Credit Europe Bank banks on flexibility

While planning to focus on SME and commercial customers and further develop its cards segment in 2013, Credit Europe Bank pledges to maintain its flexibility so it can react quickly to new opportunities. In this context, in an exclusive interview with Business Arena, Omer Tetik,
CEO & President of Credit Europe Bank, sounded an optimistic note regarding the growth prospects for the Romanian economy, emphasizing that the crisis had generated corrections in many fields, which may again become very attractive to foreign investment.

On which market segments is Credit Europe Bank planning to focus its growth strategy in 2013?
Considering the credit risk distribution and ticket sizes, we will maintain our focus on SME and commercial customers. We believe that using the experience of the last 10 years will allow us to increase business revenues and decrease the concentration risk. The comparatively higher non-performing loan ratios in the SME segment do not diminish our risk appetite, but do constitute an important database and know-how.
We are also looking to improve the synergy between the corporate and the retail sides in order to further develop the cards segment. This is perhaps the domain where our bank is better known, given the fact that we have built the most popular credit card brand in Romania – CardAvantaj. We will continue to do what we know best, remaining at the forefront of innovation while developing our debit cards and salary cards, that are growing more and more complex as payment instruments. Even if our launch of the first Display Card in the domestic market is old news, a recent market research conducted by MasterCard, our partner in this project, has shown just how well such an innovative approach has been received by our clients.

What is your view on the level of competition in the Romanian banking market and what services and products could give your bank an edge against competition?
The local banking system is a very competitive environment, but in my opinion it is far from a battlefield where everyone engages everyone. Competition is fierce but kept inside tiers, where banks are competing mostly with other banking institutions of their own size. Due to the current economic situation, several companies are postponing their investment decisions and new lending activity is limited to a rather small group of customers where the price competition prevails.
As for Credit Europe Bank, we are approaching the market looking towards a selective growth, as we do not aspire to the status of an universal bank and we wouldn’t be offering everything to everyone. Our business philosophy is to keep the level of flexibility that allows us to react quicker to market opportunities, by offering solutions for what our clients need at that particular time. In this respect, the development of alternative delivery channels is providing us the platform to differentiate, as we can reach our clients where they are, give them instant access to our services and improve their comfort in the process.
We are also taking a closer look at opportunities related to liquidity management, as we have established a special department for Account and Cash Management Services, offering efficient products as account pooling, eTrezo and collection.