At the ZF Bankers Summit, organized by Ziarul Financiar, on June 17–19 this year, Banca Transilvania was represented on the first day by Oana Ilaș, Deputy CEO, Retail Banking, Cosmin Călin, Executive Director, Large Corporate Clients, and Aurel Bernat, Executive Director, Financial Institutions and Investor Relations.

On the second day, the Banca Transilvania Financial Group was represented by Ömer Tetik, CEO, BT, Gabriela Nistor, CEO, Salt Bank, Nevenca Doca, Senior Executive Director, Human Resources, and Sergiu Mircea, Executive Director, Marketing, Communications and PR. Below are the most important statements from our representatives, in the order of their panel appearances.

Day 1

Statements by Oana Ilaș, Deputy CEO, Retail Banking:

• Liquidity is very high in retail banking, but there are now many options for deploying resources — either across business lines or through diversification. This is a favorable moment for banks and a very good opportunity to contribute to customers’ financial education regarding the investment alternatives they have — such as investment funds, private pensions and equities — which are increasingly interconnected.
  
  
• In the case of a mortgage/home loan, the experience of the last two years has shown that a rate reduction matters a great deal, especially for customers who were caught in this period of rising rates with variable-rate loans and who have started to look at refinancing. Indeed, refinancing is much more dynamic right now, and that reality may persist in the near term. We need to be inventive and secure portfolio growth from what we add on the asset side while adapting to the refinancing trend. It matters a lot because the impact on the monthly payment a client makes to the bank can be quite significant if they find a better alternative, but clients look at several aspects. If the difference is between 5.5% and 5.7% it may no longer matter that much; the relationship with the financial institution, ancillary products that come with the loan, and the overall relationship the client has with the bank also count.
  
  
• At least in the first quarter of 2024, retail performed well — better than last year. It is a segment with a lot of potential. I do see consolidation as necessary in Romania on the retail side, and it brings significant potential. Through consolidation we can offer much higher-performing applications and systems, and people also benefit from much easier access to everything coming from abroad.

Statements by Cosmin Călin, Executive Director, Large Corporate Clients:

• In 2022–2023 we saw peak prices in both energy and agribusiness, and as pricing and predictability improved toward the end of the period across both sectors, prices cooled, inflation cooled, companies’ working-capital needs were much lower — and thus, in the first two quarters of this year we saw utilization rates well below 2023 levels.
  
  
• One positive is that many infrastructure projects have started to accelerate. Romania is making strategic investments in energy. From here, the investment potential in Q3 and Q4, and especially in 2025, is impressive. We are already working on many transactions in this area, and I can say that the outlook for Q4 2024 and 2025 in corporate lending looks much better, even if growth may no longer be double-digit.
  
  
• The retail sector is expanding quite aggressively, with all the main chains growing, plus new regional players entering the local market. Healthcare is also doing very well and, unlike in other years when most hospital developments were undertaken by the private sector, starting this year we are also seeing regional hospitals being developed.

Statements by Aurel Bernat, Executive Director, Financial Institutions and Investor Relations:

• We are no longer talking about runaway inflation or extremely high interest rates. The economy is coping with the current level of rates. Across Europe there is a need to cut rates because growth is weak. We see the policy rate at 6.5% by year-end, with reductions in stages — nothing rash. We are in a balanced zone and from now on adjustments will be smoother. People have become used to the current level of rates.
  
  
• I see a lot of public investment in infrastructure and, if the public deficit is directed to these large projects, that would be positive. Living standards are rising. Just as households and companies manage to save, so will Romania. The cost of funding is not much higher than in the past — roughly 1% above 2013. There is interest in Romania. And I think we are much more critical of ourselves than foreigners are.
  
  
• The exchange rate has been very stable in recent years and I think it will remain so. There are no causes for depreciation. Remittances are there, we have FX inflows, and in the region we see stable exchange rates and inflation. We see the rate around 4.97–4.99.

You can watch the first day of the ZF Bankers Summit 2024 in full here.

Day 2

Statements by Ömer Tetik, CEO, Banca Transilvania

• The timetable for integrating OTP depends heavily on final approvals from the authorities. We hope to merge and integrate OTP’s structures into BT within a maximum of 9 months. We like what they have — it’s a good bank; we like the team, the network, the clients. And we hope to have a fast integration. This will not be our last transaction. We are looking at new targets — in asset management, leasing, factoring. It is inefficient for us now to buy a bank with a market share below 1%; the costs are not justified when we already have a 23% share. We may do transactions with mid-sized or large banks. We want to remain the leading player.
  
  
• Over the next 6–7 years we need to double assets to maintain our market share. Our assets are about 10% of GDP, while in neighboring countries the largest bank is around 15–20%. We do not want to get to 28%, but there is room for a few more percentage points of growth without creating a competition issue.
  
  
• I think we will see more transactions among banks with small market shares, below 2%, which will create targets for larger banks. We are not the only active buyer. And we may also see deals among big groups, with some places changing. Romania is a growing country and in London and New York people are talking about Romania, and it’s good to be present here. I don’t think the big banking players would want to exit.

Statements by Gabriela Nistor, CEO, Salt Bank

• The cost of capital is different compared with a traditional bank. You have higher operating costs, and they grow in parallel with the bank. You have to be inventive; some things need to be thought through differently.
  
  
• We paid close attention to support — to having people. You can use AI to support colleagues in call centers who talk to customers. But I believe that when people have a problem they want to be listened to by a person, not a bot. You can digitize all sorts of flows, but when emotions are involved it’s good to keep a human touch.
  
  
• There are different strategies, and then you see the end result. The transformation into a classic bank may take longer. But all banks in Romania started this trend before the pandemic and then it just accelerated. We see digitization globally as well; many banks have set up a digital arm. In a neobank both strategy and technology matter. It’s a puzzle. The business model matters, what you want to build, the culture you have on the inside.

Statements by Nevenca Doca, Senior Executive Director, Human Resources, Banca Transilvania

• I see less market dynamism. The market has cooled, I would say. One reason is the contraction of the banking system. The system is not growing; it is contracting. This means roles disappear, are modified, transformed, augmented. It’s not only banking that is contracting; other sectors are too. For employers that’s good news — there is greater availability. However, among the top-ranked banks, things have not cooled that much. There are still vacancies, competition for good people. That’s positive.
  
  
• It makes sense to work in a bank because you acquire or develop skills that are highly transferable to other fields — I’m referring to work ethic, professionalism, attention to performance — things that, once learned, you carry into other industries or into your own business if you want to become an entrepreneur.
  
  
• We looked for use cases where applying AI makes sense and is efficient. We used colleagues from inside, a vendor, we organized a hackathon; four were selected and are being implemented now. We are not looking for technologies that replace people.  

Statements by the Executive Director, Marketing, Communications and PR, Banca Transilvania

• I think we are better educated than we were a decade ago, but the issue is far from solved. It is important that the two largest banks in Romania have joined forces and are pulling together in this effort. Beyond whether we are financially educated or not, people think very highly of their own financial literacy. There is an absolutely astonishing gap between what we think — or where we think we are — and where we actually are. We don’t see the problem, and that is an even bigger problem because we don’t feel the need for a solution. There is a lot that needs to be done.
  
  
• Our goal is to explain basic financial concepts to Romanians, with examples. To do that, we will start with children and young people, where we feel we can make a difference. That said, we are a private operator; we can do things with a finite consumption of resources. So we want to take a digestible bite. We are starting with three groups of children to whom we explain extremely simple things. We are seeing tremendous appetite.
  
  
• We are greatly helped by the fact that we operate in a decentralized way — BT units around the country are decentralized and have local autonomy — and they are happy to pitch in on this project. Children come in during Săptămâna Altfel; they enjoy being able to visit a bank, they are welcomed, and the branch manager or branch director, with a set of teaching materials, presents the information. With that material they pass it on to the children, and if we were to look at such a leaflet we might be pleasantly surprised.  

You can watch the second day of the ZF Bankers Summit 2024 in full here.