Who's who at Keytrade Bank? Who answers the phone when you call us?

Keytrade Bank is a digital bank. However, behind the screens, we don't have robots working every day to make the Bank better. No, we have more than 200 employees across dozens of divisions. Whether it's at our Contact Centre, our Credit Department, our IT Department or our Data Department, our employees work every day to ensure they best meet your needs. Perhaps you'd like to find out more about them, what they do and their day-to-day work? And in doing so, also learn how Keytrade Bank works?

Lost your Softkey? Or got a question about a suspicious transaction? Your first instinct should be to call our Contact Centre on 00 32 679 90 00. On the other end of the line, our employees with their mission: be ready to deal with your questions and find a solution to your problem. Meet two of them, Alexandre Mahdi and Isabelle Dewit, along with their Team Manager, Stephanie Debaillie.

What role do employees in the Contact Centre play at Keytrade Bank?

Alexandre: Our main role is understanding the problems our clients are facing. Above all, we need to make it clear to them that we're going to support them and that they can count on us to resolve their problems as quickly as possible.

Stephanie : We hope to increase customer satisfaction. For our clients, we are Keytrade Bank's voice and ears.

What is your team set-up like? Do you regularly work with the Bank's other teams?

Alexandre: We all have has our own skills, which we learn on the job. People master something in one area so that they can move on to picking up another skill. This is how we end up in specialist teams for each area of our offering such as new customers, technical questions, banking issues (such as debit cards, credit cards and more) and the trading of course. Internally, at the Contact Center, we communicate a lot with our Team Managers, whenever we have a question.

Isabelle : We don't have any direct contact with the other departments of Keytrade Bank. However, we do transfer issues. Whenever needed, we'll pass the problem on to the right department. And that department will then take over the case.

Stephanie : Our agents create the "files" that we as team leaders will send to the other departments for follow-up and treatment.. As a Team Manager, we are in contact with the other departments every day in order to have them solve the issue at hand.

Why is the Contact Centre so important at Keytrade Bank ?

Alexandre : As the link between the bank and our customers, we highly contribute to our bank’s image Customer satisfaction depends a lot on our work. When dealing with customers, I want them to say "I can really count on them!" . My aim is to end our conversation having a smile on both our faces.

Stephanie : We are a digital bank, so we do not have branches all over the country. As our clients’ first point of contact we try to help them as much as we can by listening closely to their needs. We want to ensure that their experience with Keytrade Bank is satisfactory. In order to do this, we liaise with the other departments of Keytrade Bank.

What does a typical day at the office look like? As the Contact Centre is open from 9 am to 10 pm, how are the working hours scheduled?

Isabelle: It depends. Either you're dealing with emails all day or you're handling phone calls. I cover a little bit of everything, except for anything relating to investments.

Alexandre : We're divided up into 3 shifts a day. There's the morning shift, which runs from 9 am to 5 pm. Then you have the shift that we call the "graveyard" shift, 11 am to 7 pm. Finally, there's the evening shift, which starts at 2 pm and ends when the Contact Centre closes.

Isabelle: We're given our working hours in advance. We have to work one evening shift a week. Personally, working in the evening doesn't bother me. I quite like it actually. And anyway, you can always try and swap shifts with one of your colleagues.

What qualities do you need in order to perform this role?

Isabelle: The most important thing is knowing how to listen to customers by putting yourself in their shoes. It’s all about understanding their problems and demonstrating empathy. You also need to able to regularly learn a huge number of things, ranging from technology to daily banking, to credit facilities and loads more. And lastly, you need to remain calm and be able to manage your stress level. Of course, you have to like talking.

Do you need to know about every aspect of the Bank?

Alexandre: There are some aspects that do not fall within our skill set. So, in these cases, we send a request to another department. It’s their job to come back to us with a correct and accurate response or to answer the customer directly. We need to know how procedures work in order to ensure that the whole team follows a consistent approach. I should not provide a different answer than one of my colleagues receiving the same question.

Isabelle: We don't learn all of the bank's technical procedures. However, we do have to know the answers to the FAQs.

What has your work set-up been like during lockdown ?

Alexandre: At the start of lockdown, the entire Contact Centre worked from home. This was new for most of us. At first, it wasn't easy. Despite the fact that we work independently, contact with our colleagues remains still very important. We were also used to having our Team Managers right there in case we had any questions. I think we gradually got used to the situation. On a positive note, I no longer need to set my alarm clock two hours in advance before my shift starts, meaning more time to relax and enjoy my coffee!

Isabelle: At first, I was still working at Keytrade Bank's offices. However, since May, I've been working from home, and it's been going very well. I can focus more at home because it can get very noisy at the office. I'm performing better and getting through my work more quickly.

Stephanie: The working structure hasn't changed. The shifts are the same and the work has stayed the same. Only now, everything is happening from home. Team Managers are normally on hand to help and support employees. However, we do regular team meetings and training sessions. All of this is still happening remotely at the moment.