Any person working in finance knows that all ecosystems (global or local) are influenced (big or small) by what fintech companies do. That’s mainly because fintechs seem to have a new feature or app every other week.
And banks? Well, most of them are trying to keep up. I guess that’s how my dad felt when I tried to get him into the Meta Quest VR set I got last week.
But hey, not all dads are technophobes – just like not all banks are lagging behind. One great example is Banca Transilvania, a leader in the Romanian banking scene.
What started as a mission to help local businesses has turned into a story of growth powered by technology – that same technology that other banks are struggling to adopt.
From Local Bank to Market Leader
Banca Transilvania has come a long way since its founding in 1993. What started as a small local bank has grown into Romania’s largest bank by assets, thanks to smart acquisitions and a focus on technology.
2023 was a big year, with the bank rolling out more features on its BT Pay app. They brought AI into customer service and even introduced instant Euro payments. The numbers speak for themselves—net income hit RON 2,984.5 million, and assets soared to RON 169.2 billion.
Naturally, innovation didn’t stop there. The bank also launched new products like the BT Kiddo card and acquired OTP Bank Romania to solidify its market position. With over 3.7 million customers using its digital services, they are clearly interested in keeping their market position.
Innovating at Every Turn
Locally, everybody knows Banca Transilvania is pretty much Romania’s biggest name in banking, but it’s not just about the size. It’s about growth that’s consistent and smart.
In just the first quarter of 2024, they added nearly 50,000 new clients, pushing their customer base to over 4.3 million. A lot of that comes down to digital, with 35% of new retail clients opening accounts online through BT Pay.
During a recent chat at UNCHAIN, Aurel Bernat, the Executive Director of Investor Relations, shared how fintechs have nudged banks into being more agile.
A few years back, banks were struggling to keep up with technology. Now, banks like Banca Transilvania are acting much more like fintechs, adopting new technologies faster.
Aurel Bernat
This shift isn’t just about keeping up with trends. It’s about fundamentally changing how the bank operates. Customers today expect a mix of the traditional and digital.
We must be there within the community with our local branches, and at the same time, be state of the art from a digital point of view.
Aurel Bernat
This strategy is paying off. With 92% of their customers using digital apps and 200,000 new users joining BT Pay in just three months, Banca Transilvania is clearly hitting the right notes.
Aurel is pretty optimistic about the future, especially when it comes to investment services. He believes that as Romanians become more financially savvy, there will be a growing focus on investments through funds and intermediaries.
There is a trend, a vibe related to investments. The well-being of Romanians will lead to more attention towards investments.
Aurel Bernat
Driving Digitalization Forward
At this year’s UNCHAIN, SME Banking also had the chance to sit down with Raul Risnita, the Head of Digitization at Banca Transilvania. He went right into the rapid changes happening in the SME market, driven by technological and geopolitical shifts.
Things are changing rapidly and we’re mostly focused on digitalizing processes because we emphasize offering better experiences to our customers.
Raul Risnita
With that in mind, Raul talked about ETGO, an app they launched about a year ago for SME customers. It’s a mix of a banking platform and an e-invoice tool, and it’s taken off way faster than anyone expected.
We weren’t expecting this rate of adoption in this short period of time.
Raul Risnita
Having said that, Raul was clearly proud that nearly 100,000 customers had jumped on board in just 11 months.
He also talked about the Raul chatbot—yep, named after him. It’s a cool tool that interacts with customers via WhatsApp, handling over a million messages each year.
It’s a more handsome digital version of me.
Raul Risnita
Raul joked, but there’s some serious innovation behind it. They’re now looking into generative AI tech to make it even smarter.
We are going to try use cases, of course. But I think it’s going to probably again be something very innovative.
Raul Risnita
With such a strong focus on digitalization, Banca Transilvania isn’t just holding onto its top spot—it’s setting the pace in an ecosystem that’s getting more competitive by the day. Their strategy and focus on customer-centric services have them perfectly positioned to keep growing in the market.
