Dexia now stands as the Belfius Bank.
Dexia Bank now
becomes Belfius Bank and Insurance. For a number of years, despite the common
mistakes Dexia made like any other bank, the bank continued to be
one of the successful and famous banks in Belgium, until the
global financial crisis.
The question is,
‘Would this new name bring a change to the bank industry, when customers
are looking for efficiency and satisfaction in bank service?’ Frankly speaking, customers want to enjoy
quality, efficient service.
Quality service
brings customers, and poor customer service drives customers away. It's
therefore wise to say “welcome Belfius Bank, but customers need quality
service but not a new name”.
Some years back,
when a foreigner with a working permit and resident permit went to open an
account at Dexia in Antwerp, bank officials denied them access to open an
account, by requesting for Belgian passport.
Yet at the same
Dexia bank at Borsbeek, the foreigner will successfully open an account without a nationality passport request. How could a bank be successful when part of its
officials are discriminatory and racist? Thank God, today all is
over.
After the severe
global financial crisis, it was on the lips of everyone that the bank had gone
bankrupt. How the bank managed to survive its severe crisis in its banking
history is what we see now as Belfius.
Despite the
difficult market environment, the commercial teams
of Dexia demonstrated their fighting spirit and strength by steering
the bank from the stormy market to a stable one.
Last year, Belgium
Dexia Bank was sold to the Belgian government at 4 billion euros, through SFPI,
its investment company, while at the same time, Dexia was confronted with the
liquidation of one of its old customers, namely Holding Communal.
Today, Dexia stands
as Belfius. This is one of the banks in Belgium, and I am always happy and
satisfied when I am there. Congratulations.