Digital Transformation at Erste Group: “Our clients go digital and so do we”

The banking industry is being disrupted by global digitalisation. “The environment in which we are operating has changed dramatically throughout the past years. Our competitors today are not only banks but smart, fast-reacting fintech start-ups around the globe that want to grab a share of our business,” says Peter Bosek, retail board member at Erste Group. Furthermore, there is increasing demand of clients who want to do their banking whenever and wherever they are. In all CEE countries with Erste Group’s presence the number of clients using digital channels to do their banking increased substantially and this trend is expected to continue. Although these markets are at different stages in terms of digital transformation, already more than every second client in Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia uses digital banking. As clients want to use smart and quick solutions with an appealing and user-friendly interface, Erste Group as a leading bank in the CEE-region took the challenge as an opportunity to go for the new. Three years ago, Erste kicked off probably the largest change and innovation process in its history and created an in-house start-up called Erste Hub. “We decided to start innovating from inside out because we believe that this is the best way how we can change our corporate culture. With Erste Hub, we able to substantially shorten the time-to-market of a new product, which is traditionally the biggest challenge for large banks,” explains Bosek.

“Our Erste Hub is a creative unit where we are mixing the best minds from various backgrounds and get them from inside and outside the bank,” adds Boris Marte, Head of Erste’s innovation kitchen. Besides a variety of already implemented and established applications to make clients’ financial life simpler and easier, the largest innovation that has been created by Erste Hub and launched by Erste Bank on the Austrian market at the beginning of 2015 is George. “George isn't just online banking with a polished up user interface, but a continuously growing intelligent ecosystem which adjusts to its individual customers’ needs,” explains Marte. 

Peter Bosek together with Boris Marte and Maurizio Poletto, Head of Design at Erste Hub, presented Erste’s way of digital transformation at the Pioneers Festival which took place on 28 and 29 of May in Vienna. Pioneers Festival is Europe’s major conference for the newest trends, bringing together start-ups with corporates, media and investors eager to support the ideas of tomorrow. More than 1,600 start-ups from over 90 countries applied to meet over 400 investors in the Hofburg Imperial Palace in Austria’s capital.

The banking industry is being disrupted by global digitalisation. “The environment in which we are operating has changed dramatically throughout the past years. Our competitors today are not only banks but smart, fast-reacting fintech start-ups around the globe that want to grab a share of our business,” says Peter Bosek, retail board member at Erste Group. Furthermore, there is increasing demand of clients who want to do their banking whenever and wherever they are. In all CEE countries with Erste Group’s presence the number of clients using digital channels to do their banking increased substantially and this trend is expected to continue. Although these markets are at different stages in terms of digital transformation, already more than every second client in Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia uses digital banking. As clients want to use smart and quick solutions with an appealing and user-friendly interface, Erste Group as a leading bank in the CEE-region took the challenge as an opportunity to go for the new. Three years ago, Erste kicked off probably the largest change and innovation process in its history and created an in-house start-up called Erste Hub. “We decided to start innovating from inside out because we believe that this is the best way how we can change our corporate culture. With Erste Hub, we able to substantially shorten the time-to-market of a new product, which is traditionally the biggest challenge for large banks,” explains Bosek.

“Our Erste Hub is a creative unit where we are mixing the best minds from various backgrounds and get them from inside and outside the bank,” adds Boris Marte, Head of Erste’s innovation kitchen. Besides a variety of already implemented and established applications to make clients’ financial life simpler and easier, the largest innovation that has been created by Erste Hub and launched by Erste Bank on the Austrian market at the beginning of 2015 is George. “George isn't just online banking with a polished up user interface, but a continuously growing intelligent ecosystem which adjusts to its individual customers’ needs,” explains Marte. 

Peter Bosek together with Boris Marte and Maurizio Poletto, Head of Design at Erste Hub, presented Erste’s way of digital transformation at the Pioneers Festival which took place on 28 and 29 of May in Vienna. Pioneers Festival is Europe’s major conference for the newest trends, bringing together start-ups with corporates, media and investors eager to support the ideas of tomorrow. More than 1,600 start-ups from over 90 countries applied to meet over 400 investors in the Hofburg Imperial Palace in Austria’s capital.

PDF (1021 KB) 17/07/2016