#Acquisition: First steps toward a new acquisition by the Banca Transilvania Group

Banca Comercială Română and Victoriabank agreed in Bucharest, at the end of March, on the full sale of BCR’s stake in BCR Chișinău to Victoriabank. The third-largest bank in the Republic of Moldova, Victoriabank, has nearly 300,000 active clients and 70 branches nationwide, and its largest shareholders are BT and EBRD. Closing is expected in the second half of this year. Details on the acquisition.

#Figureofthemonth: Over 1 million people have a Smart Banking current account subscription at BT

A round-number milestone for BT Smart Banking account subscriptions: 1 million people have such a subscription at Banca Transilvania. There are five types — Salut, Student, 365, Premiul and Premium+ — with the first two free, and the other two priced at 7.17 and 20 lei/month. The subscriptions include fee waivers on basic services — current account, cards, mobile banking, premium services, etc. Details on the subscriptions and how to activate them.

#Goingdigital: BT Trade, the mobile app for capital markets trading

BT Capital Partners, the Banca Transilvania Group’s brokerage firm, has launched the BT Trade mobile app — the easiest way to open a trading account, learn and invest 24/7, right on your phone, on both the Romanian and international markets. To support first steps on the capital market, BTCP does not require a minimum funding amount to open a trading account. More on BT Trade.

#Socialengagement: BT and Tășuleasa Social, a long-term partnership to ensure the sustainability of Via Transilvanica

Banca Transilvania will provide support over the coming years — funding, volunteering and promotion — to sustain Via Transilvanica. Launched by Tășuleasa in 2018 and completed in 2022, the project is for anyone, regardless of age, who wants to discover places, history, culture and communities. At 1,400 kilometers, Via Transilvanica runs through 10 counties. Details on the bank’s newest partnership.

#Financialeducation: A new Descifrat episode, a series of fresh conversations about money

The latest guest on Descifrat, BT’s financial education program, is chef Adi Hădean. A conversation about what money tastes like, the one compromise he wouldn’t make in the kitchen, the costs of running a restaurant, and what sustainable cooking means. Video.

#BTvoices:

• Ӧmer Tetik, CEO, Banca Transilvania, for Forbes, as part of the editorial project 23 for 2023:

We in Romania are somewhat used to inflation. Still, I think it’s better to have some stability rather than a very low inflation rate that discourages investment and transactions — better to have 10% inflation and be able to adapt, make medium-term plans each year knowing it’s 10%, than to go from 2–3% to 16% in a short period and then back down to 10. Romania has energy resources and agriculture and can become an attractive place for investment, as well as a hub for the reconstruction of Ukraine. Context

• Tiberiu Moisă, Deputy CEO, MidCorporate & SME, on the launch of Top 1,000 largest companies in Romania, produced by Ziarul Financiar & Deloitte:

It’s time to start adding value on top of economic growth. I believe we can scale in the period ahead and, if this scaling brings more added value — if we know the sectors where we can add value — it will be more than just growth. Romanian society is like a company. We have shown this growth potential and it’s time to have smart growth as well. If we look closely, large companies are increasing, as a share, in the overall economy. SMEs are the aspirational side — some do manage to enter this top, moving up from the lower ranks; it’s a potential for the economy. Context

• Bogdan Pleșuvescu, CEO Victoriabank 2018 – 2022, in the context of BCR announcing the start of the process to sell to Victoriabank the shares it holds in BCR Chișinău:

Over the past 5 years, Victoriabank has gone through an extensive transformation of its corporate governance model and business model. This created a solid foundation, built on transparent corporate values and based on the experience of Banca Transilvania, the largest bank in Romania and one of its largest shareholders. On this solid foundation, Victoriabank has become a trailblazer in Moldova in digital and has grown by strengthening synergies with Romania and the European Union, offering clients and employees numerous innovative solutions that bring them ever closer to the experience of companies in the EU. Context