According to Benoît Desserre, head of global transaction banking at Société Générale, 2018 was a “remarkable year” for the business.
The bank’s net income in Western Europe (excluding France), Asia and the USA for transaction services rose by 16% – “outstanding given that we are seeing negative interest rates in markets in Europe,” he says.
France is not included in this data. Critics claim that this is because Société Générale’s performance in the country has come under pressure from competitors such as BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole. Desserre explains, however, that it is because the bank is already a “global transaction banking (GTB) leader in its home country. As such, growth is particularly difficult to achieve there and would not reflect our growth in the business.”
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| Benoît Desserre, Société Générale |
The bank does not break down profits from its global transaction banking business but Desserre is adamant that it is well on its way to achieving its GTB target – publicly outlined in its five-year plan – to grow revenue from €1.9 billion in 2016 to €2.6