ABN AMRO

ABN AMRO serves retail, private and corporate banking clients with a primary focus on the Netherlands and with selective operations internationally. In the Netherlands, clients are offered a comprehensive and full range of products and services through omni-channel distribution including advanced mobile application and internet banking. Internationally, we are active in areas in which we have substantial expertise.

In November 2018, we launched our refreshed strategy. This strategy is built around our purpose: Banking for better, for generations to come. Our strategy is based on three main strategic pillars. These ensure we address the most important issues for us as a bank: from where and how we invest to digitalisation, customer service, attracting new talent and accelerating the shift to sustainability.

Support our clients’ transition to sustainability - Strategic pillar 1

We want to help our clients make the switch to sustainability. Among Dutch companies, more than 50% already say they want to make their businesses more sustainable. We see this as a business opportunity – but we know that, in helping our clients, we’ll also support the wider fight against climate change.

We’re increasing sustainable financing for our Commercial Banking clients – by 2020, we expect this to be at least EUR 3 billion. As part of this, we’re putting more into the circular economy – into companies and businesses that reuse materials and keep waste to a minimum. We’re also upping our investments in renewable energy. Our private banking business has made sustainability the default option for new clients. We want to increase clients’ sustainable investments with us to a total of EUR 16 billion by 2020.

For retail clients, ABN AMRO is offering green loans to make homes more energy efficient. Nearly 40% of the Netherlands’ energy use comes from homes and offices. By 2030, we want all residential and commercial properties on our books to be rated average A for energy efficiency, up from D currently. We’re encouraging our retail, corporate and private banking clients to be ‘sustainability rated’ – so we can identify potential new risks and opportunities.

We will also lead by example – taking a responsible approach to investment and lending, reducing our carbon footprint and behaving with ethics and integrity.

Reinvent the customer experience - Strategic pillar 2

We want to give clients fast, flawless service – service that is right first time, every time. Our goal is to take the hassle out of banking. That means tackling our clients’ ‘pain points’ – when they’re opening accounts, for example, or applying for loans.

To improve customer experience, we will invest in digitalisation – to speed up service and lower our operating costs. We will continue to invest in apps like Tikkie and Grip, which we developed with the Swedish FinTech Tink. We’ll also extend the use of other new technologies, like AI and advanced analytics.

At the same time, there will be more focus on ‘customer journeys’ – so we increase contact with our clients and better understand their needs. We will also ‘co-create’, working with outside partners where it makes sense – to extend our products and services, and build new eco-systems. Our retail bank will look at growth markets – in insurance and investments, for example, or among the self-employed and ‘almost retired’.

We will continue to invest in innovation – through our Group Innovation team and Digital Impact Fund. In doing so, we’re building up our knowledge and expertise, constantly learning from our in-house tech ‘challengers’ like New10 and Franx.

Over the next few years, we want to increase our Net Promoter Score – the measure we use for customer experience. Serving our clients better should lead to an increase in NPS for all our business lines by 2020.

Build a future-proof bank - Strategic pillar 3

We want to build a future-proof bank; this means continuing to engage our employees, developing new skills and improving internal processes. It also means attracting new talent and investing in employee development. ABN AMRO will also press ahead with investment in technology and alternative business models – to remain viable and continue to create value for stakeholders and society.

As part of this approach, we’re adapting our working environment. We are bringing on skills in areas like digital technology, analytics and sustainability – skills that are crucial to our strategy. This is part of a new, more agile way of working. Ultimately, we want to build a purpose-led organisation – one that encourages high performance, engages employees and allows us to attract the best talent.

Where possible, we’re streamlining our products and services. We’ve reduced the number of mortgage products we offer, for example. And, in private banking, we’re harmonising our services and IT platforms across Europe. Our goal is to improve efficiency, and provide fast, convenient digital services and ‘hassle-free banking’.

We’re also taking a digital-first approach, continuing to modernise our IT systems. In IT, we want to hit the ‘sweet spot’ – investing enough in IT, but never too much. We estimate that is around 12-13% of our income. More resources will go into system security – to protect our clients and ensure constant access to services. We’ll invest in the latest technology and continue to work closely with regulators and the police to help stamp out financial crime.