 | |
| Industry | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2013 |
| Headquarters | Paris |
| Products | |
| Parent | BNP Paribas |
| Website | www |
Hello bank! is a digital direct bank owned by BNP Paribas that started operations in 2013. The bank operates in France, Belgium, Germany (using the name Consorsbank), Italy, the Czech Republic and Austria. [1] BNP Paribas has claimed that it is "the first 100% digital mobile bank in Europe". [2]
The project was first discussed in 2012 and the bank was launched in Belgium and Germany on 16 May 2013, in France on 17 June 2013 and in Italy on 28 October 2013. [3] On 13 February 2014 the bank announced that they had reached 177,000 customers at the end of 2013. [4]
At the end of 2014 the customers in Germany, Belgium, France and Italy reached 791,000. [5]
Hello bank! launched in Austria on 1 August 2015. [6] At the end of 2015 the customers of Hello bank! in all 5 markets reached 2.4 million. [7]
At the end of 2016 Hello bank! had 2.5 million customers across its 5 markets, with more than 1.5 million in Germany and 480 thousand in Belgium. [8]
In May 2017 Czech BNP Paribas Personal Finance SA, o.z. announced re-branding. New brand Hello bank! has replaced Cetelem trademark. [9] At the end of 2017 Hello bank! had 2.9 million customers across its 5 original markets (excluding the Czech Republic), with 350 thousand in France. [10]
In July 2021 the Austrian Bank BAWAG P.S.K. acquired Hello Bank! Austria for 23 million Euro and renamed it May 2022 to "Easybank". [11]
In March 2023 Czech branch of Hello Bank announced that it cease all activities in Czech Republic and will withdraw from the country. All offices was closed in less than a month. In April 2023 Hello bank had only one functioning office in Prague, Czech Republic. Later on in early May 2023 all Czech clients of Hello Bank was informed by e-mail for upcoming closing of their accounts by July 2023.
Hello bank! offers the following products and services:
The bank is supported through different BNP Paribas retail banking subsidiaries where they exist; these are: BNP Paribas in France, BNL in Italy, BNP Paribas Fortis in Belgium. BNP Paribas, BNL and BNP Paribas Fortis branches can be used to deposit checks or to withdraw money in these countries.
In Austria, Hello bank! operates its own network of branches. [12]
In Belgium Hello bank! was one of the first three banks (along with BNP Paribas Fortis) to launch Google Pay in the country. [13]
In Germany the local subsidiary of Hello bank! uses the brand name Consorsbank, but the logo and the brand colors are very similar to those used in the rest of the markets. In November 2016 it absorbed DAB Bank that BNP Paribas had acquired in 2014, [14] with all customer accounts being transferred to Consorsbank. [15]
BNP Paribas is a multinational universal bank and financial services holding company headquartered in Paris, France. It was founded in 2000 from the merger of two of France's foremost financial institutions, Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP) and Paribas. It also incorporates many other major institutions from successive mergers and acquisitions, including Fortis Group in Belgium, Direkt Anlage Bank in Germany, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro in Italy, Banque Générale du Luxembourg in Luxembourg, and Türk Ekonomi Bankası in Turkey. The Group has also been present in the United States through its subsidiaries Bank of the West until 2023 and First Hawaiian Bank until 2019. With 190,000 employees, the bank is organized into three major business areas: Commercial, Personal Banking & Services (CPBS); Investment & Protection Services (IPS); and Corporate & Institutional Banking (CIB).
Fortis, formally Fortis N.V./S.A., was a Benelux-centered global financial services group active in insurance, banking and investment management, initially formed in 1990 by a three-way Belgian-Dutch merger and headquartered in Brussels. It grew rapidly through multiple acquisitions, and in 2007 was the 20th largest financial services business in the world by revenue. It was listed on the Euronext Brussels, Euronext Amsterdam, and Luxembourg stock exchanges.
The Banque Belge pour l'Étranger was a Belgian bank that channeled many international banking operations of its controlling shareholder the Société Générale de Belgique (SGB) in the first half of the 20th century. It was originally established by the SGB in 1902 in Brussels as the Banque Sino-Belge, at the request of King Leopold II of Belgium.
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The Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas, generally referred to from 1982 as Paribas, was a French investment bank based in Paris. In May 2000, it merged with the Banque Nationale de Paris to form BNP Paribas.
The Générale de Banque was a major Belgian bank, created in 1934 as a spin-off from the powerful financial conglomerate Société Générale de Belgique (SGB) in compliance with new Belgian legislation that mandated separation of commercial banking activities from investment holdings. It was initially named the Banque de la Société Générale de Belgique, then from 1965 to 1985 the Société Générale de Banque. Upon establishment, it was the dominant bank in Belgium, with one-third of total banking assets, not counting other SGB-linked banking entities such as the Banque d'Anvers and the Banque Italo-Belge.
The 2008–2009 Belgian financial crisis is a major financial crisis that hit Belgium from mid-2008 onwards. Two of the country's largest banks – Fortis and Dexia – started to face severe problems, exacerbated by the financial problems hitting other banks around the world. The value of their stocks plunged. The government managed the situation by bailouts, selling off or nationalizing banks, providing bank guarantees and extending the deposit insurance. Eventually Fortis was split into two parts. The Dutch part was nationalized, while the Belgian part was sold to the French bank BNP Paribas. Dexia group was dismantled, Dexia Bank Belgium was nationalized.
Ageas is a Belgian-French multinational insurance company co-headquartered in Brussels. Ageas is Belgium's largest insurer and operates in 14 countries worldwide. The company was renamed from Fortis Holding in April 2010 and consists of those insurance activities remaining after the breakup and sale of the financial services group Fortis during the financial crisis of 2007-2010.
Middle East Bank Kenya is a commercial bank in Kenya. It is licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya, the central bank and national banking regulator.
BGL BNP Paribas is a Luxembourgish bank founded on 29 September 1919. Since May 2009, the bank has been a member of the BNP Paribas group. It is the fifth-largest bank in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and is the country's second-largest employer.
Maxime Jadot is a Belgian banker who is currently CEO of BNP Paribas Fortis. He studied law at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and Georgetown University in the United States.
The Banque Belgo-Congolaise, abbreviated in 1965 as Banque Belgolaise, was a Brussels-based Belgian bank spun off in 1960 from the Banque du Congo Belge in the context of forthcoming Congolese independence. While retaining the brand Belgolaise, its registered name was changed to Banque Belgo-Zaïroise S.A. after 1971. It ceased operations in 2012 as it was wound down by its then owner BNP Paribas Fortis.
AG Insurance is a Belgian insurance company providing life insurance and non-life insurance and supplementary pensions. It has been present on the Belgian insurance market since 1824. It targets private individuals, as well as self-employed persons, SMEs and large companies. AG Insurance's products are distributed exclusively through its partners.
Jean-Laurent Bonnafé has been serving as chief executive officer of BNP Paribas since 2011.
Consorsbank is a brand of BNP Paribas S.A. Niederlassung Deutschland with its seat in Nürnberg.
Consors Finanz is a German brand of the worldwide active major bank BNP Paribas. The focus of the business is the allocation of consumer loans, especially sales financing for retail and online trade as well as for car, caravan and motorbike dealers.
DAB BNP Paribas is a brand of the German branch of the French major bank BNP Paribas with business premises in Munich. The BNP Paribas brand for independent asset managers, fund brokers, investment advisers and institutional clients was founded on 18 January 1994 as the first discount broker in Germany, trading under Direkt Anlage- und Vermögensverwaltungs-GmbH, and started operations in May 1994 as Direkt Anlage Bank GmbH (DAB). As of 1 January 2016, the operating private customer business was transferred to the BNP Paribas S.A. branch Germany. On 12/13 November 2016, the DAB bank's online portal was shut down and all private customers transferred to Consorsbank.
The Algemene Spaar- en Lijfrentekas / Caisse générale d'épargne et de retraite was a major Belgian public bank, originally created in 1850 as a pension institution. It was acquired in stages between 1993 and 1998 by Fortis Group. In 1999 Fortis merged it with Générale de Banque and other operations to form Fortis Bank, which in turn was integrated from 2009 into BNP Paribas.
