The integration of Bancpost into Banca Transilvania, started in April this year, is in the home stretch, and the merger of the two banks will take place on December 31 this year.

The ambitious nine-month integration plan agreed by BT when it acquired Bancpost from Eurobank Group drew on experience from a similar project, when Banca Transilvania successfully integrated Volksbank Romania in 2015.

Pillars and principles of the Bancpost - BT integration:

• Joint BT - Bancpost team:

- Teams from both banks were involved in integration-specific activities, in addition to commercial work and customer collaboration.

- A dedicated integration team was set up with direct responsibilities for the program, comprising almost 100 people: sponsors, leads, co-leads, ambassadors and external consultants.

• Organization:

- Ran 30 projects across key areas to understand Bancpost’s business, team, product offering, customers and organizational culture, with know-how and experience exchanged accordingly;

- All integration phases were carried out according to plan.

• Bancpost customers:

- Bancpost debit cards can also be used at BT ATMs, with the same cash withdrawal fees as at Bancpost ATMs. From June to date, approximately 600,000 transactions have been made with Bancpost cards at BT ATMs, meaning over 3,000 transactions per day;

- Launched the conversion campaign for loans denominated in Swiss francs for 2,300 eligible Bancpost customers;

- From October this year, arranged the distribution of 440,000 BT cards to Bancpost customers, via the two banks and by courier;

- Representatives of the two banks took part in over 500 meetings with Bancpost corporate clients;

- The BT–Bancpost team organized around 4,700 meetings with institutions holding payroll agreements with Bancpost and with merchants using Bancpost POS terminals;

- Reviewed all Bancpost products and services to prepare the corresponding BT offering;

- Launched the Welcome to BT offer for over 700,000 Bancpost customers, 135,000 of whom are customers of both banks;

- Communicated with Bancpost customers across all channels, including a microsite with information on the Welcome to BT offer, corresponding products and services, the migration schedule and an IBAN generator;

-  Organized BT and Bancpost Call Center teams to ensure 24/7 availability for customers.

• Business as usual for BT customers: Banca Transilvania continued throughout the Bancpost integration to launch products, services, campaigns and service enhancements for its customers, and to support individuals and companies through financing. The main objectives for this period were to continue organic growth and to deliver positive experiences to BT’s 2.5 million customers, so they would not feel the Bancpost integration phase.

• Streamlining costs and operations at Bancpost:

- Actions to streamline loan repayments by Bancpost customers;

- Optimizing the network of branches, ATMs and POS terminals.

• Preparing to migrate Bancpost customer data to BT at year-end: IT and operations testing has been successfully completed.

Organizing the BT - Bancpost merger phase

BT and Bancpost’s schedule around the merger and the holidays is designed to minimize disruption for customers of both banks, despite the intense integration activity. For part of the BT team, the end of the year and the start of 2019 will mean direct involvement — in Cluj-Napoca and Bucharest — in carrying out the merger, which will take place on December 31 this year. BT will publish the results of the merger’s completion on January 3, 2019, from which date the combined operations of the two banks will continue under a single brand, Banca Transilvania.

BT Leasing and ERB Leasing merged in October; BT Direct and ERB Retail Services will become a single company in 2019

Alongside Bancpost, Banca Transilvania acquired ERB Leasing and ERB Retail Services from Eurobank Group in April this year, and has been running integration programs for these as well. BT Leasing and ERB Leasing merged in October this year, and as regards the non-banking consumer finance companies — ERB Retail Services and BT Direct — integration is underway, with the two set to become a single company in the first part of 2019.