Having arrived in Monaco only a few months ago to head Banque Populaire Méditerranée, he considers himself a "demanding humanist" but with great modesty. Monaco’s multicultural environment doesn’t displease this man who "always takes an interest in others".
Did you mention an unusual career?
That, it is! I was born in a small village in the Auvergne, and the manager of the village’s only bank told me that it was thanks to his bank that such and such a building had been built – and that gave me a vocation at the age of 17. I joined the Banque Populaire group in 1985, and have climbed right up the ladder.
Is that no longer common?
It’s an ‘old style’ career. From the position of cashier to that of regional manager; I acquired all my professional experience thanks to ‘the elders’ who were my guides. That type of apprenticeship is long and requires patience and humility, but it does allow you to work calmly at a fascinating job. It also necessarily makes you want to hand down in turn to the new generation, that will do even more and do it better (a nod to the Banque Populaire logo).
Is the Banque Populaire group paternalistic?
In any case, it’s undoubtedly a group that gives people a chance. I’ve progressed and trained, while having the opportunity to devise atypical experiences , such as the creation of a school-branch, with ten candidates selected to be fully trained in banking activities. When they were moved afterwards, their supervisors were very satisfied: all those young recruits were operational. I also took part in branch creation, as Group Director for Toulon and Saint-Tropez.
You are also involved with Toulon University.
I’m a humanist. I take an interest in others, to understand, guide or train them. At the University, I in turn teach sandwich course students who are studying for a banking, finance and insurance first degree or master’s degree.
I lecture in monetary and banking economics, as well as customer relations management. That’s very important. We must all make sure we ‘treat well’ our customers and their support, throughout the relationship which must be of high quality. Whatever the chosen channel (branch visit; telephone; digital channels), the customer journey must be smooth, pleasant, fast, and high quality.
Having arrived in Monaco very recently, how would you describe Banque Populaire in the Principality?
As two poles of excellence:
- a Corporate pole of very high technical level, fully mastering all operations, financing operations (LBOs) included.
- a highly polyglot Private Banking team, speaking all languages… besides Chinese! Our employees’ very strong skills enable customers to build ‘open architecture’ wealth management. Every customer is unique, so every proposal is personalised.
Our trading room located within our premises allows us to place orders directly from Monaco and to intervene in all markets, which few in the financial centre can do.
But it’s our clientele that defines our genes. It comprises business leaders, retailers, artisans and private individuals. They sometimes struggle to find banks that serve them. We hope to make a difference there. We have real knowledge of the day-to-day market, and a 115 year-old people-oriented culture.
We intend to make a difference in human relations ; customers must trust their banker like their doctor. Customers’ interests take precedence. Compared with other financial centre institutions, our advisors have a small portfolio with a number of customers allowing them to have real interpersonal relationships.
We master the technology and digital is incorporated into our everyday life, but it’s with our closeness and the best in people that Banque Populaire Méditerranée intends to make a difference.
