Digitalisation is not an aim in itself, but a means for us to offer our clients access to financial services at any time of the day or night. Even though a fully digital bank does not exist in Bulgaria, the institutions in the country offer enough diversity of mobile services, online platforms and ATMs equipped with various functions in order to facilitate customers in full measure. This was stated by the CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of UniCredit Bulbank – Levon Hampartzoumian, who took part in the opening panel of the Innovations financial forum, organized by the Bank of the Year Association. The panel was titled “Welcome to the Future”. His words were supported by the panel moderator Vanya Manova, MaterCard Country Manager for Bulgaria and Macedonia, who pointed out that the analyses indicate that 74% of the Bulgarians are satisfied with the level of digitalisation, including that of the services provided.

According to Hampartzoumian, technologies truly do facilitate consumers, although that does not necessarily mean that anyone could take up financial intermediation. “Financial intermediation is done with capital, reputation and international network. Transactional business, which some of the technology companies have targeted, is just a small part of banking“, said the CEO of UniCredit Bulbank.

The forum panel, dedicated to digital transformation, was also joined by Nadezhda Vicheva, Senior Manager of CRM and Customer Analytics Unit at the bank. ‘‘The market has become quite demanding and it is our obligation to react to the new challengers, because the clients not only have at their disposal more information and new opportunities to use banking services, but also require from us higher levels of professionalism regarding customer services. In this environment, it is exactly the superior assistance and comprehension of the clients’ needs that give the actual competitive advantage,‘‘ said Vicheva. She gave as an example the investments made by UniCredit in technologies, focused at offering the right types of products and services at the right time for each client. “We are able to achieve that by managing the huge array of information that the clients generate during their everyday business and communication with us,” summarised Vicheva.

---

Additional media information:

Victoria Blajeva, tel +359 (0) 2 9264 993, wjlj/ebwjepwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch

Beatris Nikolova, tel +359 (0) 2 9232 528, cfbusjt/ojlpmpwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch

Ekaterina Ancheva, tel +359 894 518 193 , flbufsjob/bodifwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch