Using .bnpparibas to the benefit of the Group’s customers and business lines

How is BNP Paribas Group organised?

BNP Paribas is a banking and financial services group that operates internationally. We are present in 63 countries.

We have more than 50 business lines spread across domestic banking, corporate banking, private banking, investment solutions, leasing, corporate real estate, insurance, and securitisation services.

We started working on the subject of new domains in 2012 and we were delegated our .bnpparibas TLD by ICANN in September 2014.

Within BNP Paribas Group, we have had a genuine domain name management policy since 2006, run jointly by the Communication and IT departments, which is fortunate because not all large groups are organised in this way. Nevertheless, when ICANN opened the market to new domains, we didn’t really know what to expect. This was a new area for everyone. The Group decided to go for it for several reasons, some were defensive and some conducive to new services.

We have an efficient organisation for managing our TLD, and we were able to create an extended naming convention as a result of the TLD getting the green light. We are currently using about 250 domain names on our TLD, covering multiple usages, such as business, regulatory, communities, etc.

How are you organised to manage the .bnpparibas TLD, and what are your respective roles?

Bertrand: I have been working in the Group’s IT department for 23 years. I started in production management, then joined the file transfer teams. I enjoyed a full career path there, rising to become the administrator of Internet file interchanges. Throughout my technical career, I was able to gain experience in a number of environments (mainframe z/OS, Unix, etc.).

Unexpectedly, while assisting a colleague with a file transfer system, he introduced me to his service, iNames, and it proved a great opportunity. After 10 years of technical work, I wanted my next move to be towards more functional areas. The galaxy of domain names affects every business line and covers many wide-ranging subjects.

Since 2015, I have been Domain Name Manager, and responsible for the iNames service. We provide domain name governance for the Group, working alongside the Communication department represented by Olivier.

Olivier: Having been working at BNP Paribas Group for 17 years in cybersecurity teams, I have held several roles such as administrator, strong authentication methods support, implementation of related tools, across a broad scope: technical, communication, logistics. My expertise and role as an expert contact were put to use developing a modern and decentralised management platform for these authentication methods. After this diverse career, it was time to consider another role.

So I joined Group Communication in a domain name governance role, this being an aspect managed jointly with Bertrand’s iNames team. My IT and cyber knowledge mean I can bring added technical value to the advice we give to our business lines in respect of our rock-solid governance, recognised throughout the Group.

Who are your user bases and what are their focuses in terms of the online services you offer?

Our online user bases are consumers along with businesses and institutions.

All Group business activities using the “BNP Paribas” brand name can use our TLD as a channel, and receive their own domain name.

Using our own TLD makes it possible to add an operational and technical security layer, to provide reassurance, and to offer a new aspect to all our customers and partners as they know exactly where they are going online because we own the domain names on our TLD, while we are leasing other TLDs.

How did the .bnpparibas TLD rewrite the rules, and how does it meet the Group’s needs today?

Our strategy was to deploy .bnpparibas on powerful applications and services essential to the Group.

After our business lines had adopted it, our partners were able to measure the additional benefit of deploying .bnpparibas in terms of recognition of, and trust in, the services offered.

Without bragging, our TLD is an internationally recognised success story, and we are very proud of the fact.

It is important to point out that this entails ongoing work from a whole chain of people and talents, from Governance to our business lines, and including the Communication department.

What were the key stages in the deployment of .bnpparibas?

Firstly, we had to set up a dedicated team to raise awareness among our top management.

Then, we were supported in establishing the three essential components, namely provision of the backend, and understanding the registrar and registry roles.

From then on, we were in a position to set a budget for the launch and provide an annual budget forecast to ensure the domain’s long-term management.

Lastly, when we were ready, communication was essential to raise employee awareness of the benefits of .bnpparibas.

Were any reservations expressed internally and what reassuring factors helped you overcome them?

The larger your company is, the more difficult it is to communicate internally about this kind of subject, and buy-in is also an important part of deployment.

The business lines’ instinct was to opt for .fr, .com, and other TLDs, not only out of habit but also for reasons of consistency and understandability relative to the outside world.

The tipping point was when one of our business lines started to use a domain name using our TLD.

The metrics resulting from this change meant we could show all our business lines the benefits of this new foundation for our websites, and confirmed that our initial choice was correct, as is our intention to fully deploy it.