Banking on digital

TOO much of a good thing can lead to indigestion - this axiom extends well beyond gastronomical delights, to mergers and acquisitions in the corporate scene. And so it is that at BNP Paribas, the choice is to resist a rich appetite for large buyouts in the next few years.

For Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, chief executive of the French bank, there is a greater urgency that comes with transforming the market leader in the eurozone region into a more digital outfit.

In 2017, the bank announced that it would invest 3 billion euros (S$4.72 billion) in digital technology over the next three years. In particular, that would mean raising spending on digital initiatives by 50 per cent over that period.