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RBF numérique 2019/5

  • Jeudi 19/9/2019
    Hans De Cuyper

    What will our world look like in 10 to 15 years from now, and what will the role of insurance companies be in 2030? While we are all very curious about the answers to those questions, we have to admit it is impossible to predict the future. In a rapidly changing and ever more complex world full of uncertainties, it already is quite a challenge to develop a three-year strategy.  Therefore, Ageas and AG Insurance decided to bring together high potentials from around the world to develop scenarios for our business in 2030.  In this article, we share some highlights and conclusions from the 2030 team.  Some reflections on the future… but without giving you any certainty about the outcome!

  • Jeudi 19/9/2019
    Nathalie Vandepeute

    How do you remain relevant as a player in the payment market, in a rapidly changing payment world? Bancontact Payconiq Company has known the answer for decades: optimal positioning and constant innovation. Even at its foundation in 1978, the company pioneered electronic payments in our country. Today, the company is still innovating, as Bancontact Payconiq Company.

    The new company wants to be the driving force behind the adoption of mobile payments on the Belgian market. In this respect, the company launched its new Payconiq by Bancontact app at the start of 2019. This app enables all Belgians to pay online and offline with one single application, to settle invoices on the go and to directly pay another smartphone user even at distance.

    According to the company, cash will not disappear overnight, but the number of cash payments is likely to decrease. After all, the Major Payment Survey 2019 revealed that Belgians prefer to pay with their bank card or their mobile phone. Moreover, cash has a substantial social cost. Mobile payments are on the rise: in 2018, 34 million mobile payments were made with the mobile apps of the Company, twice as many as in 2017.

    What does the future hold? Many trends are constantly and rapidly changing the status quo in the payment landscape. Consumer expectations are changing, we have seen many technological innovations in recent years, and new players have entered the market. Bancontact Payconiq Company mainly sees instant payment as a game-changer.

    Several traditional local schemes have lost vast, sometimes life-threatening payment volumes. Currently, however, local schemes are emerging again, as alternatives to international card schemes, as are many mobile schemes. At the same time, ‘old’ local schemes such as Bancontact Payconiq Company evolve with their time, because they are still invested in and offer mobile solutions. They all want sovereign, independent systems they can control, to ensure a robust local economy. More importantly, they all enter the real battlefield: mobile.

  • Jeudi 19/9/2019
    Giuseppe Pagano

    This paper provides insight into what the European Union or Euro Area policy could look like if it were more directly inspired by Keynes’s views. It starts from the disappointing results of the EU-EA as far as employment, inequalities or environment are concerned. It also addresses the role of rules and sanctions vs discretion in the decision process, showing that budget rules have often been violated and the corresponding sanctions have never been applied. It suggests that at least 6 policy objectives - employment, price stability, economic growth, trade equilibrium, inequalities and environment - should receive equal priority. Ultimately, it advocates policies that could trigger public investments and create a real solidarity mechanism at the EA level. Drawing on Keynes’s The long run is a misleading guide for current affairs. In the long run, we are all dead, 27 years after the Maastricht Treaty, the paper claims that the long term, ... it’s now.

  • Jeudi 19/9/2019
    Dr. Frank De Jonghe

    The topic of ethical implications of the exploding applications of big data, machine learning and genuine AI has quickly captured the attention of industry practitioners, public observers like journalists, politicians and definitely conference organisers over the past year. It is a vast topic in its own right, deserving all the multidisciplinary attention it gets. In this short commentary, I will limit myself to reviewing some salient features of bias in the context of models used in the financial industry, and, more importantly for the practitioner, suggest some process and governance measures that boards and senior management of financial services companies can take to identify, monitor and mitigate this risk exposure.