While COVID-19 continues to harm people in every corner of the world, international practices, such as trade, have the potential to produce a multitude of benefits and support economic recovery from the crisis. But trade depends on the availability of trade finance; today, more than ever before, cooperation between public and private sectors is required to both navigate out of the calamity and rejuvenate top pre-COVID-19 goals such as sustainability.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has a long history of investing in emerging markets, and its contributions are most constructive during crises. With the global economy reeling from COVID-19, the EBRD ramped up its efforts to be a partner to key players in the markets in which it invests, providing emergency financing and policy direction with a focus on fostering a green economy characterized by inclusion and digitalization.
The banking industry of Greece, along with the population, was put through its paces during the past decade, as financial troubles snowballed into a national crisis. One of Greece’s long-established traditional banks, National Bank of Greece, withstood the turmoil to emerge today as its country’s pioneer in digital innovation, leading its millions of customers into a future filled with hope for greater choice, efficiency and satisfaction in their banking experiences.
Change is as much a part of life as breath itself, and that’s true in banking. Already in the midst of transforming itself to meet the expectations of its increasingly digitally inclined customer base better, COVID-19 gave it a swift kick that has expedited those adjustments. As society transitions into the “new normal”, what are some of the positive changes in banking that will remain even as the virus wanes?
A global crisis is the litmus test of a bank’s fitness to serve its customers. In Belgium, bank-insurer KBC Group has proven throughout the COVID-19 upheaval that it is equipped to weather the storm and make lasting improvements that will outlive the pandemic into the future. Guided by its PEARL+ cultural philosophy and dedication to digitalisation, KBC continues to help all of its stakeholders realise their dreams while protecting them.
Belgium’s bank-insurer KBC Group has learned through experience that thinking differently and aiming for the next level is the surest way to meet its goals of enabling customers as they realize their dreams and protecting them as they progress. In our interview, CEO Johan Thijs explains how KBC is leading through one of the most challenging times the financial and insurance industries have experienced, with its focus trained on customers.
Nordea Bank Apb, based in Finland, has proved that banks can be their customers’ greatest financial support in times of crisis. Long committed to assisting customers to realize their dreams, Nordea has taken proactive steps to ensure that their clients continue to not only survive but thrive during the COVID-19 pandemic. In our interview, CEO Frank Vang-Jensen describes the bank’s resolute commitment to go one step further for its customers.
The best banking institutions in retail, commercial, private and investment banking are highlighted along with two outstanding CEOs from their regions.
Inspired by a wave of disruptive digital innovation, the last decade has witnessed perhaps the most rapid evolutionary change ever within the global banking system. Thanks mostly to a combination of greatly heightened expectations from banking customers and the sustained development of the financial-technology (fintech) sector,
By now, it is clear that the global coronavirus pandemic and the government-mandated lockdowns that have resulted have had an unprecedented impact on the global economy. But perhaps what has not been sufficiently illuminated to date is just how critical the situation has become for those groups most at risk from this downturn.