Comprehensive SWOT Analysis of BNP Paribas – One Of The World’s Largest Banks Committed To Sustainable Economy

Updated on: Jan 1, 2022
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Previously we had given an In-depth SWOT Analysis of HSBC, which is also the world’s largest banking and financial services organization. In this article, we are going to analyze the SWOT analysis of BNP Paribas which is one of the global leaders in financial services.

BNP Paribas is a French multinational financial services bank based in Paris, France. BNP Paribas is the largest bank in Europe and one of the four major French international banks. The Bank’s evolution has offered an opportunity to explore two centuries of banking history, with that of Europe and the world as a whole.

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Before we go into the SWOT Analysis of BNP Paribas, let us know about BNP Paribas as a company.

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About BNP Paribas 

SWOT Analysis of BNP Paribas - BNP Paribas Office Quarters

BNP – Banque Nationale de Paris and Paribas – Banque de Paris bank of Paris and the Netherlands were two separate banks. BNP was founded 178 years ago which is in the year 1848 as a French national bank and Paribas was founded in the year 1872. 

In 1999 there was a high stock market battle going on in Paribas and that’s when BNP took control over Paribas. Both the banks merged in the year 2000 and became the bank BNP Paribas. 

The bank offers all banking and fiscal services. It is known for its French banking operations but also has operations in the western midwest and western United States as Bank of the West. As international financial services and investment bank, the bank is present across Europe, the Americas, and Asia. BNP Paribas is the first to be introduced as an entirely digital mobile-based bank in Europe. The bank works in France, Italy, Belgium, Germany, and Luxembourg.

Quick Stats on BNP Paribas
Chairman Jean Lemierre
Year Founded 2000 as BNP Paribas
Origin Paris, France
No. of Employees 193,000
Company Type Public
Market Cap € 75.01 Billion (2021)
Annual Revenue € 44.275 Billion (2020)
Net Income/ Profit € 7.067 Billion (2020)

 

Products & Services by BNP Paribas 

The below mentioned are activities which are the main fields of BNP Paribas: 

  • Investment banking
  • Corporate banking
  • Asset management
  • Consumer banking
  • Credit cards
  • Mortgage loans
  • Private banking
  • Wealth management


Competitors of BNP Paribas 

BNP Paribas top competitors include:

  • Bank of America
  • Citigroup
  • China Construction Bank Corporation
  • Deutsche Bank
  • HSBC
  • Societe Generale 


SWOT Analysis of BNP Paribas 

SWOT Analysis informs about a company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. SWOT Analysis of BNP Paribas will help us to compare BNP Paribas’s business and performance with its competitors and the industry in general. It helps establish where the company excels and where it fails to perform well, and also helps in developing tactics that can lead to the company’s development.

To better understand the SWOT analysis of BNP Paribas, refer to the infographics image below:

SWOT Analysis of BNP Paribas - SWOT Infographics of BNP Paribas

Below is a step-by-step detailed directory to help you with the SWOT analysis of BNP Paribas.

Strengths of BNP Paribas

Certain qualities of an establishment that prove to be advantageous in seizing market share, attracting more customers, and gaining better profits can be called the strengths of that organization. Following are the strengths of BNP Paribas.

  • Strong Portfolio: Although BNP Paribas was established in the year 2000, from years both the banks BNP and Paribas have a well-built portfolio in the banking sector and also the financial position from decades. 
  • In Top 50: BNP Paribas is at the 5th position in the top 50 banks in the world which in itself is one of the biggest strengths of BNP Paribas.
  • Vast and Upskilling Workforce: BNP Paribas has more than 191,000+ employees working for them across 74 Countries. 

SWOT Analysis of BNP Paribas - BNP Paribas Working on 3 Pillar Digital Transformation
(BNP Paribas Working on 3 Pillar Digital Transformation, Source: BNP Paribas)

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  • Towards the Future of Banking: Artificial Intelligence is said to be the future of banking, having said that Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Blockchain are also the main three pillars of BNP Paribas which shows how updated they are when it comes to future planning.
  • Sustainable Economy: BNP Paribas has committed itself to being socially responsible by following a Sustainable Economy. In 2015 they agreed to double the financial resources which were in particular allocated for the renewable energy sector from EUR 6 billion in 2014 to EUR14 billion in 2020 not only that they have achieved this goal two years in advance of their allocated plan.


Weaknesses of BNP Paribas

Certain components of an organization that may prove to be disadvantageous to the organization, its growth rate and results are considered a weakness of the organization.

  • High Trading Fee: BNP Paribas trading fee is considerably high when it comes to stock fee and ETF fee whereas they don’t charge a withdrawal fee.
  • Customer Service: BNP Paribas customer service is not only poor in managing customers but also the employees of their customer service management feel that they aren’t treated well, wealth insurance is not given and they are expected to work for long hours.
  • Cash Flow Problems: There is a lack of proper monetary planning at BNP Paribas in regards to cash flows, leading to certain situations where there isn’t suitable cash flow as needed leading to unnecessary unplanned borrowing.
  • Need to Invest More in New Technologies: According to the country’s scale of expansion and the geographical areas BNP Paribas needs to invest more funds in technology to coordinate the processes across the board. Currently, the investment in technology is not on par with the vision of the company.
  • Shutting Down Wealth Management in India: BNP Paribas has shut down their wealth management in India and insists that this decision is not the impact of covid. The sad part is more than 60+ employees have lost their jobs because of this shutdown.
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Opportunities for BNP Paribas

Companies have prospective areas of focus for them to better their results, increase sales and ultimately profit. They are called opportunities. Following are BNP Paribas’s opportunities.

  • Digital Trading: BNP Paribas has taken over the covid situation and made it easy for both the clients and the employees. They could also use this opportunity to increase the efficiency of security and accuracy.
  • Artificial Intelligence: BNP Paribas consider one of their main pillars as Artificial Intelligence, so they can use it and give the asset managers and investors a high range of products that are automated and customized.
  • API’s: Application Programming Interface has been one of the basic needs of clients nowadays as mentioned by them, that their clients expect more of a seamless system nowadays. It would be a great opportunity if they could work on it and provide it to their clients.
  • Customer Service: As they are changing the customer service to more digital, they can also take this as an opportunity to build the customer service experience in a seamless process.
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Threats to BNP Paribas

  • Operational Risk: It is a risk factor that occurs due to inadequate processing which involves personnel and information systems.
  • Material Losses: The risk management policies of BNP Paribas have been very transparent and exposed which could lead to material losses.
  • Increased Marketing Efforts: Due to the shifting focus towards digital marketing, there is an increasing number of promotional messages which are being sent by competitors. It clutters up the space, which results in losing out on customers. You must also be knowledgeable with a variety of digital marketing skills to keep up with the competition.
  • Cyber Security: it’s been one of the major risk factors in the financial sector. It is a must for financial systems to have the ability to withstand this cyber-attack by increasing IT  monitoring and control.


Now that we have come to the end of this comprehensive SWOT Analysis of BNP Paribas. Let’s see the summation of this article in the conclusion.

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To Conclude

And that marks the end of this article on SWOT analysis of BNP Paribas. BNP Paribas should get to work on their customer service department and correct the flaws and make it a seamless experience for the customers. BNP Paribas has always been a competitive player in the market and will continue to be so.

Also, one point to not miss out on is that BNP Paribas is in line with its marketing effort. It has created a credible customer base for itself by tapping into the digital era and creating a valuable social media presence on several platforms. If you are interested in learning digital marketing, don’t forget to check out IIDE’s 3 Month Advanced Digital Marketing Course.

We hope this blog on the SWOT Analysis of BNP Paribas has given you an honest insight into the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. You can also read our comprehensive study on the SWOT Analysis of JP Morgan Chase.

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Aditya Shastri

Lead Trainer & Head of Learning & Development at IIDE

Leads the Learning & Development segment at IIDE. He is a Content Marketing Expert and has trained 6000+ students and working professionals on various topics of Digital Marketing. He has been a guest speaker at prominent colleges in India including IIMs......[Read full bio]

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