KBC Groep : Digital signing capability proving popular with KBC clients

Press release

Brussels, 21 October 2016

For two weeks now, KBC clients have had the capability to digitally sign the documents for their home loan and related insurance (loan balance insurance and home insurance). More than 1 000 home projects have since been processed in this way. Business managers have been able to sign remotely for corporate loans and tax pre-payment plans since the end of June.

KBC had already given its clients the opportunity to use video link or chat facilities to open a home loan file and to discuss and conclude it with an adviser in a Regional Advice Centre, instead of having to go to a KBC Bank branch. This allows clients to ask questions about a home loan not only remotely (for instance, from their home), but also outside regular opening hours: the KBC Regional Advice Centres in Hasselt, Leuven, Ghent, Antwerp and Bruges are open on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

KBC is now taking this approach to the next level and giving its clients the chance to use KBC Touch to digitally sign the documents required for concluding a home loan and the related insurance. They no longer need to go to the branch in person and can go through the entire home project process online with KBC. They can visit the KBC website (www.kbc.be) to look up information and simulate what a certain home loan formula would cost them, use video link or chat facilities to seek advice and receive guidance from a member of staff at a Regional Advice Centre, and then digitally sign all the relevant documents.

KBC's clients have been highly enthusiastic about this capability. In the space of just two weeks, over 1 000 home loan contracts have been digitally signed. What clients appreciate most is the high degree of convenience offered. Apart from saving them time, they do not have to go specially to a KBC Bank branch to arrange their loan. At the same time, KBC reduces its use of paper. Once the home project has been digitally signed, the client can still access it in KBC Touch (the app that clients use to do their banking and insurance business on tablet or PC) and in Doccle.

Business managers, too, are just as enthusiastic about the possibility to digitally sign corporate loan contracts and to take out tax pre-payment plans. This capability of signing corporate loans is being used an average of 200 times a month.

Daniel Falque, CEO of the KBC Belgian Business Unit: 'Our clients are demanding accessible, easy-to-use solutions that save them valuable time. Accessibility, reliability and - the increasingly cited factor of - speed, are paramount in this regard. Consequently, KBC is continuing to invest in client-centric initiatives that embrace digital opportunities. Indeed, in the past two years, we have invested considerable resources in seamlessly interfacing our various points of contact, not just our bank branches, insurance agencies, websites and mobile apps, but more recently our Regional Advice Centres, too. As a result, all the information from these access points can be exchanged quickly and efficiently to help us meet the

Viviane Huybrecht, General Manager of Corporate Communication/KBC Group Spokesperson Tel. + 32 2 429 85 45 | E-mail: pressofficekbc@kbc.be