Ubi, the plan of Massiah: marriage without haste, no withdrawal on current accounts

If they operated without rules, yes of course, they would be frightening. We have seen, however, that Facebook, with its Libra project, has encountered strong regulatory resistance. I think it is necessary for all players to be subject to the same rules. And the rules must be adapted to the changing world. Think of the Psd2 directive, just entered into force, which does not guarantee reciprocity between operators in the use of customer data.

Many financial groups announce that they are aiming at becoming a data driven company. And even the Big Tech, more than the banking business, seem to be interested in customer data. Didn't you banks realize you were sitting on a treasure?

Let's say that the whole system has been sitting on this treasure of information and has not caught its potential in advance. But be careful: using customer data to improve the service is right, commodifying them to enrich the bank is wrong.

The other "epochal" event that damages bank accounts is the negative rates of the ECB, which are holding back the interest margin. Will you transfer them to customers, following the UniCredit announcement?

At present, I can say with certainty that we will not transfer negative rates on customer deposits. As for loans, our policy of rigorous pricing prevented us from seizing some employment opportunities but, compared to others, we had a lower negative impact on net interest income. Moreover it is almost offset by the growth in commissions.