OTP BANK
He acknowledges the significant impact of the pandemic across all sectors , in addition to general recruitment challenges and supply chain issues affected by sociopolitical fluctuations in recent months . Despite this , though , the banking sector has continued to evolve at breakneck speed and , with the steady development of neo banks , it ’ s starting to look like a very different environment .
“ During the pandemic period , a lot of problems came with it , but this also meant an acceleration of the digitalisation process . It also meant that we could be closer to the customer ,” says Mareș . “ Being a small bank – number nine in the market – we are able to grow faster than the rest of the banks because we are prepared . We just accelerated our digital transformation and are able to launch online flows and better capture the needs of the customer .”
2004
Year founded
7 banks acquired over the past year – fastest-growing , leading bank in Romania
1,650 + Number of employees
50 % organic growth – 50 % in a year ( compared to 2.4 % in 2020 , and 4 % in 2021 )
OTP quickly set about creating a digital platform for its customers , in addition to considering the changing wants and needs of up-and-coming generations , and how to best meet these .
Rather than responding to these changes in the same way as some of the more traditional financial institutes and digging its heels in , OTP Bank took the challenge in its stride , quickly onboarding digital solutions and products while , by proxy , gently encouraging Romanian authorities to evolve along with the times , in terms of lessening restrictive regulations .
At the very centre of this was what Mareș dubs an “ opportunity to upscale [ our ] management style ”. The leadership team sought to “ transform OTP ’ s management branding ” and “ empower employees ” – but first , a company-wide culture change was needed .
166 May 2022