In the spotlight
Making our customers and staff resilient. That’s our goal. That’s what we work on. Every single day. In different ways. From different perspectives. How we did this in 2023? Discover the projects and initiatives we are most proud of.
The customer’s shoes fit even better thanks to Customer Centre Stage
The customer takes centre stage at Argenta. Argenta staff put themselves in their customer’s shoes in everything they do. Even if this customer is an Argenta branch or a colleague. This is how we ensure that everyone feels Argenta works in a straightforward and price-conscious manner in every interaction, that we make sustainable choices and that we are a trusted partner. It is no coincidence that Argenta has an NPS rating of +47.
However, putting yourself in your customer’s shoes is not always straightforward. There are head office staff for example who have little or no direct contact with customers. It is more difficult for them to know the mind of the customer. That’s why our customer experience experts have developed a Customer Centre Stage programme with activities to make head office staff more aware of the minds of our customers.
Here are a few examples of these activities:
- Head office staff can do a branch internship. They spend a few days seeing what goes on in an Argenta branch, who the customers are who come in, what these customers ask, expect and need.
- They can also listen in at the contact centre. Here they can hear at first hand the questions, problems and concerns that cause our customers to call.
- On 14 June 2023 head office staff were able to speed date with customers for the first time. A unique opportunity to meet customers in person, to talk about what they expect from Argenta and to listen to what makes them satisfied or dissatisfied. During this speed dating customers confirmed that our branches and their personal approach are hugely important to them. We must keep working on personal contact, confidential advice and proximity. Customers also said they liked meeting head office staff and finding out how many enthusiastic and proud people there are working behind the scenes.
A sustainable head office and more and more sustainable branch buildings
We encourage our customers to make sustainable choices, for example to make their homes more energy-efficient. But how sustainable are our own workplaces?
Argenta built a new, sustainable head office a few years ago. Our branch managers are also increasingly choosing sustainable refurbishment of their office space or relocation to a sustainable building. This is not always straightforward, but any sustainable choice, however small, is an excellent choice.
Three sustainable branch projects in the spotlight:
Support and information for branches and customers
In the future we want to provide even more support from head office for projects of this kind. We want to support branch managers who want to aim for sustainability when building or renovating their premises. The need to be able to seek advice, share best practices and find help if they run into difficulty.
Our customers are also facing sustainable renovation challenges. They are faced with huge amounts of information and it is not always easy for them to find information that is relevant and correct. So we point them towards the latest government information on subsidies and obligations. We also keep making them aware of the importance of sustainable renovation and explaining how they too can benefit from this.
Ladies first at the Women & Finance event
The financial sector has always been very much a man’s world. In Belgium for example only 25% of senior management in the financial sector are women. Argenta does better: three of our seven executive committee members are women. But there is still a long way to go. Argenta wants to make an active contribution to gender equality in the sector.
Argenta Nederland: 3,400 intermediaries, predominantly male, the female consultants stand out
The Netherlands works with ‘intermediaries’: mortgage brokers who recommend mortgage loans from different providers to their clients. Of the 3,400 intermediaries in the Netherlands who sell Argenta mortgage loans, only a very small minority are women.
Ine Cheung is an account manager at Argenta Nederland. She is the link between Argenta and all the intermediaries. She maintains close contact with them and supports them where necessary. She noticed there were so few female intermediaries, even though there are really quite a lot of women employed in the banking sector. There are also many female independent branch managers in Belgium. But the Dutch market works differently. So Ine had the idea of organising an event for female intermediaries. She wanted to create a platform to put female business owners in the spotlight and to support them. This is how the Women & Finance event came about, which she organized together with her colleagues Shalini Soekhai en Jetty Van Kooij.
Inspiration and connectedness
The launch event took place at the Dutch Mortgage Guarantee head office in Utrecht. A magnificent, centrally located venue that all the intermediaries know.
Ine invited 25 female intermediaries. All mothers who have set up in business for themselves and who have experienced a certain isolation as an independent businesswoman in a man’s world. By coming together they immediately felt connected to each other. Some had just started their business, others already had more experience. Now they know Ine and each other, they can more easily seek advice and support from one another.
It was clear they had no need of substantive advice or support in terms of professional knowledge: they had enough expertise. What they most yearned for was inspiration for their entrepreneurship and connectedness.
The businesswomen were presented with a bottle of freshly pressed apple juice from a Belgian orchard to take home with them. A more sustainable business gift than yet another notepad and pen.
There were many enthusiastic reactions after the event and Ine herself found it a positive experience. She therefore wants to plan more initiatives for female employees in the financial world and not just for businesswomen.
Better understanding of phishing thanks to detailed research
Phishing is far from being a new phenomenon these days. Criminals pose online as your bank, the government or a parcel delivery firm and try to obtain confidential information from you. They are becoming increasingly professional. So it’s a case of all hands on deck to protect our customers as well as we can and to inform them to make them resilient to phishing. Argenta is combating phishing in different areas. We are investing heavily in robust IT systems and security, but we are looking beyond that.
Research into phishing
Despite all the precautions, customers are still regularly being misled by smart criminals and giving away confidential information. This is why we did a study about phishing this year, in collaboration with Mastercard Advisors and market research agency Ipsos. Our aim was to gain a better understanding of what Belgians know about phishing, what their experience is of phishing and how susceptible they themselves believe they are to phishing.
We surveyed 1,000 consumers and conducted 12 in-depth interviews. The results will guide our communication and awareness-making initiatives.
These are the most striking results:
- Most Belgians are well aware of phishing and digital fraud, but their knowledge is somewhat superficial. But a small number of Belgians are very well informed.
- Nearly all Belgians regularly face different forms of phishing.
- Belgians have great self-confidence when it comes to recognising and preventing phishing. Young people mainly think older people are susceptible to phishing. Older people on the other hand tend to feel it can happen to anyone.
- Young people are often more active digitally than the rest of the population and therefore more often come into contact with other forms of digital fraud, such as fraud via social media or attempts to recruit them as money mules.
- Consumers want to be informed about fraud in an educational, informative manner.
- Greed, shame, fear of missing out (FOMO – fear of missing out), recklessness and inattention are the main reasons people fall victim to phishing. Criminals of course take advantage of this: they promise you an extra bonus or keep going on about a particular offer only being available for a short time.
Set up security in the app? Simple on one screen
We do everything we can to ensure our customers can bank safely and easily and find all the information and tools they need to do so. This year for example we have brought a number of functionalities together in the Argenta app in a security centre. Customers can now change their limits in one place, see which mobile devices the Argenta app has been installed on and say whether they want to receive notifications for every login attempt in the Argenta app or Argenta internet banking. With this change customers can find their way to these security settings more easily.
App and internet banking changes for greater simplicity and ease of use
The Argenta app is doing well. Users praise its ease of use and simplicity. In 2023 we continued to optimise the app in this regard:
- Customers who invest with Argenta have long been asking for a clearer and more accessible view of their investments. We asked those customers what is really important to them. The start screen used to show the cards linked to their current accounts as standard. But it seems customers who invest with Argenta would prefer to see their investments on the start screen rather than their payment cards. So we changed it.
- We have also made the app easier to personalise. You can now group accounts and give them a different name.
- You can also make deposits more easily and monitor the progress of your investments. You can easily switch between displaying the return in per cent or euros.
It is also important for the Argenta app and Argenta internet banking to be accessible to all Argenta customers. We continue to work on this in 2024. We are gradually converting the main screens to more accessible screens. We are basing this on the WCA (Web Content Accessibility) Guidelines. Some colour contrasts in our house style for example are hard for the visually impaired to read. Designers now take account of accessibility and visibility in the design of new flows right from the outset.
This is how we ensure all of our customers can manage their banking affairs with the Argenta app and Argenta internet banking.
Argenta teams and nonprofit organisations join forces
For the second year in a row Argenta took part in Engage4’s Connected Learning process. This time with two teams of five members of Argenta staff. In this process companies from the profit sector are linked to organisations from the nonprofit sector. Company staff join forces with nonprofit organisation staff to find a solution to a specific challenge with which the nonprofit organisation is currently wrestling.
The two Argenta teams were linked with the nonprofit organisations Casa Di Mauro and Blijdorp:
- Casa Di Mauro is a small-scale living farm in Kontich that works for people with a disability.
- From its base in Buggenhout, Blijdorp provides support to children, young people and adults with a disability.
They worked on two projects:
- The Casa Di Mauro annual plan - The staff at Casa Di Mauro wanted to open their living farm in the holidays too, but with the existing budgets and the existing team. Following an intensive period of collaboration with the Argenta team, they eventually produced a detailed annual plan for 2024. All the staff were efficiently scheduled so that the nonprofit organisation can open for visitors for 46 weeks instead of 37.
- Connectedness of the Blijdorp staff - Blijdorp wanted to promote the sense of community of the staff at different locations. In a number of workshops the Argenta team, together with the group counsellors and team leaders, looked at what is going well and what can be made even better in their collaboration.
The Engage4 Connected Learning process is in keeping with Argenta’s DNA. Being considerate and helping people to become more resilient lies at the heart of our organisation. Thanks to this process we can diversify our social engagement and accept our responsibility on the basis of our purpose.
Data talent boot camp
At Argenta you are not selected for a job but a career. This is how we pursue a lasting relationship with our staff. Last year Argenta launched a new concept in response to the struggle for data profiles in the labour market. Data talent can start at Argenta with a boot camp supervised by experienced colleagues. They are immersed in a robust mix of theory and practice concerning data, under the supervision of a godfather or godmother and a mentor. In short, an in-depth learning process, including intensive coaching.
What does the process look like?
- Newly appointed data professionals are not immediately selected for a specific job but for a full data career, with the focus on growth and development. They start with an individual training plan and receive highly coveted membership of the Communities of Practice - data career. This is where staff come together to broaden their knowledge and share experiences. Even if they have a few years on the clock.
- The data talent are presented with some valuable cases they are allowed to work out. This allows them to apply the knowledge they have acquired within a specific field and to also master the data function in practice.
- After the learning process the data talent go to the right place in the organisation. We use a knowledge and interests matrix as a basis for creating an individual training plan. Each data talent undergoes between two and four months’ training to master the theory of the function.
General data and analysis development offer
Data is indispensable today. It helps us get to know our customers better, assess what customers need and take decisions from which our customers benefit. Aiming for data talent and general knowledge of data is therefore a logical choice.
We want to make Argenta data-driven. It is therefore important for all staff to have confidence in data and a basic skill to work with it. This is why we also provide a comprehensive data and analysis development offer for all staff who do not necessarily aspire to a data function but are exploring the data world.