AI in Belgium : status of implementation in the banking sector

Abstract

The Belgian retail banking sector, given objective market elements, must continuously adapt to new, more advanced and clever technologies, which completely disrupt(ed) the business.

The topics covered in this report concern first of all the use of AI in the international and Belgian banking sectors, the impact of this technology on the employment situation in Belgium, both quantitatively and qualitatively, as well as the vision of Belgian consumers towards these.

The applied methodology in order to achieve this thesis can be divided into three parts. First, a purely theoretical part. Secondly, qualitative interviews with some of the main players in the Belgian retail network. And finally, qualitative discussions with FSI experts.

First of all, it emerges that the Belgian sector is rather cautious about the adoption of intelligent machines. Indeed, among the banks surveyed, very few specific uses of artificial intelligence are currently identified. The latter mainly try to streamline internal processes in order to relieve - or replace - their staff. In addition, almost every bank surveyed has its own chatbot, aimed at serving customers in a more convenient way. It should also be noted that some developments are reportedly underway within the various institutions.

Secondly, the impacts on the employment situation are significant. On the one hand, the various banks insist on a transformation of the roles of the employees and also of the new recruitment profiles. The current amount of FTEs in the banking sector in Belgium has for several years been weakened and is expected to collapse by 20,000 members again.

In addition, the internal organization of each institution has been reviewed. Indeed, a reduction in the number of branches and a transformation of these are evident for each of the surveyed banks, which lack though of a fairly precise vision of the goal to be achieved.

Finally, since the consumers’ expectations are high in terms of handiness, speed, and expertise, banks react as best as their abilities by setting up disruptive customer interactions.