Message from the CEO, Nina Schindler
The Global Innovation Coop Summit began yesterday in Paris, France. To underline the importance of digital change in co-operative banking, it was great to have two remarkable speakers amongst the members of the EACB Board and General Assembly on stage: Alban Aucoin, Head of Public Affairs at Crédit Agricole and Guy Cormier, President and CEO of Desjardins Group, to discuss the digital transition and leadership respectively.
The two subjects are intrinsically linked. True leaders inspire people and motivate their teams to achieve specific goals. They are good listeners and have open minds, something that mirrors the democratic culture of a co-operative. All these attributes are required for a successful digital transition. Instead of working alone, people need to collaborate, calling on the ideas of many, striving toward the common target of moving an enterprise digitally forward.
Digital transition not only modifies how companies operate but impacts their relationship with customers. It requires a cultural shift, innovation, and adaptation, and will fundamentally change a firm’s business model. This is no less true for co-operative banks. Indeed, digital transition is imperative to make sure that the co-operative model remain relevant for the future.
Co-operative banks have invested in digital technologies for a long time. They therefore have a valuable contribution to make in discussions of how to move toward a more digital world, while still being available for customers on the ground. It is important that our members’ voices and concerns are heard in the digital debate. The active participation of our EACB stakeholders in events like the Global Innovation Coop Summit offers the opportunity to achieve this.
3 Questions to Guy Cormier, President and Chief Executive Officer, Desjardins Group & Member of the General Assembly, EACB
Guy Cormier is President and CEO of Desjardins Group and Chair of the Board of Directors since 2016. His key areas of expertise are finance, co-operative governance and strategic management. Mr. Cormier has worked for the co-operative for 31 years. He held several positions in the caisse network before becoming a caisse general manager in 2002. He was appointed Executive Vice-President of the Caisse Network in 2012, then Executive Vice-President of the Caisse Network and Personal Services in 2013. Throughout his career, he has encouraged bold, innovative actions aimed at improving the member and client experience.
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- What does leadership mean in the co-op business environment?
Leadership and a leader's role are relatively the same from one organisation to the next, whether it is a co-operative or not. To me, being a leader means keeping my team engaged by listening to them, having an open dialogue with them, being authentic and having a clear vision that is meaningful to them.
Leadership can be measured by how well a person motivates and inspires people to do their best. A good leader is an integral part of the team who works hard alongside their teammates.
I believe co-operatives stand out because of their purpose. For example, at Desjardins, the focus is on always doing what is best for members and clients. There are 57,000 of us concentrating our efforts on long-term objectives that are good for our members and clients. We also stay true to our values, such as mutual assistance and solidarity. I am certain that is what gives co-operatives a competitive edge.
Co-ops care for their community and surroundings very much. We inspire people's commitment, engagement and contribution. That is the co-operative approach!
A co-operative's democratic culture also requires a great deal of listening and an open mind. I would even say that being a boss in a co-operative nowadays requires highly developed soft skills, like flexibility and kindness.
- What role does innovation play in Desjardins’ leadership?
Our co-operative nature is what guides us when we are developing systems, strategies and tools that are specifically designed according to our members' and clients' needs. And we do this while maintaining a delicate balance between the autonomy of the branches and the unity of Desjardins.
Innovation drives Desjardins' organisational flexibility. I would even say that innovation is what allows us to be more technologically agile. We use that agility and flexibility to strengthen our leadership in the market, among our members and clients, and in our communities across the country, even around the world.
Desjardins Group has a long history of being innovative, which has helped us become North America's largest co-operative financial group. And we plan to continue down that path. We introduced our real-time remote data processing system at Expo 67, we were the first financial institution to launch a transactional site and we are currently working on an omnichannel offer with innovative new features. These include a voice recognition service and the integration of the distinct features of Quebec French into an artificial intelligence (AI) system.
This is where our priorities lie at Desjardins. We want to offer an experience that is easy, personalised, relevant and people focused. At Desjardins, innovation is just the means to an end. We use innovation to work for our members and clients. It is with that thinking that we will continue to be the leader we have been for the past 122 years.
- When you think about digitalisation and open banking, what growth opportunities do you see for Desjardins?
Our members and clients have told us they want it to be easier to do business with Desjardins; they want to do more online and they want to be able to talk to someone when they need to. In response, we have begun a digital transformation with the goal of improving the member/client experience by giving them easy access to products and services on their mobile devices for most of their day-to-day needs. Our solutions improve our interactions with members and clients and offer them a more modern experience, while simplifying our operations. The ultimate goal of this transformation is to make our technology work for people.
As for open banking, I believe it is an exciting opportunity for us to go even further for our members and clients, especially in the daily management of their finances. One way open banking could do this is by allowing us to make better personalised recommendations thanks to analyses of collected data. This transformation of the financial system means that we could offer our members and clients an experience they already have in other aspects of their lives. It would also improve our processes, products and services.
Second Opinion from Alban Aucoin, Head of Public Affairs, Crédit Agricole Group & Member of the Board, EACB
Alban Aucoin is member of the Board and the General Assembly of EACB. He is head of public affairs of the Crédit Agricole group. In June 2010, Mr Aucoin joined the Fédération Nationale du Crédit Agricole as Deputy Managing Director in charge of financial, banking and European affairs. He was appointed head of public affairs of Crédit agricole group in 2016 and CEO of the FNCA from 2016 and 2018. He is a graduate of Ecole Nationale d’Administration. He is also a graduate of the Paris Institut d’Etudes Politiques and has a Master's degree in economics from Paris Sorbonne University.
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Digital transition is also an asset for co-operative banks
Digital transition is an essential aspect of the shift in business models. It is therefore a structuring factor in all business strategies and development, especially for co-operatives. The latter are convinced that digital technology can help them to provide certain services in a more user-friendly way for consumers and to organise processes more effectively. This is why these banks have consistently introduced new technologies into their day-to-day services over the past 30 years. From telephone banking in the 1980s, to online banking in the 1990s and now banking apps and automated calculations based on artificial intelligence (AI).
Digital technology is a means of improving customer service (anytime, anywhere, easy, fast and inexpensive) and thus increasing customer satisfaction, which is the basis of business relationships and growth. It also enables efficiency gains in the back office, data storage and analysis, and speed of execution. This is why co-operative banks have invested and continue to invest in new technologies.
Digitalisation is everywhere; the real challenge is its implementation. This is a crucial and differentiating factor.
Digitalisation concerns all co-operative banks
Crédit Agricole is a large group, but in the co-operative banking world, including within Crédit Agricole, there are many small regional banks. Co-operative banks have a close relationship with their customers, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Investment in technology is also important for a small co-operative bank located in a rural area.
The commercial stakes are in fact not very different for a small organisation, digitalisation is essential. What differs is the means, because economies of scale are smaller. This can lead to the development of shared service centers, which is what we have done across our group (a single IT system for the 39 Crédit Agricole regional banks).
Digitalisation is a transformation of organisations
Digitalisation is a deep transformation of businesses, which requires strong involvement of employees in the design of the project. Moreover, in a co-operative, the close relationship with customers and the values of inclusion and responsibility require the human aspect to be organised in line with digitalisation, so that the human enhances the digital through the relationship and responsibility that they contribute.
Implementing the change is important to make sure that the digital development is not detached from the rest and outside the raison d’être of co-operatives.
Co-operative banks must be fully involved in the digital transition
Co-operative banks, whether small or large, must be at the forefront of innovation and implementation, to be able to better serve consumers and businesses in an efficient, safe, sound and sustainable manner. Robust and innovative digital capacities in the financial sector will help to improve the EU's ability to deal with emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
If co-operative banks do not invest in technology, they will be pushed out of the market. Customers have expectations of digital technology coming from their daily lives, where digital tools (computers, tablets, smartphones, voice assistants, video communication, etc.) are becoming more and more important, especially because of teleworking. Failure to meet these expectations means exclusion from the market.
Co-operatives must therefore digitalise at the pace dictated by the expectations of their customers, but without giving up their raison d’être, which is to provide a customer-centric and responsible relationship service.