Bankforum - Rethinking Banking with Citizens

Design

We are proud with What about Dem to coordinate this unique project for G1000, in partnership with Levuur and Tree Company, and to contribute to a process where citizens genuinely help shape a more inclusive future. 

Paying with your smartphone, checking your accounts at any time, blocking a bank card in just a few seconds: for many people, digital banking has become part of everyday life. Fast, convenient and often more cost-effective, it has profoundly transformed our relationship with banking services.Yet, as promising as this evolution may be, it also raises very concrete questions for the general public.

What happens when you are not comfortable with digital tools? How can you be sure your data is properly protected? What should you do when a problem arises and there is no longer a bank branch nearby? And above all: how can trust be maintained in an increasingly dematerialised banking system?

The Banking Forum: giving citizens a voice

It is in this context that Belfius, a 100% Belgian bank-insurer, decided to launch the Banking Forum, a large-scale citizen dialogue organised by G1000, the Belgian platform for democratic renewal.

The ambition is simple yet bold: to ask citizens directly what they expect from digital banking, what their needs, concerns and priorities are.

Rather than entrusting these reflections solely to experts the initiative is built on collective intelligence and the lived experiences of the general public.

A representative citizens’ assembly

At the heart of the process is a citizens’ assembly of 75 randomly selected people, representative of the diversity of the Belgian population.Age, gender, levels of digital literacy and social backgrounds: the composition of the assembly brings together very different realities.

Over three weekends, between late February and late April, these citizens work together on a central and very concrete question:

How can a bank be digital while remaining safe, accessible and human?

To support the discussions, independent experts provide clear and pluralistic information, enabling participants to form informed opinions without jargon or bias.

Transparency, independence and inclusion

The Banking Forum is grounded in strong principles: transparency of the process, independence of the debates and inclusion of all voices.

An external advisory committee ensures that these principles are respected and that the process meets high democratic standards, in line with international best practices for citizen participation.

The recommendations formulated by the assembly are not symbolic. They will be analysed in depth and will serve as the basis for concrete actions. The results will be made public and shared, including with other actors in the banking sector.

Participation open to everyone

The Forum is not limited to the 75 randomly selected citizens. Everyone is invited to take part through an online platform: www.forumdelabanque.be

Anyone can share their experiences, expectations or concerns: difficulties with apps, the need for human contact, security issues, access to services in rural areas, support for people less comfortable with digital tools, and more.

All these contributions feed into the work of the citizens’ assembly, ensuring that the reflection reflects the widest possible diversity of lived experiences.

Leave no one behind

At a time when digital technologies are reshaping almost every aspect of our lives, the Banking Forum sends a strong message: the digital transition cannot happen without citizens.

By opening up a broad and structured space for dialogue, this initiative shows that technological innovation, trust and inclusion can go hand in hand.It goes beyond the banking sector alone and offers a concrete illustration of how citizen participation can help build fairer, more human and more sustainable solutions.

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