Through the steps taken in the first half of this year, Banca Transilvania continued to stand by Romania’s economy, its entrepreneurs and its people.

• The bank mobilised in the first wave of the health crisis with funding and equipment, and accelerated the roll-out of online banking capabilities to ensure continuous access to its products and services.
• BT was the first bank in Romania to announce support measures for borrowers affected by the pandemic. It launched the most comprehensive package of measures for borrowers, going well beyond the legal requirements, and remained close to its customers through this challenging period.
• Alongside these, day-to-day business continued: BT kept operations running, launched commercial campaigns and maintained the pace of network modernisation projects and of diversifying how customers can interact with the bank.

“Solidarity. Solidarity and mobilisation were the keywords that defined the second quarter at Banca Transilvania. From the very first moment, the whole BT team focused on measures to prevent the spread of the virus, on keeping our branches and digital channels operating, and on finding the best ways to support customers and communities. From the efforts to keep all BT systems running during the state of emergency, to the most comprehensive financial support package for individuals and companies, to the work of more than 2,000 colleagues on the IMM Invest programme and over EUR 2 million in donations for medical and protective equipment, Banca Transilvania and #OameniidelaBT proved they are part of the community. We are going through unprecedented and challenging times for people and businesses, but BT is well prepared to support its partners and to come out of this crisis stronger together. We know that by standing by our customers in these difficult moments, we safeguard not only the present, but also the future”, said Ömer Tetik, Chief Executive Officer, Banca Transilvania.

Financial results as at 30 June 2020
The assets of the Banca Transilvania Financial Group reached RON 98.4 billion at the end of the first half of this year, loans grew to RON 40.7 billion, and customer deposits reached RON 80.0 billion, of which RON 57.2 billion are retail savings and RON 22.8 billion are corporate balances. The bank’s operating efficiency remains at a comfortable level, at 47.60%. The BT Group’s consolidated net profit is RON 690.06 million, of which the bank’s is RON 607.41 million. Subsidiaries and equity investments contributed over RON 82 million to the Group’s profitability.

The non-performing exposure ratio under the EBA definition was 4.35% at 30 June 2020. The coverage of non-performing exposures with total provisions under EBA standards is 107%. Including collateral, the coverage ratio is 126%. The bank’s capital adequacy ratio is 19.67% excluding the 2020 profit, and 20.91% including it.

The impact of the current context on provisioning methodology and levels reflects BT’s prudent approach. The changes to provisioning methodology are in line with the recommendations of the regulators and best banking practice. Considering the effects of the health and economic crisis, the cost of risk in the first half of 2020 was 1.3%, compared with 0 in the same period last year. In the six months of 2020, the stock of provisions increased by 16.5% to RON 2,951 million, compared with the balance at year-end 2019 (RON 2,533 million).

Financing Romanians in the first six months
Between January and June this year, Banca Transilvania granted over 68,000 loans to companies and individuals. Loans granted to companies in the period exceeded RON 3.6 billion. The bank has approximately 2.9 million retail customers, 325,000 SME & Micro customers and over 10,000 active corporate clients.

BT’s involvement in the context of COVID-19

• Banca Transilvania contributed over EUR 2 million — cash and medical equipment — to prevent and limit the epidemic and to improve access to testing and treatment. Hospitals in more than 30 cities and towns received support. Beyond the value of the donation, #OameniidelaBT were involved day and night in sourcing materials and equipment at a time when they were extremely hard to find anywhere in the world.
• Over 41,000 retail and corporate customers benefited from payment holidays on their loans.
• BT is the main bank in IMM Invest, under which it had approved around 4,000 SME loans by end-June this year, supporting companies that account for over 60,000 jobs.
• Since the start of the pandemic through end-June this year, 12 online banking features were launched, including: the digital card appears in the BT Pay app before a customer receives the physical card; online current account opening (NEOcont); the option to withdraw cash with BT Pay at all the bank’s ATMs; a donations option by phone; launch of online shopping hubs with BT merchant clients, namely #Directlatine and #InMiscare; the option for companies to order Meal Cards online, via the BT Tichet app, etc.
• The bank reached over 1 million unique cards in the BT Pay, Apple Pay, Fitbit Pay and Garmin Pay wallets, and the number of mobile payments in June 2020 was five times the level in June 2019.
• Of BT’s more than 1,700 ATMs, around 520 are BT Express Plus multifunctional machines, enabling self-service transactions such as cash deposits or 24/7 currency exchange. In the first six months of this year, the number of cash deposits via BT Express Plus exceeded 4.6 million, which means almost 780,000 cash deposits per month.
• Over 100,000 cash withdrawals were initiated with BT Pay to withdraw money by phone at Banca Transilvania ATMs.
• Over 30,000 cards issued in Romania by other banks and fintechs were enrolled in BT Pay for money transfers.
• There were seven times more interactions in March–June this year than in January–February in the BT Visual Help app. Growth was steady month by month, reaching nearly 83,000 in June.
• Intreb BT was one of Banca Transilvania’s most accessed communication channels from the start of the pandemic through end-June this year, with 900,000 visitors making over 1.2 million visits in March–June. The peak was on 14 April this year, when the site had almost 23,000 visitors. Comparing the first half of 2020 with the same period last year, the site had 73% more visitors.
• The bank maintained the same pace of hiring in the first half of this year compared with January–June 2020, adding 500 new colleagues to the team.
• The number of BT24 Internet Banking users exceeded 1.3 million in the first half of this year, up 10% versus the same period last year, and Mobile Banking users total 880,000, up 28% compared with the first half of 2019. Transaction volumes via Internet Banking and Mobile Banking were up 14% versus the first half of 2019.
• From the start of the pandemic through 30 June this year, 27 BT branches were upgraded, including 9 relocations, keeping the same pace as in the same period last year. The positive impact is for approximately 227,000 customers and 330 BT employees across 21 cities and towns.

BT’s priorities through year-end: solidarity, supporting the economy and continuing its online banking plans

• Banca Transilvania will continue to finance households and companies and, at the same time, to help address the challenges generated by the pandemic.
• Under the IMM Invest programme, the bank will focus in the next two months on allocating the remaining funds, with an estimate of at least 10,000 loans to be granted.
• Also in SME banking, BT will allocate significant resources to take part in implementing other government programmes and other support measures for companies — for example, the grants programme or guarantee facilities.
• NEO, the new Internet Banking and Mobile Banking platform, is in the final testing phase with real users. A beta version is currently being tested by a group of customers.
• BT is investing consistently to enhance and position BT Pay as Romania’s first payments super-app, integrating multiple types of features and becoming part of customers’ everyday lives.
  
  The H1 2020 report, prepared in accordance with Article 65 of Law no. 24 of 2017 on issuers of financial instruments and market operations, will be available on BT’s website, in the Investor Relations section, on 14 August this year, starting at 9:00. The financial statements as at 30 June 2020 and 30 June 2019 are reviewed; those as at 31 December 2019 are audited.