At BNP Paribas, we believe that fostering a win-win cooperation with startups is key.

Reinventing Customer Experience is one key priority of our 2020 transformation plan. It calls for innovation, a whole new way of working and the development of new skills. I strongly believe startups can help us with this, in a win-win approach.

We co-create with startups.

All over the world, our Bank works with startups on a daily basis, to build together the products and services of tomorrow. We have also launched highly selective acceleration programs, such as the Fintech Boost with L’Atelier BNP Paribas and our BNP Paribas Plug and Play Acceleration Program. Furthermore, BNP Paribas is one of the five ‘corporate founders’ of the Fintech Europe programme offered by a new innovation platform, run by Plug and Play in conjunction with TechQuartier in Frankfurt. In South Africa, we’ve recently partnered with Startup Bootcamp. L’Echangeur, from BNP Paribas Personal Finance, that connects startup with retailers, is another example. These programs are designed to foster collaboration between tech startups and businesses. It's all about leveraging our ability to put under a positive tension a mixed team (startup/Business Unit) to deliver concrete Proof of concepts (“PoC”), meeting real client needs in a short period of time. Startups can develop with us thanks to our global financial expertise and our in-depth knowledge of our customers.

This co-creation implies agile methods, team empowerment, flat organisation, cross-location projects and access to refreshing ecosystems such as Station F, where we host our BNP Paribas Plug and Play program. We have also created specific tools to better work with startups, like the Group’s ‘Startup Engagement Kit’ offering dedicated simplified collaboration processes, the OpenUp platform designed to link up startups with the BNP Paribas in-house teams and projects or SCOOP, our latest Open Innovation plateform initiative. Not to mention our API Store that allows startups to work with our bank in the best conditions.

We address the startups banking needs.

BNP Paribas has set the benchmark for bank-startups partnerships. With offices in over 70 countries around the world, we are able to offer a wide range of value-added services to help startups with their international development. In France we have a full commercial banking approach dedicated to the tech sector and we have 60 special WeAreInnovation (WAI) hubs all over the country. Startups are able to access a comprehensive range of dedicated BNP Paribas banking products and services meeting their particular needs, from day-to-day financial management to advanced corporate finance solutions, and also to call on the services of Group subsidiaries specialising in IPOs and venture capital investment.

We invest in the development of startups.

Another way in which BNP Paribas builds close relationships with promising startups is to make a capital investment in this company. This approach, which is a central plank in our Open Innovation policy, enables us to focus on and drive forward highly relevant projects of great importance to the banking business. Depending on the situation, this may involve taking a minor or major stake, either directly or through our new dedicated startups investment fund, which was launched in 2018. Compte Nickel and Gambit are some examples of this strategy.

Viva Technology

This year, we remain a key partner of VivaTech where we will showcase our capability to transform successfully alongside startups. Our Positive Banking space hosts thirty social and environmental engagement projects, around two major themes: New Client Experiences Solutions going from mobile banking, new customer journey, artificial intelligence and blockchain; and Positive Impact Solutions with social business, energy transition, sustainable finance and tech for good solutions.

I hope that many of you will enjoy those three days of deep diving into tomorrow’s world, and come visit our BNP Paribas' lab.