Close by and simple
Argenta is close to its customers. Simplicity is one of our priorities, including in our product range. For customers, this means that they are more than ever the central focus, with a service delivery that stems from their specific needs. Four propositions were created for this in Belgium: Family and Protection, Home, Wealth and Business, and two in the Netherlands: Home and Savings.
Argenta has been active in Belgium since 1956. Together, for the customer, in all simplicity. We want to use our product range in Belgium to help customers with all aspects of their financial management: banking, savings, insurance, borrowing and investment. Argenta now has nearly 1.5 million customers in Belgium. We have 387 branches serving, advising and assisting these customers.
After more than 25 years, what started out as a branch office in Antwerp, Argenta in the Netherlands has become an established player in the Dutch mortgage market with nearly 300,000 customers.
Branch network
We rely on our branches to give professional and personal advice. At the same time we support them with the necessary training and other knowledge-sharing opportunities.
Belgium
Total number of branches
351
Number of branches in Flanders
8
Number of branches in the Brussels Capital Region
28
Number of branches in Wallonia
Best branch network award
For several years in a row we have won the Spaargids.be ‘Best Branch Network’ award. While only managing to snatch a narrow victory in 2022, Argenta’s lead in 2023 was greater. Our branches scored an excellent 8.3 out of 10 for their commitment and expertise. Argenta also achieved the best score in all age categories.
Support for branches
Argenta Investment Day 2023
In early November our second Argenta Investment Day took place at the Queen Elisabeth Hall in Antwerp. We deliberately chose a venue close to Central Station so that branches from all over the country could easily travel by public transport and therefore with minimal CO2 emissions.
The day was fully focused on investment. The Argenta Asset Management fund managers explained how they approach the management of investments and what their vision is. There were interesting talks and afterwards there was time to chat to colleagues. Finally, an outside guest speaker took the participants on a tour of the fascinating world of Newtech and what this might mean in the future.
More than 800 staff from our branches and head office went home with a great many new and interesting insights into the current macroeconomic environment.
Conference Day 2023
On Monday 18 September our first Conference Day took place at the Antwerp Zoo under the motto: together, for our customers, in all simplicity. We welcomed no fewer than 1,100 office staff. A successful first event therefore.
We provided breakout rooms where those in attendance could share certain topics and insights with each other to further increase the quality for the customer. The power of a meaningful conversation, sustainability and customer focus were at the forefront. There were also workshops on collaborating with colleagues, the market today and tomorrow and the ultimate customer experience.
A fascinating day of inspiring sessions and an opportunity to connect with one another.
The Netherlands
In the Netherlands we work with 3,446 independent advisers who have the Argenta mortgage in their product range. These mortgage advisers are affiliated to a central organisation (franchise chain or service provider).
The Commerce team in the Netherlands is the contact point and the sparring partner for these independent distribution parties. The team also ensures that Argenta remains in clear view of the advisers and in the market.
independent advisers who have the Argenta mortgage in their product range
Banking
Argenta offers three packages (Green, silver, Gold) to individuals, in accordance with the customer needs and at fair, transparent prices. For businesses, there is the Pro package, which is designed on the same simple basis and meets the entrepreneur’s needs.
We can also provide extra services to customers with additional needs. We focus much of our attention on keen pricing of the paying packages: the package price is clear, there are no hidden charges.
Figures and achievements banking – Belgium
Current accounts:
-0,99
billion
Savings accounts:
-5,46
billion
Term deposits:
+6,94
billion
Current accounts balance
The current accounts balance fell by 986 million euros in 2023, from 7.05 to 6.06 billion euros. It is the first time since 2007 we have seen a fall in these credit balances. This is a result of continuing inflation and the rise in savings interest rates. Previously consumers often would not transfer money from their current to their savings account because of the low return on savings. But consumer spending has risen and consumers are again transferring money to traditional savings accounts and term products.
Savings accounts balance and term deposits
The savings accounts balance fell by 5.46 billion euros: from 30.72 to 25.27 billion euros. This outflow has happened at a time when the one-year government bond with a tax benefit was available.
The bank once again showed its great customer commitment by offering a 1-year term deposit during that period with the same net return as the state note. This was how we could keep the most money in Argenta. Apart from that exceptional week, there were finally opportunities for defensive investors again in 2023 to fix funds on attractive terms over relatively short maturities. We therefore saw many customers going down the term deposit route in 2023. As a result we saw the term deposits portfolio rise from 681 million at end 2022 to 7.62 billion euros.
Figures and achievement banking – Netherlands
The savings portfolio balance:
from 2.33 billion euros at end 2022 to:
2,59
billion euros at end 2023
The total savings portfolio in the Netherlands has grown with more than 11%. This increase is mainly a consequence of increased term deposit production. As a result of this growth and the shift from variable to fixed, we had 613 million in term deposits in the portfolio at end 2023. This growth is a consequence of successive interest rate rises, the associated pricing policy and the successful launch of a term deposit with a term of six months.
The increase on time deposits follows partly from attracting new savings and partly from the turnover of Internet savings accounts, which fell by more than 193 million euros as a result.
Sustainable Banking
Figures and achievements sustainable banking – Belgium
Accessible to all
Argenta considers it important for customers to understand their banking products and properly assess what they need in order to improve their financial health. We are therefore financially inclusive, by being accessible and lowering thresholds. We do this by allowing free use of Argenta internet banking and the Argenta app, for example. In this way, all our customers can easily manage their banking online on a computer, smartphone or other device
Account statement printers replaced by other solutions
As from 28 April 2023, Argenta customers have no longer been able to print their account statements at their Argenta branch. Argenta was one of the last banks still to have account statement printers. The printers were being used less and less every year. For this reason, Argenta decided not to replace them with new ones. We helped those customers who still used the printers to find alternative ways to check their statements and balance. Customers who still want their statements on paper can print them at home or have them sent by post for a small additional fee. Argenta still remains one of the cheapest in the market with this approach. Customers without access to digital banking can also receive their account statements monthly by post free of charge if they opt for a fee-paying Silver or Gold package.
Debit cards with Mastercard Debit
In September 2023 Argenta began issuing new debit cards with payment services Bancontact and Mastercard Debit. Now customers can also use their debit card outside Europe in a more extensive payment network. From now on, Argenta will be making the cards from recycled plastic and with a notch to help visually impaired customers recognise the card. 300,000 cards were renewed in 2023. The rest of the portfolio will follow over the next three years. Credit cards made from recycled plastic and with a notch will also be issued from 2024.
Cybersecurity measures
Security is another important aspect of sustainable banking. We cannot eliminate the threat of cybersecurity entirely, but we can create peace of mind by continuing to focus on our customers’ security and resilience. This duty of protection is also legally regulated, and Argenta, like all other European banks, is under the close supervision of the regulator. The measures we take are evaluated regularly by internal and external control bodies.
The management of cybersecurity risks was a top priority in 2023. The IT Security roadmap was rolled out further.
We make efforts both to increase vigilance among our staff and branches and to take measures to protect our customers.
Figures and achievements sustainable banking – Netherlands
IDIN integration in customer portal
In the Netherlands we have a customer portal where customers can manage their savings account. They can only gain access to the portal if we have their correct email address and telephone number. If these details are incorrect, the customer must provide the correct details on a change form they need to print, complete, sign and return. The details are updated in the systems manually and only then can the customer apply for or reset an account.
Thanks to the integration of iDIN in the login process, this now runs far more efficiently. IDIN is a digital identification method. In this way customers can log in quicker and more easily and no more paper change forms are needed for updating contact details. A sustainable choice therefore.
Insurance
Once again in 2023 Argenta was always ready to insure customer against all kinds of risks within the family environment, their residence or their mobility. On the one hand, Argenta Assuranties offers non-life and health insurance: auto, fire and family insurance and manages another portfolio of hospitalization insurance. On the other hand, it also offers life insurance, either for protection in the case of mortgage loans (outstanding balance insurance policies) or as a savings or investment formula.
Application and processing insurance
Customers can conclude an insurance policy through their local Argenta branch. As far as possible we process applications for new policies or changes to existing policies automatically. We call this STP (Straight Through Processing). In this way the customer has a personalised insurance proposal very quickly.
In 2023 more than 75% of the insurance applications were handled by STP. The aim is to increase this percentage further in the coming years.
insurance applications were handled by STP
Optimisation of the service insurance
In 2023 Argenta invested heavily to help insurance customers even more. For example:
- Provision of peace of mind through repair in kind in case of a fire insurance
- Simplification thanks to digital documents and notices of claim
- Improvement of the fire insurance terms
- Sustainable repair according to the latest energy standards in case of the Comfort module of the Insured Housing + insurance
- We have also introduced improvements for digital medical acceptance to make it easier for our customers. In certain insurance files customers must complete a questionnaire on the customer portal for digital medical acceptance. Some customers need help with this. We have therefore integrated the manual in the help function on the customer portal. It is now also added to the email with which customers are invited to register on the customer portal. Previously the manual was only available to branches and the branches had to pass them on to their customers themselves.
Figures and achievements insurance
+ 9,2 %
premium volume in 2023
The premium volume on 31 December rose by 15 million euros (+ 9.2%) to 179 million euros global income. All the product lines (motor, fire, liability and assistance insurances) contributed to this.
500,000
general insurance policies in 2023
More than 500,000 general insurance policies are in good hands at Argenta because our bank-insurers do not have peace of mind until our insurance customers have peace of mind.
+ 32,600
Life insurances in 2023
40% of them are outstanding balance insurance policies concluded for the purposes of mortgage loans. 60% of them are new investment insurance policies.
+ 239
miljoen euro
Branch 21 insurance policies in 2023
In addition, 355 million euros (end of interest rate guarantee period) is reinvested in Argenta Life Plan branch 21 on 1st of January 2023.
+ 140
miljoen euro
Branch 23 insurance policies in 2023
In addition, a further 53.4 million euros was transferred from Branch 21 to Branch 23.
Sustainable insurance
New ‘Zorgeloos hersteld’ service
Giving customers peace of mind was an important goal again in 2023. Argenta started the Leave it all to us service, in conjunction with Homeras, in December 2022. In this case the customer lets Argenta and Homeras arrange the repair and payment for this repair directly. Specifically, this involves repairs in case of water damage, leak detection, glass breakage, storm and theft-related damage. The launch of this new service was a great success: no fewer than 17% of all our fire damage files today go via Leave it all to us. Customers are very satisfied with this service, so Argenta wants to boost this percentage in the coming years.
Sustainable choices in the case of large claims files
We also put sustainability at the forefront when we intervene in large claims files as insurer. If a customer’s home is completely destroyed, for example, he can rebuild it completely thanks to his fire insurance. Depending on the age of the property, there is a good chance that the government has in the meantime imposed new, stricter building standards. This often comes with a substantial price tag attached. Examples include storm drains, insulation standards or renewable energy requirements. Thanks to the Comfort module of the Insured Housing and Insured Housing + insurance, the customer is automatically insured for these additional costs.
Investment
Anyone investing with Argenta can choose from a complete and versatile investment product range that is at the same time simple and transparent. Customers invest in one of the five Argenta core funds, in line with their risk profile and needs. They can additionally add accent funds according to their preferences.
Figures and achievements investment
Gross production in non-tax investment funds and investment-linked insurance:
1,07
billion euros in 2023
2023 was a volatile stock market year. Returns were only made in November and December, following the decision by the Fed not to raise the policy interest rate any further. The months before were accompanied by uncertainty about interest rates and recession, etc.
Fiscal investment portfolio changes
- Customers invest 260 million euros in pension and long-term savings funds in 2023.
- For the ARPE pension savings funds (defensive) this is in line with 2022. The total gross realisation (including transfers) of 255 million euros is actually higher than the 240 million of last year.
- The total portfolio under management at end 2023 is 3.07 billion euros.
- In 2023 Branch 23 Long Term was also launched as an investment option in Argenta Flexx long-term savings. This immediately resulted in 3,812 new contracts for an amount of 5 million euros. In addition, around 3 million was switched from Branch 21 and reserves were also allocated (such as development of the return), so the reserve in Branch 23 Long Term is now 8.5 million.
Changes in production figures
Uncertainty surrounding interest rates and recession, etc, had an impact on our investment customers. From April, new production slows down, coinciding with the rediscovery of fixed income products. In the following months, we continue to grow slightly. In the months that followed we remained at that lower level. Total production eventually came out at 1.07 billion euros.
Funds under management
On 31 December 2023 Argenta Asset Management and Arvestar Asset Management had 14.9 billion euros under management. This is the consequence of the positive net production and the revival of the stock markets in recent months. Since the former partner funds have been successfully converted, the funds under management there fell further to 128 million euros.
Core and accent funds
Within the Argenta Portfolio, we see far and away the largest inflow in Argenta Portfolio Neutral (50% of the production), followed by Argenta Portfolio Dynamic (30%) and Argenta Portfolio Defensive (11%). We see the same ratios for the insurance funds. Nor were there any shifts in the thematic and sustainable funds either. The greatest inflow was into Next Gen Technology and Responsible Utilities.
Argenta Invest Plan
For a number of years now Argenta customers have been able to invest smaller amounts (from 25 euros) automatically through the Argenta Invest Plan (AIP). As in previous years, a great many AIPs were opened in 2023: on average 1,700 per month, 40% digitally through the Argenta app. All the AIPs together are now good for an average monthly inflow of more than 9 million euros.
Sustainable investment
Argenta starts 2023 with exclusively sustainable investment funds in its investment product range. We impose minimum sustainability limits on our funds, which we amply exceed. In this way we pay attention to the social impact of each euro invested.
For many years now there has been no room for unethical investments in Argenta’s investment policy:
- All our investment funds are subject to a strict exclusion list of controversial and unethical companies in which no investments may be made.
- In addition, customers can opt for 100% sustainable accent funds, the Argenta Responsible funds.
- Argenta uses the legal reporting framework, as defined by the Sustainability Financial Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). On the basis of this standardised framework, customers can evaluate and compare the sustainability of financial institutions. In this way they can make conscious choices.
Figures and achievements sustainable investment
- Since 2023 all our funds have been sustainable, as defined by the Sustainability Financial Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).
- In total 7.5 billion euros were invested in 2023 with sustainable objectives. This means that the funds were invested in shares and bonds of issuers that are sustainable. The most sustainable funds, the Article 9 funds, had 947 million euros in assets under management at end 2023. The funds concerned are the Argenta Fund Responsible Growth, Responsible Growth Defensive, Responsible Materials, Responsible Utilities.
- Argenta Asset Management made 100 million euros of new investments in Green Bonds.
- Argenta Asset Management chose proxy voting and explicitly and carefully considered the sustainable voting policy of Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS). This focuses not only on the usual governance issues, but also on ecological and social values. In 2023 the funds (their representatives) voted for the first time at 1,664 General Meetings (GM) at 575 companies in total.
- Customers will be better informed of both the negative and the positive impact of their investments on the environment and society. We also want to inform them better in the future about which activities are ecologically sustainable according to the European Taxonomy definition.
Improving customer experience
In 2023 we took a great many steps to further optimise the customer experience.
New design of investment screens app
We updated the design of the investment screens in the Argenta app. We therefore met the expectations of our investors to see their investments at a glance and more detailed information with just a few clicks. We also added a number of parameters that give the customer further insight into his investments. Customers now gain greater insight into their investment funds by consulting the investment fund’s information sheet through the app.
Investment portfolio summary
In June 2023 we launched the investment portfolio summary. This is a visually attractive summary of all banking, life insurance and tax products, supplemented with amounts and returns. It gives customers a clear picture of their portfolio’s situation. They can now see the total return and the return since 1 January for their investment products. For the tax products they can see the amount deposited and the scope they still have up to the tax maximum. This detailed and uniform summary also supports the customer experience in branch. It was used more than 19,000 times by branches in 2023: on average around 350 summaries were viewed per day and in the last quarter there were even outliers up to almost 800 per day.
Automatic process for insurance funds
In the summer of 2023 the STP process (STP = Straight Through Process = automatic processing) was launched in the branches for insurance funds. We had already done this for the banking funds in 2022. STP means that orders can be processed automatically without human intervention. Previously the transaction numbers still had to be entered, but thanks to STP, orders are executed automatically. In November STP was also introduced for the investment portfolio Argenta Life Plan and Argenta-Flexx. This makes the process easier for our branches and reduces the chance of human error.
Faster handling of pension savings transfers
We have significantly improved our service for incoming transfers for pension savings. With the launch of an automated process these transfers are now handled much faster. The history of previous deposits can also be updated much faster.
Borrowing
Lending remains the core of the Argenta product range. As a bank Argenta fulfils a social role in the context of the 2050 climate objectives and in support of families and private individuals in their housing needs. Sustainable living and sustainable mobility are becoming increasingly important for our customers: They prefer a personalised approach supported by local branch managers.
Figures and achievements borrowing – Belgium
loans to Belgian families
11.341 mortgage loans
11.526 consumer loans
Mortgages
The number of mortgage loans fell by 37% compared to 2022. This is the consequence of the sharp rise in interest rates, followed by a sharp drop in the demand for credit throughout the Belgian market.
We encourage our branch managers to raise renovation and sustainability in every customer conversation. We focus on the importance of energy-efficient renovations, their financial impact for the customer and the different financing options that Argenta has to offer.
In 2023 Argenta achieved 1.9 billion euros of residential loans, including 29 million euros of internal refinancing. This figure is 42% down on 2022. The demand for loans is falling sharply in the Belgian market and this is reflected in Argenta’s production volumes.
In 2023 Argenta's market share of residential loan production was 5.9%. This is a decline of 0.7% compared with 2022. The residential loans portfolio grew in 2023 in line with the market. Growth was 2.1% compared with market growth of 2.3%. In absolute figures, this means growth of 383 million euros and at end 2023 a residential loans portfolio of 18.27 billion euros. The portfolio market share remains stable at 6,6%.
Instalment loans
The number of customers opting for a consumer loan remained the same as in 2022. The demand for financing for sustainable and other renovations remains high.
In 2023 Argenta granted approximately 182 million euros of instalment loans. This is much the same as in 2022. The full portfolio increased by a further 11% to around 427 million euros.
Figures and achievements borrowing – Netherlands
families assisted with a financing need
Argenta Nederland focuses primarily on residential loans. 2023 was no exception.
In 2023 we helped almost 9,000 families buy a new home, to refinance their existing mortgage or to finance a home improvement.
This way, Argenta Nederland advanced 2.68 billion euros in residential loans. Mortgage production in 2023 was reasonably constant throughout the year. Our share of NHG (Dutch National Mortgage Guarantee) mortgages was substantially higher than expected: more than 50% were NHG. With the new production the portfolio rose to 20.61 billion euros (including building deposits). This increases the portfolio market share from 2.5% to 2.6% (as of September 2023).
Sustainable lending
General insights
Sustainable living is becoming increasingly important for our customers:
- We see growing interest in properties with A and B energy labels. 36% of the volume of lending goes towards the financing of such properties. This is an increase compared with previous years.
- The demand for renovating existing, less sustainable properties is also increasing. 60% of the financed renovations were renovations of a sustainable nature, such as insulation, solar panels or energy-efficient heating. We expect the share of renovations will only increase in the coming years as a result of the climate objectives of the Belgian authorities.
Likewise in the area of mobility four out of ten customers are already opting for a sustainable solution, such as a hybrid or electric vehicle or an electric bicycle. By ‘sustainable’ we mean vehicles with a maximum CO₂ emission of 50 grams per kilometre (in line with the Taxonomy Regulation).
Figures and achievements sustainable lending – Belgium
We encourage our branch managers to raise renovation and sustainability in every customer conversation. We focus on the importance of energy-efficient renovations, their financial impact for the customer and the different financing options Argenta has to offer. We took major steps in 2023 to work more simply and more efficiently in this regard:
- We are constantly improving the systems and processes, reducing the processing time of loan decisions. For example, we continued to develop automated mortgage and consumer loan decisions: – The existing automated processes were refined and optimised. Some of the early repayments are now also processed automatically. – In 2022 we improved the process for handling non-contractual amendments (changes). These improvements bore fruit in 2023. There were substantially more change requests, in part due to the rising interest rate environment, but Argenta succeeded in halving the processing time of a change request through to the decision from ten to five bank working days. – More branches gained access to the automated decision-making process.
- We continued to focus on capturing EPC data and certificates of properties for our loan portfolio. This gives us an idea of the sustainability of our entire loan portfolio.
- We have taken preparatory steps to give customers and branches a better view of the impact of renovations and to support customers better in choosing finance for sustainable renovations.
As in previous years, we accepted our responsibility to help families in financial difficulty. With curative management we have chosen a personal approach to provide these customers with a solution while at the same time keeping the risk for the bank to a minimum. We also continued to refine the ‘Early Warning Signals’ so that we can proactively detect credit risk signals.
These initiatives are being integrated into Argenta’s general sustainability policy, on which we will continue to focus in 2024.
Figures and achievements sustainable lending – Netherlands
- With the Argenta Mortgage Check we help customers to gain a view of the affordability of their mortgage at important times, such as retirement or when tax relief ends.
- We inform mortgage customers in general about opportunities to enhance the energy efficiency of their home and the financing available.
- For our largest distribution partner and Dutch market leader ‘De Hypotheker’, we launched the ‘fast lane’, an accelerated underwriting process where we give the customer a final decision within 24 hours. This gives customers certainty about their mortgage application faster.