The Belfius application free of roaming charges

The customers of Belfius will now be able to access their banking application in more than 160 countries without paying roaming charges. The Belgian bank has just officially announced its strategic decision, taken thanks to a partnership signed with the Belgian mobile connectivity application Firsty.

FACTS

• Belfius has signed a new partnership with Firsty to ensure the accessibility of its services worldwide.

• The bank's customers will benefit from free roaming access to its mobile banking application in more than 160 countries and regions, thanks to the eSIM technology proposed in collaboration with Firsty.

• They will be able to stay connected to Belfius Mobile all over the world to continue managing their finances.

• To access the service, Belfius customers are invited to:
  • download the Firsty app via Belfius Mobile,
  • create a Firsty account by identifying with their phone number,
  • activate a Firsty eSIM for free.

ISSUES

• Increasing accessibility of its services : Belfius' strategic decision is based on a simple objective: to improve the accessibility of its services for its customers, regardless of their geographical location. Belfius' objective here is to facilitate the management of its clients' accounts, including remotely. A welcome initiative ahead of the summer break.

• Competition with alternative models : As a historical bank, Belfius also seeks, here, to demonstrate its ability to open its model and adapt it to new needs, especially to customers in situations of mobility. This positioning allows him to make promises similar to those of alternative players such as Revolut, who, as soon as it was launched in 2015, presented itself as the passenger bank (including offering currency exchange services without hidden fees at the interbank rate).

PERSPECTIVE

• The trend is towards a rapprochement between telecom operators and financial services players in Europe. Belfius is now relying on an alternative partner to offer its roaming services free of charge via an eSIM. But if Belfius justifies this position as a way to help its customers access its banking services at no additional cost internationally, other banks are now going further.

• This is particularly the case with Revoulut, which proposes eSIM since February 2024 to allow its customers to circumvent roaming charges. The neobank Realized Moreover, its mobile package offer recently.

• For Belfius, this new offer proposed with Firsty represents a second foray of the bank on the topic of telecoms. Belfius was already building on a partnership with the local telecom operator Proximus to propose a digital banking experience and responsible Since 2021. A neo-bank for the operator's customers, Banx, was then created. But the two partners recently announced the closure of that entity.

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