2020 Universal registration document and annual financial report - BNP PARIBAS558

7 a Committed Bank: information ConCerninG the eConomiC, soCial, CiviC and environmental resPonsiBility of BnP PariBas

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Our economic responsibility: financing the economy in an ethical manner

■ in all businesses of the International Retail Banking division, the quality of the customer complaints management is subject to increased vigilance. Thus, an awareness programme was launched at the end of 2020 in the vast majority of countries to remind teams of best practices and train them to establish a relevant classification of complaints by type of subject (fraud, protection of customer interests, etc.) to improve reporting and the implementation of effective and targeted corrective actions;

■ within BNP Paribas Cardif, the Clients Committee at the Heart of Cardif (C3C) is part of the framework to protect the interests of its customers. This Committee examines the files of customers (borrower insurance, Covid-19 risk, etc.) for which coverage is refused on the grounds of applying the general conditions of the contract, but which deserve to be reconsidered in view of the specific situation of the customer and in the context of the insurer s social responsibility. These customer files may come from the customer complaints department, but also from any other department wishing to have an informed opinion on the follow-up to be given to a request. The needs of customers presented during this committee can also be the source of improvements in management processes, customer experience or insurance products, in order to always better protect their interests.

Numerous Group entities, such as BNP Paribas Personal Finance, BNP Paribas Cardif, the Retail Banking networks in France, Belgium, Italy, Morocco, Senegal, Ukraine, Poland and Turkey, offer the services of independent mediators that customers can call upon. In 2020, in France, Italy and Belgium, clients use the national mediation service organised by the regulatory bodies.

Transparency of the offer

Helping to protect clients interests, their understanding of banking products, and the transparency of products and services are more than ever at the heart of the Group s concerns.

■ In Poland, BNP Paribas Bank Polska offers all its customers, in branches or via call centers and social networks, the option of obtaining copies of contracts in Braille, Polish sign language, audio version and large-print versions within seven days. In 2020, the bank further developed new tools for the deaf and hard of hearing: a free sign language translation service available online since June, and the Booksy app now enabling customers to make an appointment with an advisor while benefiting from real-time translation. The advisers were also trained in basic sign language formulas in order to be more welcoming to branch customers.

■ BNP Paribas Cardif aims to make insurance more accessible, i.e. easier to take out and use, more inclusive, easier to understand and simpler. This involves, in particular, the simplification of products and all sales documents and emails, as the use of a simple, welcoming and educational language. To date, more than 10,000 documents have been translated into a standard B1 language, which is, according to the Common European Reference Framework for Languages, a level mastered by the majority of clients. Furthermore, in France, in order to enable customers who are deaf or hearing-impaired to access customer relationship centres (CRCs) independently and receive

the information they need to monitor their savings plans, borrower s insurance or individual retirement cover, BNP Paribas Cardif is now offering a three-way meeting using video-conferencing tools whereby deaf or hearing-impaired customers can meet remotely with a sign language interpreter (video-conference communication) and a CRC adviser.

Monitoring customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is crucial for adapting product and service offerings to demand, in order to always serve customer interests as best possible by analysing complaints and areas of dissatisfaction.

In 2020, average customer satisfaction scores remained stable in all four Domestic Markets:

■ French Retail Banking: 7.59/10 (7.51 in 2019);

■ BNP Paribas BNL bc: 8.04/10 (8.37/10 in 20191));

■ BNP Paribas BGL: 7.10/10 (7.6/10 in 2019);

■ BNP Paribas Fortis: 7.5/10 (7.1 in 2019).

The Advocacy programme

Since customers are at the heart of its strategy, the Group has been rolling out the Advocacy programme since 2013, which allows it to listen to the voice of customers and employees throughout the relationship with them and improve their experience.

Operational for all customer types, the programme is deployed by the Client & Employee Advocacy teams using the Net Promoter System (NPS) methodology.

Within the Retail Banking & Services entities, the Net Promoter System covers all Domestic Markets, India, and all the businesses and countries of the International Financial Services division. The Group s objective is to ensure that its entities improve their rankings year-on-year in comparison with their competitors in the countries in which they are based.

In this context, the Net Promoter Score is the common indicator within BNP Paribas that measures how much the Company is recommended by customers.

Achievements within Domestic Markets ■ At the end of 2020, each entity knew its NPS ranking compared to its competitors for all business lines;

■ BNL banca commerciale (bc) and French Retail Banking have made significant progress since 2017 in Retail (respectively +6 points and +9 points);

■ BNP Paribas Fortis Private Banking becomes leader among private banks in Belgium (+ 22 points in one year);

■ Advocacy is now available in France, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg and Germany, across all customer segments. The customer is placed at the centre of this system, which is based on a broad and regular collection of feedback from customers in the main contact channels and customer journeys;

(1) Changes in methodology to note in 2020: the survey carried out by BNL bc in 2020 corresponds to the satisfaction of customers after a customer service request (call centres). BNL bc s data have therefore been harmonised for 2020 and 2019 on the basis of this methodology in order to make them comparable.