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Integrated Report 2020

SME Banking

Segmentation

The Small and Medium Enterprises Banking Area (SME) comprised in 2020 three main Customer sub-segments:

with full financial reporting, with prior year’s net income between PLN 4 and PLN 40 million and credit exposure not exceeding PLN 12 million. This segment also includes agricultural producer groups and organizational units of the State Forests, regardless of income and credit exposure;

a sub-segment for entities with full financial reporting, with prior year’s net income between PLN 4 and PLN 40 million and credit exposure not exceeding PLN 12 million, as well as public finance entities with a budget of up to PLN 100 million,

(i.e. economic entities devoted to agricultural production) with full financial reporting, prior year’s net income between PLN 0 and PLN 60 million, and credit exposure not exceeding PLN 25 million; as well as individual farmers in the case of whom the Bank’s exposure is between PLN 4 million and PLN 25 million or between PLN 3 million and PLN 4 million if the collateral in arable land covers less than 50% of credit exposure.

Distribution channels

As part of the sales network in the SME Banking Area, in 2020 there were 8 SME Banking Regions comprising 50 SME Business Centres located in 37 local markets with the greatest potential.

The SME Customer service model at the Bank is a relational model. A key element of service at BNP is the individual assistance of a consultant, responsible for the entirety of the Client’s relationship with the Bank. Furthermore, SME Customers are served by dedicated teams of product specialists offering a high standard of sales support and product advice, based on knowledge and experience including cash management, treasury, leasing, factoring and trade finance.

SME Customers benefit from ongoing operational service in the network of retail branches, internet and mobile banking channels offered by the Bank, and can also count on telephone operational and information support from a website dedicated to this purpose Business Service Zone.

STARTEGIC PILLAR MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS
GROWTH
  • Increase in SME Banking gross profit y/y thanks to maintaining a good quality of the loan portfolio and the related low cost of risk as well as lower general operating expenses
  • Positive y/y growth in cash management and foreign exchange revenues
SIMPLICITY
  • Normal business and operational activities with extensive use of a secure remote working formula, online and mobile banking channels and remote Customer service tools;
  • Transparent product package offer for SME Customers.
QUALITY
  • Further improvement of SME Customer service processes in Customer Service: service in the Business Service Zone – dedicated, professional advisors, a wide range of Customer support and after-sales service, a wide range of training, an incentive system based, among others, on the criterion of Customer service quality;
  • More than 113 thousand SME Customer orders handled in 2020;
  • Customer service teams 100% adapted to remote working;
  • Procedures and processes to enable effective remote Customer service in the new reality of COVID-19.
DIGITALISATION
  • New version of the GOmobile Biznes mobile application;
  • Another major step in the development of BiznesPl@net Internet Banking, including:
    • releasing the first iteration of the new Internet Banking for SME and Corporate Banking Customers: application adapting to different resolutions (RWD), credit module, MVP for Self Service area, authorization module for applications and agreements, Masscollect module, built in cooperation with our Customers in a new UX/UI and in an open architecture based on microservices
    • a new authorization/authentication method – a mobile token made available from the GOmobile Biznes application
  • Implementation of a fully remote Customer onboarding process based on the electronic signature, without the necessity to visit the Bank and use paper documents;
  • Introducing the possibility of signing most documents as part of the after-sales service with an electronic signature;
  • Further automation of post-sales processes, including automation of billing and collection of key fees.

Product offer

The Bank has a rich and flexible product offer addressed to Clients from the SME segment, which allows for the adjustment of many parameters to the individual needs of the Client.

The offer includes products such as:

as part of the Customer’s account or package, including: cashless domestic and cross-border transactions, cash transactions (including closed ones), cash transactions – deposits and withdrawals in Bank branches, payments at Poczta Polska, deposits and withdrawals at counters and in deposit machines, domestic transfers (including transfers in the Elixir, Sorbnet and Express Elixir systems), foreign transfers (including SEPA transfers, SEPA D0, TARGET), debit cards (PLN, EUR, multi-currency), credit, charge, identification of incoming payments, Host 2 Host – integration of the financial and accounting system with the internet banking system, automatic transfers of funds between various accounts, product packages – Profit Box, Turbo Box, FX Box, Multi Box oraz Agro Box;

BiznesPl@net, GOmobile Biznes, FX Pl@net, BNP Paribas Connect Host to Host – integration of the financial and accounting system with the Internet banking system;

for the Customer’s investment of surplus cash (e.g. standard deposits, negotiated deposits with maturity and interest rate agreed on an individual basis, deposits made through the online banking system as well as deposit accounts for flexible surplus cash management);

providing funding for the day-to-day running of a business as well as for the implementation of investment and development projects, refinancing expenditure that has already been incurred or loans granted by other banks (overdrafts, revolving and non-revolving working capital loans and investment loans);

export and import documentary letters of credit, documentary collection, letter of credit discounts, as well as issuing guarantees and processing external guarantees. With regard to guarantees and letters of credit, the Bank offers fast and comprehensive services based on dedicated IT solutions;

for purposes of currency, interest rate and commodity price risk management (e.g. FX Spot, FX Forward, FX options, IRS, interest rate options, commodity swap, commodity options);

dedicated to manufacturing, sales and service companies entering into deferred payment sales transactions offered in cooperation with BNP Paribas Faktoring Sp. z o.o.;

including: the lease of machines and equipment, process lines, vehicles, real property offered in cooperation with BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions Sp. z o.o.

Business line development in 2020

The Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Banking area started 2020 with fully integrated teams and systems following the migration of Clients to system targets, with a plan to dynamically expand the scale of business operations. In pursuing this objective, the SME area in the first quarter of 2020 focused mainly on acquiring new Customers and increasing lending.

The situation changed in mid-March 2020, when, due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of restrictions were introduced, including a temporary lockdown and a freeze on the economy, which made it necessary to change priorities and operate in completely different conditions than before.

Adapting to the new reality, the SME Banking area in 2020 focused on 3 key elements:

The sales teams adapted to the working conditions during the epidemic, among other things, split-team and remote working was introduced, remote signing of contracts with the Client using qualified and electronic signature functionality (Autenti).

  • launch of a new on-boarding process for Customers – a new tool providing a digital process for opening a new Customer’s file, accounts and related products in a fully secure and integrated manner,
  • development of e-credit application,
  • customer proximity policy – use of alternative contact channels (telephone, e-mail, electronic communicators (skype, webex)),
  • further development of functionalities of BiznesPl@net electronic banking including: e.g. enabling independent creation of users and management of their rights in the system by all Biznes Pl@net users within the user management module, launching the module of product applications and post-sale instructions, digital signing of agreements,
  • ensuring full availability for Customers in the Business Service Zone as the customer activity in this channel increased significantly.
  • involvement in government aid programs addressed to Polish enterprises – (i) PFR shield, under which 4.7 thousand SME Clients received a total subsidy of almost PLN 2.4 billion via the Bank; (ii) provision of BGK’s de minimis guarantee to secure a loan up to 80%, which benefited 0.5 thousand Customers for a total amount of PLN 766 million.

Starting from the third quarter of 2020 with the unfreezing of the economy, the Small and Medium Business Banking Area focused on returning to business operations by:

  • focusing on the acquisition of new credit volumes based on the potential identified in Q2,
  • improving cooperation and transactionality in particular with lower activity Customers by focusing on cross-sell of cash management and FX transactions,
  • adjustment of pricing policy in the area of loans and cash management to the new macroeconomic conditions,
  • increasing the level of deposits and deposits on accounts with simultaneous actions aimed at optimising the Bank’s margin.

These measures resulted in improved sales performance in the third quarter: new Customer acquisition returned to pre-pandemic levels and new loan sales were 15% higher than in the first quarter 2020. Also in the fourth quarter, despite a spike in the spread of the virus in the second wave of Covid-19 and with continued market uncertainty, the SME area maintained positive trends in new business acquisition. To sum up 2020, the economic slowdown and the difficult conditions of the pandemic did not allow new sales volumes to be realised at levels comparable to the previous year: for the whole of 2020, the acquisition of new SME Customers amounted to 1.4 thousand companies, down by around 30% compared to the previous year, while new loan sales of PLN 2.5 billion were 49% lower compared to 2019.

Bank guarantees and letters of credit

The Bank offers fast and comprehensive services related to guarantees and letters of credit, which are based on dedicated IT solutions.

In 2020, at the request of SME Customers, the Bank issued:

  • 752 bank guarantees for a total value of PLN 139.8 million.
  • 129 import letters of credit with a total value of PLN 27.7 million and handled 170 export letters of credit with a total value of PLN 110.8 million issued by third-party banks.

Commercial volumes

As at 31 December 2020, SME Banking deposits on a consolidated level amounted to PLN 12,284,023 thousand and were PLN 1,828,635 thousand i.e. 17% higher than at the end of 2019. The biggest change in the structure of the portfolio compared to the end of 2019 was the increase in the share of current accounts (by 21 p.p., to 94%) with a simultaneous decrease in the share of overnight deposits (by 9 p.p., to 0.4%) term deposits (by 8 p.p., to 5%) and savings accounts (by 3 p.p., to 0.7%).

Deposits and loans – SME Banking*

XLS
PLN ‘000 31.12.2020 31.12.2019 change y/y
PLN ‘000 %
Current accounts 11,579,704 7,696,177 3,883,527 50%
Saving accounts 88,948 438,094 (349,146) (80%)
Term deposits 569,106 1,308,463 (739,357) (57%)
Overnight deposits 46,266 1,012,655 (966,389) (95%)
Accounts and Deposits 12,284,023 10,455,388 1,828,635 17%
Investment loans 4,597,869 5,198,315 (600,446) (12%)
Overdrafts 1,713,592 2,608,743 (895,151) (34%)
Lease receivables 607,948 606,050 1,898 0%
Factoring 841 1,095 (254) (23%)
Other loans 1,338 1,561 (223) (14%)
Net loans and advances 6,921,588 8,415,764 (1,494,176) (18%)
*The value of deposits and loans in selected segments is based on data from the management information systems as they provide more detailed product information. For the sake of comparability, the data as at 31 December 2019 were presented in accordance with the segmentation for 2020.
The value of deposits excludes balances of some credit institutions which are considered interbank deposits in management reporting, whereas in financial reporting they are recognized as customer deposits. In addition, the balances exclude accrued interest before maturity.

 

As at 31 December 2020 the value of the loans and advances portfolio in the SME Banking on a consolidated level amounted to 6,921,588 thousand and was lower by 1,494,176 thousand and by 18% than at the end of 2019. The largest decline in value was in overdrafts.

Gross result of SME Banking segment

In 2020 the gross result of the SME segment was PLN 106,012 thousand (compared to PLN 83,511 thousand in the previous year, an increase of 27% y/y).

The improvement in the result was mainly due to lower risk costs compared to the same period last year.

The net banking income on SME banking activity in 2020 amounted to PLN 444,085 thousand and was lower by 8% compared to the previous year. This result constitutes 9.4% of the Group’s total income on banking activity in the analysed period.

Gross result of SME Banking segment*

XLS
PLN ‘000 12 months ended
31.12.2020		 12 months ended
31.12.2019		 change y/y
PLN ‘000 %
Interest income 264,110 303,549 (39,439) (13%)
Fee and commission income 112,460 121,395 (8,935) (7%)
Trading and other income 67,515 60,308 7,206 12%
Income on banking activity 444,085 485,252 (41,167) (8%)
Impairment losses (15,875) (75,005) 59,130 (79%)
Operating expenses and amortisation and depreciation (136,130) (149,695) 13,564 (9%)
Expense allocation (150,494) (141,920) (8,574) 6%
Operating result 141,586 118,633 22,953 19%
Tax on financial institutions (35,574) (35,122) (452) 1%
Gross profit of the segment 106,012 83,511 22,501 27%
* Information based on the segmentation note included in the Consolidated report of BNP Paribas Bank Polska S.A. Capital Group for the period ended 31 December 2020.

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