BrazilCapco helps BNP Paribas Poland upgrade its online banking platform
The Polish arm of BNP Paribas has launched a new internet banking system. GOonline is already being used by a select group of BNP Paribas clients, with migration to all individual and business customers expected to be completed by November.
The upgraded internet banking portal is the bank’s response to the growing demands from customers and businesses for more transparency, user friendliness and digital-led insights. According to the portal’s designers, GOonline is characterised by an intuitive interface for all types of customers and easy access to various services and functions, backed by the highest level of security.
Elaborating, Przemysław Furlepa, a Board member of BNP Paribas who is responsible for the bank’s Retail and Business Banking segments, said; “Having a large number of functionalities in electronic banking is simply not enough for today's customers. When the availability of such features becomes mainstream, then differentiation should be sought in the way they are made available. When designing GOonline, the priority was to customise the system in such a way that all customers could see first and foremost what is important to them.” 
Delivering on this personalised customer experience was not easy, admitted Marcin Bodnar, Head of Digital at BNP Paribas Poland. He pointed out that the design team mapped out all of the requirements of existing and future customers, and amalgamated this into several customer journeys.
Examples of such customer-first features include the possibility to fully personalise user preferences and views, the removal of downtime when IT needs to push an upgrade, and a chat function with a robot and bank employees. Gone are the days when BNP Paribas clients had to wait 24 hours or more for a reply on their query – today they are served instantly. The GOonline system is also fully compatible with the requirements of people with disabilities,.
Voice of the customer
Hearing the voice of the customer was an essential element in getting this right, said Krzysztof Suchan, Head Of New Bank Department at the bank. “We openly asked and listened to our clients, and tested solutions with them. Feedback from the customer proved key, and allowed us to change and improve our platform.
Development however never stops, remarked Bodnar. BNP Paribas will in the coming months continue to refine its cloud-based solution to the better. Ultimately, the bank aims at turning GOonline into “an assistant and adviser” to clients, helping them asses and analyse their most pressing financial decisions, and acting as the linking pin to knowledge and (if needed) next step banking expertise.
GOonline has been built on technology from Backbase, a provider of digital banking platforms and related solutions. The implementation project was led by consultants from Capco, a global consulting firm dedicated to the financial services industry.
The new banking system comes twelve months after BNP Paribas markedly consolidated its position in the Polish banking industry with the acquisition of Raiffeisen Bank’s Polish organisation for PLN 3.25 billion. The deal added a loan portfolio of PLN 19 billion and deposits of PLN 34.4 billion to its asset base, bringing BNP Paribas Poland closer to the country’s top five banks.
An outsider’s view
Since revealing its new online banking system at the start of the month, several analysts and financial services prominents in Poland have commented on the upgrade. Grzegorz Ulan from Antyweb described the portal as “very modern”, while Rafał Tomaszewski from FinTek heralded it as a “good change for BNP Paribas customers”. BNP Paribas Poland is now believed to have one of the front-running internet banking applications in the country, however, amid rapidly developing market developments, the bank is advised not to rest on its laurels.
Later this month, a new GOonline-based mobile app will be launched on the same technology backbone.
