Today Didier Lombard, France Telecom's Chairman and CEO, presented the Group's programme for 2006 - 2008 to employees, the financial community and the press. NExT (New Experience in Telecom services) will give customers access to a universe of services that are both high value and simple. The programme will also enable the Group to pursue its transformation as an integrated operator, supported by its renewed model for profitable growth. In 2006, France Telecom will roll out a single portal to provide its clients a simpler interface and a "unified customer experience" when accessing the Group's services. This portal, adapted to each client, can be accessed using a variety of terminals, not only computers. The single portal will act as a simple and practical interface with all the services of the France Telecom Group. As part of its transformation plan, France Telecom announced a 25 percent increase in employee training efforts and a reinforced staff incentive programme. France Telecom is one of the world's leading telecommunications carriers, with more than 126 million customers on the five continents (220 countries and territories) at March 31, 2005 and consolidated revenues of 46.16 billion euros for 2004 (under IFRS GAAP).
The BaaS model has been adopted across a wide range of industries due to its ability to streamline financial processes for non-banks and foster innovation. BaaS has several industry-specific use cases, where it creates new revenue streams. Banking as a Service (BaaS) is rapidly emerging as a growth market, allowing non-bank businesses to integrate banking services into their core products and online platforms. As defined by Juniper Research, BaaS is "the delivery and integration of digital banking services by licensed banks, directly into the products of non-banking businesses, commonly through the use of APIs." BaaS Market Development The core idea is that licensed banks can rent out their regulated financial infrastructure through Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to third-party Fintechs and other interested companies. This enables those organizations to offer banking capabilities like payment processing, account management, and debit or credit card issuance without