will follow later on for business clients.
References:
Hope, A., 2020. KBC clients get to know Kate, their new digital assistant. BrusselsTimes, 21 June.
Huybrecht, V., 2018. Discover virtual assistant Alexa and The Virtual Space at KBC. [Online]
Available at: https://newsroom.kbc.com/discover-virtual-assistant-alexa-and-the-virtual-space-at-kbc
Huybrecht, V., 2020. KBC shifts digital transformation and customer experience up a gear: ‘Differently: the Next Level’. [Online]
Available at: https://newsroom.kbc.com/kbc-shifts-digital-transformation-and-customer-experience-up-a-gear-differently-the-next-level
[Accessed 2020].
KBC, 2020. KBC. s.l.:s.n.
mbs.news, 2020. KBC’s Kate claims a place under the sun next to Google and Amazon. MBS.News, 19 June.
