Kirsten Konst
Our impact on our customers
-
Member of the Managing Board
responsible for Commercial
Banking in the Netherlands and
Regional Directors
Helping our business customers to grow
and be financially healthy is the key
objective for the Rabobank Commercial
Banking team, since growth is essential for
entrepreneurs and for the Dutch economy.
It creates jobs and helps companies to stay
flexible to respond to the changing world
around them. And helps us contribute to
the Rabobank mission: Growing a better
world together.
Rabobank is responsible for financing two-
thirds of the SME sector in the Netherlands
including Food Agri. As a leading
global Food Agri bank with a market
share in Food Agri in the Netherlands
of 85.7%, we are dedicated to helping
solve the global food issue, and other
issues important to our customers in the
Netherlands. We are strongly committed
to our clients and partners in the Dutch
Food Agri sector, as shown by our recent
efforts relating to livestock production
rights (e.g. phosphate legislation).
We want to be a top advisory bank and
help our business customers to grow
and achieve good financial health. We
offer them a combination of extensive
digital services and personal advice about
what's important to them at key times,
giving them insight into their competitive
environment. Our sector management and
research teams work proactively to inform
customers on market developments both
in the Netherlands and abroad. We apprise
customers of complex issues such as food
safety and work with the sector to address
animal welfare and environmental impact
dilemma's.
The speed of social change presents
entrepreneurs with major challenges.
Take, for instance, developments like
robotisation, digitalisation and big data.
At Rabobank our own response is a far-
reaching digital transformation of the
company. But as a top advisory bank we
also want to help our customers innovate
to respond early to future and emerging
trends. We do this by giving them access
to our knowledge and networks and by
offering financing options to help them
innovate in practice, in combination with
good payment and insurance solutions.
I joined Rabobank in 2010, attracted by
its cooperative mission. Like me, many
of our employees choose Rabobank
because its purpose is about more than
banking alone. A key change for me last
year was that loyalty scores in Commercial
Banking in the Netherlands rose strongly
in 2017, well above expectations. That
demonstrates our expanded capacity
for advising entrepreneurs and the
continual improvement of our online
service provision. The digitalisation of our
commercial lending and leasing puts the
customers in the driving seat so they can
obtain a rapid and clear response about
their financial needs. This means they can
get on with what they love most: doing
business.
