Telekom Banking celebrates two years of activity in Romania

In October 2017, Telekom Romania and Alior Bank launched Telekom Banking, the digital financial project that responds to consumers’ needs for fast, easy-to-use financial products and services, anywhere and anytime.

Telekom Banking services have been launched gradually, starting with two modern and easy to use pillars – daily banking operations (current accounts, debit cards, deposits) and a new solution on the Romanian market, the Online Currency Exchange platform, through which customers benefit for an advantageous exchange rate for ten currencies, updated in real time. Subsequently, the Telekom Banking offer was supplemented with financing services for the devices from the Telekom Romania offer, but also with type loans for personal needs without guarantees and the overdraft facility.

The number of customers who use the products and services through the Telekom Banking offer is constantly increasing, as they have several channels available to open the relationship with the bank – in one of the more than 60 stores in the Telekom network and selected partners, through direct sales agents, through partnerships developed with financial intermediaries, but also online, through the mobile application Telekom Banking. Anyone interested in opening an online bank account, without going at the bank, can download the free mobile banking app from Appstore or Google Play and after filling simple steps, in just 5 minutes, can become the bank’s client. The application is simple and easy to use, with unique functionalities in the market and offers instant access to the money in the account and free online transactions in lei.

The growth strategy is currently focused on attracting term deposits with attractive interest rates, customers being redeemed with 3.35% annual interest for 12-month term deposits in lei opened through the Telekom Banking mobile application, but also on granting of consumer loans in advantageous conditions, the maximum amount of 150,000 lei being among the most attractive on the market. As an example, for customers who refinance their existing loans and transfer their income to the current account, the fixed interest rate starts from 7.9% for amounts higher than 70,000 lei and can reach up to 16%, depending on the requested amount, the customer’s profile and his lending history. For a refinancing loan of 70,000 lei granted for a period of 5 years with income transfer: DAE 8.33%, monthly installment rate 1,419 lei and the total amount to be paid is 85,205 lei. Annual fixed interest rate throughout the contract: 7.9%. DAE includes the registration fee at the Electronic Archive (65.7 lei) and the current account administration fee (3 lei / month).

The bank has managed to increase its lending volume by more than 10 times in the first 9 months of the year and estimates that by the end of 2019 it will reach a market share of almost 2% of the total volume of new consumer loans granted.

For the next period, the development plans are focused on increasing the customer portfolio, by offering digital end-to-end services, for both onboarding and lending processes. “We live in a digital age that causes banks to significantly change the way they operate, in order to support the freedom of creation of their customers and partners, in everything they do. Thus, digital innovation is an essential element in Telekom Banking’s development strategy. We continue to reinvent ourselves and develop personalized and digital products and services, to continuously improve the experience of our clients in the relationship with the bank. Future projects aim to optimize the flow of online account opening launched this year and granting loans through a 100% online process, thus providing an easy and friendly flow to people interested in another style of banking, simply digital. In addition, we are working on launching innovative services soon, such as mobile payment, credit cards with the option of instant issuing a virtual card that will allow payment in installments and many more. For customers who prefer human contact, we have available the entire range of products and services of the bank even on weekends, in the selected Telekom stores”, said Ana Cernat, General Manager of Alior Bank SA Warsaw – Bucharest Branch.