On site for you. We look forward to seeing you again!

On site for you. We look forward to seeing you again!

Digitally and by phone, we have been at your side over the last few months. Finally, we meet again in person.

From one day to the next, there was a home office instead of an office, digital meetings instead of meetings in person, digital contact instead of face-to-face meetings. Communication had to be scheduled, technically implemented and precisely planned. We proved last year that this works.

But what we also sensed: The exchange at a face-to-face meeting is hard to replace.

We are all the more excited to see you and talk to you at several events after more than a year. You will meet us at these state working conferences of the Professional Association of Municipal Treasurers:

What are the current challenges in your work? How can we support you in simplifying processes and further digitalising the treasury? We will listen to you and continue to be at your side.

You can make an appointment to talk to us at one of the events here. We look forward to meeting you!

Challenge and Opportunity: Theses on Municipal Development after the Pandemic

Once a quarter, the members of Loanboox’s Market Industry Board exchange views on current topics related to municipal financing. In the virtual March meeting, Norbert Portz from the  German Association of Cities and Municipalities was a guest. He shared his knowledge and experience and presented inspiring trends on the possible development of cities and municipalities after Corona.

There are about 11,000 cities and municipalities in Germany, large and small, structurally weak and structurally strong. What unites them all – despite the differences – is the question of the “aftermath” and what effects the pandemic will have.

Thesis 1: Inner cities develop new structures

It is foreseeable that online retail, which has increased by 20% in 2020, will remain at a high level. This has an enormous impact on local retailers and on the structure of city centres.

Inner cities are the mirror of society and represent its change spatially. They are home, offer identification, are points of attraction for residents and tourists. Much of this is lost through the closure of department stores and retail outlets as a source of footfall. New concepts of use and adapted structures are needed.

The future lies in functional mixing

Some medium-sized cities are setting a good example – and did so even before Corona. In Chemnitz, for example, a former department stores’ was turned into a museum and in Neuss into a theatre. Others are opting for a mix of uses for the department stores’ property, including retail, gastronomy, education, housing and parking. Potential new tenants for retail shops in the shopping malls could be craft businesses, kindergartens and creative people, for whom the inner city location is becoming attractive due to falling rents. Falling prices also offer opportunities for affordable living in the city and new work concepts.

But a change of use entails other adjustments. Noise protection and making opening hours more flexible are just two examples. Other things also need to be considered: a good pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, public transport connections and accessibility by low-emission private transport. Attractive, safe and clean public paths and squares with seating and sufficient play facilities for children are equally important.

The municipalities, with their economic promotion and city marketing, play a key role in shaping the inner city transformation and are faced with major tasks.

Rathaus Deutschland

Thesis 2: Working from home strengthens the metropolitan hinterland

Working from home will continue to be recognised by many companies as an equivalent form of work in the future. There will be no complete return to compulsory office presence, according to surveys and studies. The resulting effects will be enormous, especially in the conurbations: vacant office space and buildings in the city centres and their conversion are one thing, moving to the countryside is another.

The dream of a house in the countryside – and more seclusion

Whether Cologne, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart or Düsseldorf – the rural areas around the major German cities are booming. There, one can combine the advantages of rural life with those of proximity to the big city: larger flats or houses with gardens, better access to childcare places and nature right on the doorstep, coupled with urban cultural offerings and medical care. Working from a home office also means that it is no longer necessary to drive into the congested city centre every day. This creates freedom and leisure.

Rising property prices reflect this trend. With the exception of Düsseldorf and Frankfurt, the prices of condominiums in the surrounding areas have risen more strongly on average since 2017 than in the metropolises themselves, according to a study by the Sparda banks and the Institute of the German Economy (IW) in Cologne. Moreover, it comes as no surprise that demand for the purchase of single-family homes in particular has risen sharply since the beginning of the pandemic.

A good infrastructure without ifs and buts

The small and medium-sized towns and municipalities benefit from the love of the countryside. But here, too, concepts are needed for the further development of structures. The expansion of public transport and connections to the metropolis, broadband internet and fibre optic cables, ensuring medical care and the expansion of kindergartens and primary schools are important criteria when it comes to choosing the right place to live.

In general, the “after” becomes a social and cultural task for society as a whole that goes far beyond commercial points of view.

Talking about commercial viewpoints: If you are interested in open market operations and how municipalities can benefit from the ECB’s cash injection, then continue listening or reading here.

Innovation Days: Playground and Pool of Ideas

Zwei Tage, sechs Arbeitsgruppen und jede Menge gute Ideen – das waren die Grundlagen für die Loanboox-internen “Innovation Days” bei denen vor allem eins im Mittelpunkt stand: Die Fremdfinanzierungs-Plattform für Kunden besser zu machen.

“Guys, I’m excited,” writes Loanboox Switzerland Managing Director Andi Burri in the shared chat of his working group. There is still half an hour until the workshop presentation. Together with four other colleagues, he has been working on the topic of “emotional design”, i.e. the question of where the financing platform could be used to better meet customers. To this end, the team has developed pop-up windows, created new buttons and revised e-mail notifications. Now they are putting the finishing touches to the slides, because of course they want to convince the others of their own ideas – after all, at the end of the “Innovation Days” a winner is to be chosen.

Have the courage to think “outside the box”.

The other five, cross-national groups also used the time to intensively deal with their respective focus topics. For example, how the financing process could really be thought through to the end completely digitally with a digital signature. And what advantages that would have for the customers. How to better connect platform users with each other or in which areas Loanboox could position itself more sustainably.

Loanboox Workshop Innovation Days

Creativity and inventiveness are remarkable, despite the spatial distance. And there are also the workshop-type pizza orgies – only at home in front of the screen. Much of what the staff developed over the two days will be implemented. Smaller but important quick wins, such as making the funding button on the platform easier to find or a new 404 error page, have already been implemented.

The winner takes it all? Nicht in diesem Fall

And who will win the race in the end? The team that shows the needs of potential investors with a unique presentation and demonstrates how the platform could be adapted accordingly. But the colleagues do not want to enjoy their success and the associated prize – a team event when the Covid 19 pandemic is over – alone, but share it with everyone.

That, too, is good teamwork.

 

If you want to learn more about Loanboox, click here.

Investment in low interest rates: new banking services for institutional investors

Low interest rates and the Corona crisis pose challenges for institutional investors. Now it is time to redefine the investment strategy and examine possible options for action. Many diversification options and interesting returns are offered by lending to municipal and municipal-related clients.

So far, however, it has only been possible for insurance companies, pension funds and pension schemes to invest in loans to a very limited extent. In Germany, commercial lending is subject to authorisation under the German Banking Act (KWG) and is a classic banking business. To allow institutional investors to extend loans directly to municipalities, public utilities or municipal companies, Loanboox and Deutsche Kreditbank AG now offer digital banking services for fronting bank and paying agent.

Content of the webcast:

The developers present the new services in a webcast. They will show why an investment in the public sector asset class is worthwhile, what advantages the services Fronting Bank and Paying Agent offer and how the operational processing via the Loanboox platform works.

For whom?

The webcast is aimed at employees of insurance companies, pension funds and provident funds who are responsible for the area of capital investment.

The Webinar

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