KBC Group

KBC Mobile named best mobile banking app worldwide by independent international research agency, Sia Partners.

Press release

Brussels, 23 September 2021 – 7.00 a.m. CEST

KBC Mobile named best mobile banking app worldwide by independent international research agency, Sia Partners.

KBC Mobile tops world ranking exactly 10 years after being launched.

In a comparative study1, independent international research agency, Sia Partners, has crowned KBC Mobile best mobile banking app in the world.

KBC has always been among the front runners in the annual Sia survey in previous years, but ended up taking the top spot this year. This recognition is all the more important for KBC, because Sia has systematically expanded the scope of its survey in recent years. In the current survey, Sia examined no fewer than 135 banks from 17 different countries around the world, enabling the study to provide an excellent picture of the current mobile banking market and the trends that are emerging.

Sia highlights various factors in its analysis of KBC Mobile, including the remarkably large number of additional third-party services, the simulation tools, full online capabilities for many types of transactions, the excellent and hassle-free user experience, connectivity (e.g., wearables, itsme, cash withdrawals at ATMs, etc.), the possibilities to interact with KBC's other physical and digital distribution channels and the central role of Kate - KBC's digital personal assistant.

Sia's conclusion is clear: ‘KBC Mobile is a perfect and efficient banking app for everyday needs and one of the most innovative with some interesting extras. The app surprises customers with the wide range of functionalities and the virtual assistance by Kate.'

Incidentally, the Sia report is not the only one that considers KBC to be the reference in the field of digitalisation. In a recent report, for instance, Deloitte put Kate at the top of an analysis2 of digital assistants, and last week TechPulse magazine named Kate 'Best Customer Case 2021'.

Johan Thijs, KBC Group CEO, regards this top ranking as a fitting acknowledgement of all the hard work put in over the past few years: 'KBC Mobile's top worldwide position in the Sia rankings is clear recognition of 10 years of innovation, development and – in particular – carefully listening to our customers. For me, this recognition applies not just to Belgium, but also to the mobile apps we offer our customers in all our core markets. Our Pearl+ business culture ensures we continuously inspire each other in all KBC group countries to launch, realise and adopt new ideas that are a 'perfect fit' with local customer expectations. The Digital First approach we launched a year ago as the core of our strategy is clearly paying off in this regard and demonstrates the innovative strength we can harness as a group.'