OTP Bank offers partnership to startups again this year: applications are now open

As a committed supporter of innovation, OTP Bank launches its international startup cooperation program, the OTP Startup Booster Program, for the fifth time this year.

The multi-stage initiative – which guides innovative solutions from mapping out business needs all the way to roll‑out – is open to startups from around the world with already validated products or businesses in an intensive scaleup phase. Involving various areas of the banking group, OTP Bank aims to encourage goal-oriented, business-focused cooperation and implement pilot projects with the successful applicants. The credit institution welcomes applications from startups from 7 March to 11 April.

This is the fifth time that OTP Bank has announced its international startup program. Successful applicants to the OTP Startup Booster Program can enjoy a number of benefits: in addition to the pilot project with the banking group, they can participate in a professional workshop, receive internal and external mentoring support and have access to a number of networking opportunities. OTP LAB – responsible for coordinating the group-wide Program – has collected more than 150 business needs and topics in the period from early January to mid-February, to which it seeks innovative solutions in cooperation with the selected startups.

In addition to the topic categories related to the traditional financial institution roles as seen in previous years, this year gives priority focus to the so-called beyond banking solutions and innovations that support sustainability and the environmentally-conscious day-to-day life of customers and the bank.

For this year’s Startup Booster Program, the bank is inviting applications from startups in the following topics:

• customer experience and customer service;
• increasing internal efficiency;
• product-specific innovations related to retail banking;
• product-specific innovations related to corporate banking;
• beyond banking and sustainability;
• wholly new and disruptive solutions related to the banking sector that do not fall into any of the above categories.

The selection of startups will again take place in three stages this year: to apply, startups are required to complete the application form available online, and after the pre-screening of applicants, the selected startups will have the opportunity to meet with the representatives of the specialised fields in an online interview.Representatives of the top 25–30 startups will be invited by OTP Bank to the final Selection Days, which is planned to be held in Budapest at the end of May, at Akvárium Klub, with personal attendance.

“I am proud that the OTP Startup Booster Program is mobilising the entire Group, including foreign subsidiary banks, to support the dissemination of innovative financial solutions across the region. It is particularly gratifying that we are seeing more applicants and more excellent collaborations with our startup partners every year,” said András Fischer, leader  of OTP Bank’s Innovation department (OTP LAB).

The pilot period in collaboration with startups starts on 5 September 2022 and runs until 25 November 2022. At the online Demo Day, scheduled for 30 November, startups will have the opportunity to present their achievements over the preceding three months to the Group’s management, investors and innovation experts from a number of large domestic and international companies. Following the Demo Day, the startups presenting the most promising pilots will be able to start the live roll-out of their products in the roll-out phase between 1 January and 30 June 2023 with a member of the OTP Banking Group, within the framework of a long-term partnership agreement.

Details of the programme are available at www.otpstartup.com.

About OTP Group

OTP Group has more than 70 years of activity in the financial sector in Central and Eastern Europe, while the Romanian subsidiary has marked 17 years of presence in the local market. Promoting innovation, stable growth and integrated financial services, OTP Group has become a dominant player in the Central and Eastern European market and is considered an important banking group even on a European scale. The community of about 40 thousand employees serves nearly 16,3 million customers daily in 11 countries.