Agefi Luxembourg - décembre 2024

Décembre 2024 43 AGEFI Luxembourg Informatique financière L e 19 novembre 2024, laHouse of Startups, enpartenariat avec Baloise, a organisé un Hackathon dédié à l’intelligence artificielle qui a réuni des esprits innovants pour transformer le sec- teur de l’assurance. Cet événe- ment, marqué par la créativité et la collaboration, avait une ambition claire : exploiter l’IApour relever des défis concrets. Durant cette journée, les participants ont conçu des solutions visant à optimiser les processus internes, renforcer les relations clients et recentrer les équipes sur des tâchesstratégiques.CeHackathonamon- tré que l’IA est un levier essentiel pour répondre aux enjeux actuels, redéfinir les pratiques métier et améliorer la compéti- tivité des entreprises. Le Hackathon a réuni des talents venus dedivershorizons,chacunapportantune perspective unique. Des experts du sec- teurauxdéveloppeursenpassantpardes innovateurs, la diversité des participants aenrichi lesdiscussions et permis l’émer- gence d’idées à fort impact. Accompagnéspardescoachsexpérimen- tés, les équipes ont travaillé intensément pour imaginer des solutions originales et pertinentes. Parmilesprojetsproposés,certainssesont particulièrement démarqués par leur potentiel de transformation. L’un des concepts gagnants portait sur l’automati- sation intelligente de la gestion des sinis- tres, tandis qu’un autre explorait l’utilisa- tion de l’IA pour offrir des expériences clients ultra-personnalisées. Ces projets, qui combinent innovation technologique et compréhension des besoins métiers, reflètent l’engagement de tous les partici- pants à repousser les limites dupossible. Plus qu’un simple Hackathon, cet évé- nement s’inscrit dans une vision straté- gique visant à faire du Luxembourg un pôle d’innovation enEurope. En organi- sant ce type d’initiatives, la House of Startups confirme son rôle moteur dans l’écosystème économique et entrepre- neurial du pays. Les idées générées lors de ce Hackathon ont non seulement permis de répondre aux problématiques actuelles, mais elles ouvrent également la voie à des trans- formations plus larges, tant au niveau des entreprises que de la société : elles renforcent l’attractivité des entreprises et favorisent leur évolution face aux enjeux de demain. Enfin, ce Hackathon IA a exploité avec finesse la puissance de l’intelligence col- lective. Lorsque des experts, des innova- teurs et des leaders travaillent ensemble avecunevisionpartagée,dessolutionsins- pirantes et concrètes émergent, prêtes à façonner l’avenir des entreprises. Source : House of Startups Hackathon IA : Imaginer l’entreprise de demain ©HouseofStartups By François BADE, Partner, Pascal MARTINO, Partner & Ruben VAZ, Senior Manager, Deloitte Luxembourg D igitalmaturity is fre- quently celebrated as a transformativemilestone for the banking industry, represen- ting a shift toward seamless, custo- mer-focused services enabledby advanced technology.While Luxembourg iswidely recognized as a global financial hub, its retail banking sector continues to en- counter significant challenges in its digital transformation journey and in enhancing the range of functio- nalities offered to customers. Over the past years, flagship retail bank- ing institutions have made incremental progresses in improving their digital of- ferings. These include advancements in mobile apps, online banking platforms, customer-friendly interfaces, and thede- velopment of features like chatbots, in- stant payments, streamlined (thoughnot fully digitalized) account opening processes, and investment services through digital channels. However, the latestDeloitte study, “ Dig- ital Banking Maturity 2024 ” reveals that these efforts have fallen short of bridging the gap with worldwide banks recog- nized as “Digital Champions” or even reaching the worldwide average. Digital BankingMaturity 2024 The “ Digital Banking Maturity 2024 ” study (prepared every two years) is the world’s largest digital banking bench- mark, analyzing 349 banks across 44 countries on all continents. It evaluates over 1,000 functionalities, mapping the entire customer journey — from infor- mation gathering and account opening to customer onboarding, day-to-day banking, and non-banking services — while covering three channels: public websites, internet, andmobile banking. Overthepasttwoyears,Luxembourghas experiencedadeclineinitsglobalranking fordigitalbankingmaturity.Accordingto Deloittestudy,in2024Luxembourgranks 30th out of 44 countries, a drop from its 25thpositionin2022.Thecountryhasalso been downgraded to the “Digital Late- comers” group (the lowest of four cate- gories), whereas two years ago, it was classified as a “DigitalAdopter.” As a result, over the past two years, the digital maturity gap between Luxem- bourg’s retail banks (34%) and the worldwide average (41%) has widened. This gap is evenmorepronouncedwhen compared to neighboring countries, in- cluding the Netherlands (45%), France (45%), andGermany (40%). Banks in Luxembourg must also con- sider the country’s unique population dynamics, with nearly 47% of residents being foreigners, mainly from Portugal, France, Italy, Belgium, and Germany, and over 200,000 cross-border workers commutingdaily. This diversity leads to varying banking preferences and expec- tations, making banks compete not only with each other but also with digital banks and financial institutions in cus- tomers’ home countries. Key areas of customer engagement to be prioritized Banks inLuxembourgmust identifyand focus on the most crucial stages of their customers’ journey, addressing keymo- ments that reinforce satisfaction, engage- ment, and loyalty. Account opening Banks have been enhancing their processes and digital capabilities while maintainingabalancebetweenefficiency andstrictregulatoryrequirements.How- ever, for this set of functionalities, the country still lags behind the global aver- age (47% vs. 54%) and the “Digital Champions”(47%vs.67%).Contributing to this gapare challenges, suchas thedif- ficulty to open a current account entirely online without visiting a branch and the limited number of methods for account opening (e.g., ID card photo, video con- ference, log-in and password from an- other bank, e-signature). Other issues include the inability to up- load necessary documentation on web- sites, the lack of a progress/ timeline tracker toprovide a clear viewof the cur- rent stage in theprocess, and the absence of readilyavailable support channels like chat, helpdesk, or video conferences. Account andCardManagement Overall, banks offer a limited number of functionalities that provide customers withgreaterautonomyinmanagingtheir debit and credit cards. Retail banks in Luxembourgstill donot allowcustomers toadjustcardlimitsforPOS,ATM,online payments, or daily spending. Addition- ally, customers cannot check or change PIN codes, restrict transactions to their local country, set payment restrictions, or even track delivery details when a new card is requested. In terms of account management, certain operationsremainchallengingtoperform through internet or mobile banking. These include personalization of digital channels, mortgage loan repayments, debt negotiation and management, im- plementing debt repayment strategies, applying online for cash loans or savings options, and receiving customer-specific banners or push notifications tailored to their usage of digital channels. Personal Finance Management (PFM) While PFM tools offer valuable insights, they have not been actively used by all customers. There is still a considerable journey ahead, both in developing new functionalitiesandensuringtheirintegra- tion with two key areas: open banking (i.e., allowing users to have a consoli- datedoverviewoftheirfinancialsituation across multiple accounts, even from dif- ferent institutions) and wealth manage- ment (i.e., providing insights into investments, portfolio performance, or tax optimization strategies). TheDeloittestudyrevealsseveralfeatures canstillbedeveloped,includingtheability to “lock” funds to prevent spending (e.g., on Friday nights), set financial goals, re- ceive budget notifications, compare spendingpatternswithotherusers,orau- tomatically roundup transactions to save spare change. Additionally, features like automaticandmanualtransactioncatego- rization,filtertransactionsbymerchant,set spending limits by category or merchant, split transactions, use geolocation tags, or offer diagnostic tools to assess financial health are alsomissing. Beyondbanking Another key takeaway from the Deloitte study is the emphasis on fully digitalized processes,andtheevolutionofbankingas a platform for auxiliary services. Retail banks in Luxembourg have yet to fully embracethetrendofofferingservicesand solutionsthatgobeyondtraditionalfinan- cial products. While there are some iso- lated examples, such as the Spuerkeess providinganautomotivemarketplaceand the ability to aggregate accounts from other banks, the sector certainlyhas room for improvement. Somegoodexamplesofthebroaderrange of services and revenue streams being ex- ploredby“DigitalChampions”arehous- ing/realestatemarketplaces,marketplaces for construction, renovation and interior design companies, access to medical ex- aminations and appointments, submis- sion of personal income tax forms, the ability to purchase tickets for cinema, trains,hotelsorevents.Additionalservices accesstospecialdiscountsthroughloyalty programs and the capacity to aggregate andmanagedifferentcurrent,savingsand investment accounts. Worldwide “Digital Champions” are redefining the traditional way of operating By analyzing over 1,000 functionalities across various banks, countries, and con- tinents,the“ DigitalBankingMaturity2024 ” study is well positioned to identify some concrete trends currently shaping the in- dustry. The COVID-19 pandemic, for in- stance,withitsfrequentlockdowns,accel- eratedbanks’shifttofulldigitalservicede- livery. However, the focus has now moved from continuously adding new features to rethinking banking services andprioritizing quality over quantity. Additionally,customersareusingvarious online services daily and applying the same expectations to banking as they do for other industries. “DigitalChampions” meet these demands by offering a fully digitalaccountopeningprocess,24/7sup- port, real-timepayments, and theflexibil- ity to pause and resume any process at customer convenience. In addition to meeting customer demands, banking ap- plications are evolving into comprehen- sive ecosystems, providing users with a broadarrayof additional servicesbeyond traditional banking, such as investing, in- surance, mobility services, real estate, travel, and tax submissions. Moreover,theroleofcustomeradvisoryis undergoing a significant transformation thankstotheadoptionofPFMfunctional- ities, such as account aggregation and management, goal setting, budget notifi- cations,savingsfacilitation,andenhancing financialeducationandawarenessamong their users.As a result, banks are not only providingfinancialservicesbutalsofamil- iar experiences. In fact, banking apps are nowbeing redesigned to resemble popu- lar platforms like Spotify, Uber, Amazon, and social media, incorporating features suchas tags, notes, comments, likes, emo- jis,andgeo-localization.Furthermore,con- ceptspopularizedbyretailers,suchasQR codes and “buy now, pay later” options, are increasingly being adopted. Furthermore, “Digital Champions” are shifting away from generic messaging, adopting amore semi-informal tone, and incorporatingcommunicationstylescom- monly found on e-commerce and social mediaplatforms,withagrowingfocuson personalized banners, pop-ups, and rec- ommendations.Andfinally,severalbanks are declaring the use of both more ad- vanced Chatbots and Artificial Intelli- gence, namely in areas as credit scoring, risk assessment, fraud detection, docu- mentverification,cybersecurity,customer behavior analysis, personalized recom- mendations, andprocess automation. In conclusion, the progressmade byLux- embourg’s retail banking sector in recent years is undeniable. However, its digital maturity still falls behind the global aver- age and theworldwide “Digital Champi- ons.” Considering the country’s unique demographics and the evolving financial landscape, advancing digital transforma- tion across the customer journeymust re- mainacontinuouseffort.Thisprocesscan be leveragedbyadoptingsomebest prac- tices from global “Digital Champions” while ensuring the specific needs of local customers are fully addressed. An opportunity for fully digitalized processes and broader range of features: Luxembourg’s digital banking maturity