This is a new step in the merger with the Crédit du Nord network.
Societe Generale’s future retail bank is beginning to take shape. Resulting from the ongoing merger of the Societe Generale network with that of the subsidiary of the Crédit du Nord group, it will bear the “SG” brand. This “new national brand will be associated with ten regional brands”, detailed Societe Generale on Tuesday. This will be, for example, SG Crédit du Nord in the North, SG Grand Est, SG Courtois or SG Société Générale in Île-de-France and Corsica.. The banking giant had announced, in October, its intention to keep the majority of the names of the regional banks of Crédit du Nord (Crédit du Nord, Courtois, Tarneaud, Laydernier and SMC), some of which are almost two hundred years old and to which the customers are attached. Concretely, from 2023, when the merger between the two networks will be effective, the customers of Société Générale and Crédit du Nord in the same region will be attached to a single establishment: SG Courtois, for example in Toulouse and in its region. , SG Tarneaud in Limoges or SG SMC in Marseille.
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“This brand strategy embodies our values and what we want to offer our clients together: the strength of a major international group combined with the proximity of a bank that is more firmly rooted in the region”, explains Sébastien Proto, deputy managing director of the Societe Generale group, in charge of retail banking, in a press release. “It’s a good idea to roll out the brand regionally. The group plays on proximity, like mutual banks which have a strong regional footprintnotes Nicolas Darbo, partner at Accuracy. Customers will have the feeling of staying with the same bank. »
The banking group will also apply the colors red and black to its entire new retail banking network of 10 million customers. Exit the blue star on the front of the 1450 Crédit du Nord bank branches. The group’s red and black logo will also change to an open square, “symbol of balance and symmetry between the national brand and the regional brands”according to the defense bank.
Decentralized management
The creation of eleven regional brands is accompanied by the appointment of eleven regional managers. “These appointments are in line with our commitment to ensure a balance in the appointments between the teams of the two banks, consistent with the respective weight of each brand”, emphasizes Sébastien Proto. For “gain efficiency”, Banque de la Défense has decided to opt for more decentralized management of its retail banking. A model that has demonstrated its commercial dynamism in mutual banks, such as Crédit Agricole or Crédit Mutuel.
The marriage between the retail bank of Societe Generale and Crédit du Nord aims to reduce operating costs, particularly in IT. It will lead to the elimination of 3,700 jobs between 2023 and 2025. No departure will be forced, the group promised.
The legal merger, which should materialize from January 2023, must still be validated by the regulators by the end of the year: the Prudential Control and Resolution Authority (ACPR) and the ECB.