The Central European (“CE”) retail banking sector continues to grow at a double digit pace and it is projected to maintain this momentum in the upcoming years mainly thanks to growth in the traditional CE markets such as Poland, as well as areas like Russia, Ukraine and the Balkans which are making huge strides in banking sector reforms and development.

The competition on the CE retail banking market is harsh as the first offer takes the most. Such an approach is mainly visible in growth and initiatives in order to get the presence on the market and creates a customer basis for further development. This mainly forces banks to seek initiatives and solutions to strengthen their position – e.g. development of alternative distribution channels, development of new products, targeting niche customers with an appropriate business model or implementation of IT systems such as an automated workflow solution to support the loan process.

While competing to gain a significant market share, banks also need to start to look at efficiency improvements such as cost optimization or reorganization of back office functions. This combines to make the CE retail banking sector very attractive to current and potential investors which is visible in cases of new entrants on the Polish market building their banking business from scratch. The key success factors are to identify a customer niche and develop an appropriate business model with clear value proposition and marketing approach. Examples of banks which entered the Polish market prove that achieving significant results is possible within a short period and should be an incentive to prospective investors showing that there is still free space on the market to set up a successful retail banking business in the CE markets.

The Central European Retail Banking Overview describes:

• Growth in the Central European Banking Sector
• Retail Banking Market Development in Central Europe
• Current factors influencing the banking market
• Trends in developing new products and services
• Efficiency improvement
• Success stories etc.

About the authors

Marcin Zdral – Partner at Deloitte Poland, CE Consulting Leader of the Financial Services Industry group, specializing in strategy, sales stimulation initiatives and operational efficiency improvement in banking

Piotr Siciak – Manager at Deloitte Poland, Financial Services Industry group, expert in branch model development, operational efficiency improvement in banking and business processes redesign

Bartłomiej Styrnik – Consultant at Deloitte Poland, Financial Services Industry group, specializing in business processes redesign, strategy and financial models development