“Raiffeisen” isn’t just that familiar name our parents always trusted—it’s the one you end up trusting too, whether you meant to or not. Over the years, while some banks were still figuring out how to send an email, Raiffeisen was already in the lead.
With a laser focus on customer service and a reputation for thinking ahead, Raiffeisen Bank has made banking feel less like a chore and more like, well, something that actually works for you. And that spirit of never letting customers down is still true to this day.
Looking Back
Raiffeisen Bank’s story isn’t just a chapter in some dusty history book. It’s actually a tale about innovation that’s been going strong since the 19th century.
It all started with Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen in Germany, who had this crazy idea: to bring credit and financial services to rural communities and small businesses. Fast forward to today, and that spirit of innovation hasn’t slowed down one bit.
In the early 2000s, while some of us were still figuring out how to set up our email, Raiffeisen was already in the world of online banking. They made it easy for customers to manage their money from the comfort of their own homes—no more standing in long lines at the branch.
By the time mobile phones were basically an extra limb for most people in the mid-2010s, Raiffeisen was right there with them, rolling out mobile banking that let customers handle their finances on the go.
Fast Forward to Now
In recent years, Raiffeisen has continued to maintain its position. They went into cryptocurrency by partnering with Bitpanda, and they’ve embraced AI and machine learning, all with the promise of keeping up with the demands of the market.
In 2023, Raiffeisen navigated a tough economic climate with resilience. Sure, their active customer base took a tiny dip—down by 1% to 2.3 million clients—but with 284 branches, over 27,800 EPOS, and more than 1,100 ATMs (including 544 multifunction machines), they’re still holding strong.
Financially, they managed to keep things stable thanks to lower provision costs. Customers kept up with their payments, and government programs helped keep risks in check.
What’s clear is that Raiffeisen’s journey from a cooperative bank to a banking leader isn’t just about survival – something that is clear in how they approach each ecosystem they enter.
Digital Transformation In CEE
In Central Eastern Europe, Raiffeisen Bank is clearly focused on innovation, and a big part of that is moving its operations to the cloud. Bogdan Popa, the COO of Raiffeisen Bank’s Romanian branch, shared that the bank is aiming to shift 80% of its infrastructure to the cloud by 2025.
We have a very clearly defined plan to move to cloud and we have in Romania an ambition to get 80 percent of our infrastructure to cloud by 2025.
Bogdan Popa
But this move isn’t without its problems. Bogdan pointed out that the bank needs to carefully manage important factors. While the cloud is a key focus, some parts of their operations might stay on-premises to make sure everything remains stable and compliant.
We do not target to move everything to cloud. We have to balance things like resilience, security, regulatory data protection, and so on.
Bogdan Popa
Bogdan also stressed the importance of teamwork. Even though Raiffeisen has doubled its IT team to over 600 engineers, the bank still relies on partnerships with external companies, especially in areas like identity verification and electronic signatures.
No matter how many people you employ, you cannot do everything in-house. We work with a lot of partners because we cannot do everything in-house.
Bogdan Popa
This approach not only speeds up Raiffeisen’s digital transformation but also lets the bank focus on what it does best while benefiting from the expertise of others. As Raiffeisen Bank continues to grow, its focus on cloud technology and strategic partnerships will be key to its future success in the region.
