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The Connector Podcast - DFS Digital Finance Summit - Isabel Ecosystem: 30 Years of Fintech Innovation
Three decades of financial innovation have positioned Isabel as a cornerstone of Belgium's banking landscape. Starting as a multi-banking payment platform in 1995, this joint venture of Belgium's four major banks has evolved into something far more ambitious – creating financial ecosystems that connect institutions, businesses, and technology providers.
Sylvie van der Velde, who leads business development at Isabel, reveals how their latest platform "Kube" is transforming corporate data exchange. With 300,000 companies already in the system, Kube is a digital passport allowing banks to share verified business information, eliminating redundant KYB processes. "When you're a client at two banks, you don't need to do the KYC process twice," Sylvie explains. This invisible benefit streamlines verification while maintaining security.
What's particularly fascinating is Isabel's pragmatic approach to technology. Though Kube began as a blockchain experiment during the technology's peak hype around 2018, the team ultimately pivoted away from it. "We turned it around," Sylvie notes. "Our objective is having a better client experience - which technology do we need?" This refreshing focus on outcomes rather than trending technologies demonstrates the maturity that comes with 30 years in the industry.
Looking ahead, Isabel plans to expand Kube beyond identity verification to include ESG data, allowing voluntary SMEs to showcase their sustainability credentials. This will provide businesses with competitive advantages in tenders and recruitment, as younger talent increasingly prioritizes employer values. With interest from Luxembourg and the Netherlands, Kube's potential extends beyond Belgium's borders.
Visit Isabel's website to learn more about their community events and webinars. There, you can connect with others and explore how their ecosystem approach might benefit your business. After three decades of innovation, Isabel continues to prove that sometimes the most valuable financial solutions come not from disruption but from thoughtful collaboration.
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Koen Vanderhoydonk
koen.vanderhoydonk@jointheconnector.com
#FinTech #RegTech #Scaleup #WealthTech
Welcome to the Connector Podcast, an ongoing conversation connecting fintechs, banks and regulators worldwide. Join CEO and founder Cohen van der Hooydonk as you learn more about the latest available trends and solutions in the markets.
Speaker 2:Welcome to another podcast. Here live from the offices of Belgium Fintech, and I've got with me another guest, sylvie, from Isabel. Hello, hello, hello. Sylvie, can you explain a little bit about yourself and also about?
Speaker 3:Isabel. So my name is Sylvie van der Velde. I work at Isabel since November 2023, so quite new.
Speaker 2:I work at.
Speaker 3:Isabelle since November 2023, so quite new, and I'm responsible for business development, marketing and communication, and before Isabelle, that's why I was also in your podcast. A few years ahead, I was working for seven years at itsme.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and can you tell me a little bit more about Isabelle? I know a lot of people know about it, but I guess for the international audience it's kind of interesting to hear what that's all about.
Speaker 3:So Isabelle is a joint venture for the four major banks in Belgium. We are celebrating our 30th anniversary this year Wow. So created in 1995. It's like another world 95. So 30 years old, and it started as a multi-banking payment platform for corporates, so it's multi-banking B2B payments and it still is, so that is our main product. It's called Isabel 6. And since then so in 2023, we revamped actually the company with a new vision and mission. So we have three domains of activity. So it's payments and financial data, verified corporate data and trust services.
Speaker 2:So some say you're the oldest fintech in Belgium.
Speaker 3:Indeed, we don't like to be mentioned as a fintech because it seems a little bit weird when we see what we are doing, because now we want to create actually ecosystems. So fintech sometimes at the banking community doesn't have a good reputation.
Speaker 2:So you're the oldest financial ecosystem in.
Speaker 3:Belgium. Indeed. Well, 30 years old is not that old.
Speaker 2:No, no, that's true, that's true, but it's one of the first.
Speaker 3:Indeed, in Belgium we had a lot of joint ventures, so it's actually a. Belgian thing and it's the oldest one. Let's say it like that yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Now very recent, when you talk about strategy, there was a strategy session, which I was pleased to be at there as well, and a lot about the conversations was about Cube. And yeah, what is Cube?
Speaker 3:So Cube is one of our new products and it's about verified corporate data. So it's about not the money flows that we're doing in the payment world, but it's about the data flow, and Cube is an exchange platform so that actually we can exchange amongst the banking community, but also afterwards, larger verified corporate data. So it's a little bit like a digital passport of a company.
Speaker 2:I think a lot of us would call it. You know your business, kyb.
Speaker 3:That's the first use case, indeed, because you need to have a customer data to do the KYC process or the KYB. So that's the first use case we're going to handle and, thanks to Cube, actually we are going to mutualize the data means that a company, when your client, at two banks, you don't need to do the kyc process two times, so you will do it at the first bank and then actually the second bank will reuse the process that the first bank has done and can you walk us a little bit through the mechanics?
Speaker 2:so you say the first bank does it and then the rest can benefit, but how does it work for the actual businesses?
Speaker 3:Well, actually, they don't know that their data is shared on Cube, so that's a benefit. It's actually a hidden benefit. Today we have already 300,000 companies that are available on Cube, so I'm sure that the companies well, I hope they felt different and so for the company, it will be in the future that they will also see the data that is available, because we want to open it up for them.
Speaker 2:But today is actually hidden benefits that the banks are using for their companies and in the future, when it's opening up, would it then also become a two-way street for the businesses?
Speaker 3:Well, we will going to open it up because we will add some other data. We will add ESG data and there we need the corporates to give us the data that they have about their sustainability report. So that's why we're going to open it up towards them and they will see, actually, the data that is already available within Cube about their identity.
Speaker 2:So you're making a jumpstart, in a way, indeed. Well, I'd like to take you back a little bit to the bank side, because you mentioned, the big banks in Belgium are part of the Isabel initiative and therefore also Cube. But how would it work then for other banks? I mean, there's more than four banks in Belgium, there's a lot of banks in Belgium, so how do they collaborate in the adventure of Cube?
Speaker 3:Actually, we're always working for the banking community. So most of the time the starting point are the four major banks and once we have reached a project at a certain level, then we share it with the other banks to have their feedback. So it's not close to the four major banks, it's of course for the whole banking banks. It's of course for the whole banking community. For example, in the payments for the payment on Isabelle 6, we have actually more than 500 banks that are available through the platform. So we have like 20 member banks. So they're Belgian but also foreign banks. And for Ponto, this is our PZ2, an open banking platform. There we have, of course, all the European banks. So it's always about the community and it's not only for the four major banks. Most of the time they kickstart the project and then we can open it up.
Speaker 2:Well, you almost give me the next question as a natural flow. How does that look with Q, because you mentioned a lot of times Belgium, companies, mm-hmm. Is there an ambition to make that European or even global?
Speaker 3:I think the European will be possible because we are working under the AML legislation. So the anti-money laundry, and this one is on European level. So we are doing it first on our home base, so we're doing it first in Belgium, but we have already received requests from Luxembourg and from the Netherlands, because they're always looking. Well, we're looking at what they're doing, they're looking at what we are doing. So there is a possibility, of course, to go broader. There were some initiatives in the Nordics.
Speaker 3:We are always looking at the Nordics. They had one that was similar to Cube, but they stopped it.
Speaker 2:I think it was last year, a couple of years ago, yeah.
Speaker 3:They unfortunately or I don't know if it's unfortunately but they stopped it. So we're also looking at them like what failed there, so that we don't make the same mistakes. No, no sure.
Speaker 2:I think that's a very obvious one, indeed. We did it, we asked there are actually more initiatives like this, like Swift also tried it.
Speaker 3:Indeed, but it's very difficult because it's always about finding a common ground between major players. So that's always. It's not about the technology and I know that my technology friends don't like when I say that Technology can solve a lot of problems but the first thing you need to be sure that you have a common ground, that you say, okay, we go for that kind of data set, that's the process we want to follow and we have. When you have that, then you can build the right technology not always easy.
Speaker 2:I would even argue it's common ground, but it's common benefit indeed, that's the first part. If there is no common benefit, then there is no reason to to build an ecosystem well, talking about technology in the very early days, very early days of cube, when it was not even called cube. To my knowledge, it was a 100 blockchain initiative yeah indeed, I don't think it is today, is it?
Speaker 3:no, no, no, indeed, it started. I think it was 2018, 2020. It was a blockchain, it was a project blockchain project. It was hype and back then, the objective was actually we want to use blockchain. Which process could we uh solve by using blockchain? And so the kyc for corporate, so kyb was the uh was the use case. And we turn it around. We said our objective is having a better client indeed, and which technology do we need?
Speaker 3:and today there is no blockchain involved anymore because it was not the right technology in the right choice so it's makes we tried it out. At least now we know.
Speaker 2:So tick the box of the testing and now we really have a solution that works. Maybe back on the ESG part you open it up to the businesses. How do you look at what's currently being discussed at Omnibus? That's very recent Some discussions where I guess they're trying to lower down the barrier for smaller companies to also report on ESG. Does that have an effect?
Speaker 3:We will look at it because Omnibus will be, of course, validated this summer. So what we see, and I think in the spirit to lower the barrier, is a very good spirit. I think we need to make it as accessible as possible for the businesses.
Speaker 3:In certain way there will be more VSMEs because the Cube ESG project is only for the voluntary SMEs. That's our focus. So as the Omnibus will change, the number of VSMEs, that will be bigger. For us it's actually an opportunity to connect more companies. But you have other profiles of companies because you have small companies, of course, and you don't have an ESG manager internally. Bigger companies has one, so also the interaction with that kind of companies might be different. So we are going to see how it looks like and what kind of companies will be using our product and we adapt it to their needs.
Speaker 2:Yeah, sort of makes sense, and we had a little bit of a discussion earlier and I like the fact that you make it available on a voluntary basis for the companies, because there's probably a lot of companies that want to their DNA or they want to do it differently or they want to say okay, I want to position myself differently towards the market.
Speaker 3:Sometimes in tenders or in RFP, you want to make a difference with the competitors and you say I'm a sustainable company and you want to prove it. Or even for employer branding. You want to attract new talents. You have a lot of young people they look at it. Can I have an impact? What is the way you look at sustainability? So we really look at it like how can sustainability reports can benefit the company on a business level, but also on a branding and positioning level.
Speaker 2:Well, if you look at Isabel, 30 years the building of ecosystems has been serving the markets. How do you see Iselle continuing serving the market in a sort of fast-paced digital world with a lot of AI and stuff like that? How do you see the role evolving and what do you foresee to come in the next five to 10 years?
Speaker 3:Well, I think the switch that we made last year is looking at ecosystems. I think when you build ecosystems, that is also a more sustainable way to look at things. Then everybody can have his specialty. Some people will be very focused, or some companies will be focused on AI. Then you can use their AI capabilities and you will focus on something else. So it's about finding the right combination and also building ecosystems so that it's a win-win-win solution for the different companies. So we were looking at it in that way. It's about working together, it's about finding the good parties, and then you can have a mix from big and small companies, because sometimes a new technology is in a startup or is in a scale-up, and it's about finding the good business model where everybody will win and would you say that innovation within Isabel is it driven by the ecosystems or is it driven by the particular banks that are in it?
Speaker 3:I think the innovation is driven by the need in the market. Sometimes it comes from a company, sometimes it comes from one of our partners, because we have, of course, a partner network from about 200 software companies. That's integrated the banking services that we have. So we are for embedded banking. Sometimes they have a need, they see an opportunity and they contact us because they don't want to go to the whole regulation that a bank needs to go?
Speaker 2:Which regulation?
Speaker 3:I don't know, I don't know, maybe Dora could be one of them, but so it's quite heavy. And then so they count on us to do that part. But they have another part of the puzzle. Sometimes innovation comes from a bank where they say, okay, we want to solve that, but we need to have a community to solve it or an ecosystem, so it can come from different ways, sometimes even from legislation or compliance. There you have also innovation and opportunity that's come up. So it's about looking to the outside world and opening your ears to see what's happening and then to see if we are the right party to solve it.
Speaker 3:So we say, if we can solve it for a community so larger than one company, then it might be something for Isabel.
Speaker 2:So what you're saying, sylvie, the door is open, indeed, for conversations. And how? Saying Sylvie, the door is open for conversations, and how do they actually enter to the door?
Speaker 3:Well, actually we are looking to refurnishing our offices, but it's also part of the switch. We want to have also a more community-based, where we can have some interactions, the way that you have gone. You can have breakfast or after work where you can open conversation, where you can discuss things, where you can connect with people. I think you will love it. Oh, I like connecting.
Speaker 3:You should try. It's lovely, but we do know that it's about sharing ideas or sometimes sharing needs or frustrations, where new ideas pop up, so we're looking into it. We did a few events last year and this year we just celebrated with our customers and our partners at 30th University, so it was a great event with 200 people in the room. It was great. Then you can exchange ideas and also about what people are looking at and what you're expecting. So we're going to have more events soon.
Speaker 2:That's for sure. Everyone. Just look out on the website, I suppose, to see when the events are happening.
Speaker 3:Indeed, and we will do webinars for the digital version, but we love the physical ones too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I understand. Well, I think this is a brilliant note to stop our podcast for today. So, people, if you're interested, go and check on the website, join the events, connect, indeed, on this. It's an open invitation. Exactly, sylvie. Thank you very much for your contribution today.
Speaker 3:Thank you.
Speaker 2:Thank you also to the audience and again I'd love to see you more. We're going to do more stuff on innovation in finance. See you soon.
Speaker 3:See you soon, thank you.
Speaker 2:Bye-bye.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to another episode of the Connected Podcast. To connect and keep up to date with all the latest, head over to wwwjointhekonnectedcom or hit subscribe via your podcast streaming platform.