Olena Gryniuk: Fintech experts are heading to Prague
We can see that the Czech banking and fintech sector is developing quite impressively, and in addition, the Czech market is in second place in terms of the number of SMEs themselves, i.e. small and medium-sized enterprises in the region. That is why the annual conference of the SME Banking Club will take place for the first time in the Czech Republic, on November 25 in the premises of the Žofín Palace in Prague, says Olena Gryniuk, regional director of the SME Banking Club for Central and Eastern Europe.
Tell us more about SME Banking Club and your day-to-day activities.
As SME Banking Club, we operate in two directions. The first is market research, where we conduct bank studies on the various products that banks offer to SMEs, especially through digital channels. The second is knowledge exchange activities between SME bankers, fintechs and third-party providers, and we are further expanding the network of contacts through physical events and webinars. For example, every year we organize the CEE SME Banking conference, during which the entire Central and Eastern European region gathers.
What is the main goal of the SME Banking Club?
Above all, it is about the exchange of knowledge and experience, which are needed for greater competitiveness on the market. Now, the requirements of medium-sized businesses are changing much faster than ever before. While working on our studies, I am beginning to notice that customers expect the bank to provide all basic services digitally. Customers who ask “Which bank should I open an account with?” now expect much more. We must not forget that corporate customers are also individual customers. Existing innovations in the field of individual banking that meet their expectations as corporate customers. This makes entrepreneurs wonder: “Why can I make a transfer over the phone as an individual customer, but not from a business account?” Unfortunately, legislation in different countries always allows the digitization of certain banking processes. That is why, as the SME Banking Club for small and medium-sized enterprises, we emphasize the exchange of knowledge.
What possibilities do you see in cooperation between banks and fintechs?
We see many possibilities! Fintechs and startups are generally crucial and often have specialized solutions. Banks are usually one-size-fits-all organizations that serve all customer segments. A large client base is therefore its main advantage. And thanks to collaboration, banks can bring new products and services to market faster and acquire even more customers, while fintech can advance solutions to large numbers of customers really quickly. That’s the power of collaboration.
I believe in collaboration and I believe that you can always get more out of it and not do everything yourself, slower and probably less efficiently. Everyone should be efficient only for that part of the job, which they do best and least.
We have several good examples in the region. The company Dateio from the Czech Republic cooperates with many banks in the region and helps them enrich their data. In its structure, Komerční banka created KB SmartSolutions three years ago, the goal of which is cooperation with financial technologies, and it has quite interesting results with Lemonero, Upvest or Roger. another example is the Czech fintech Twisto, which cooperates with the Polish ING Bank on the BNPL e-commerce solution.
Also worth mentioning is the Hungarian bank OTP, which was one of the first banks in the region to start working with the CharlieIndia platform to create e-invoicing and accounting. In Poland, BNP Paribas Bank Polska is also very active in cooperation with startups and fintechs, organizing Office Hours during which startups can present their solutions to the bank. However, I hope to see more and more examples in the future.
All your previous conferences were held in Poland. Why did you decide to organize it in the Czech Republic this year?
This is already the eighth year of the conference that we are organizing, but it will take place in the Czech Republic for the first time. since we are based in Poland and the Polish banking and fintech sector is the most developed in terms of digitization of the sector, Polish banks want to pass on their experience. We see that the Czech banking and fintech sector is developing quite impressively, and in addition, the Czech market ranks second in the number of SME customers in the region. That’s why they were happy to talk more about this topic and this time they brought regional experts from all over Central and Eastern Europe to Prague.
What are the main topics of this year’s edition and what will be special about the upcoming conference?
One of the main topics will be cooperation between banks and fintechs. We probably won’t discuss whether cooperation is worth it. Of course he has! We want to pay attention to effective models of such cooperation. another important topic will be SME finance – financing of small and medium-sized enterprises. This is our constant topic, as small and medium-sized enterprises are still very undersized in this area. In addition, we will discuss how to ensure that the digital journey for business customers is both smooth and secure.
In addition, the winner will be able to take home a beautiful prize for the best digital solution for small and medium-sized customers in the Central and Eastern European region! And by the fact that the entire conference will be held in the wonderful Žofín Palace in the very heart of Prague, this year’s experience will be truly unique. I invite all those interested to join!
Author: Lenka Hrušková