Companies

Union Bank of the Philippines’ mission to become the country’s largest and most profitable consumer bank is becoming more likely by the day. Much of its success is due to its years-long digital journey, but digitalisation isn’t its end goal. Three of the bank’s top executives explain where it is today and where it aspires to be tomorrow.

Poland’s Bank Pekao’s vision of being “the best together” encompasses many goals, from augmenting profitability to increasing the ranks of its mobile-banking customers. While technology has become integral to its progress, as Mr. Jaroslaw Fuchs explains, Bank Pekao has not lost touch with its core: personal relationships with its clients.

Costa Rica’s Banco BCT has been rewarded for its commitment to providing excellence in its suite of products and services with its current status as the nation’s biggest private bank, largely owing to its success in contributing to the progress and development of numerous individuals and companies, as B Grupo Financiero BCT’s CEO, Álvaro Saborío, explains.

Ecuador’s Produbanco has mastered the two principal trends transforming the banking industry—digitalisation and sustainability—and the results are evident in its meteoric growth and rising dominance in the region. As the new era of banking sharply remodels banks, Produbanco serves as an illustration of what a determined bank can achieve.

For Compartamos Banco, Mexico’s largest microfinance bank, success is measured by how well it financially equips the country’s neediest entrepreneurs, especially women, so that they can energise the economy through small communities. Chief Executive Officer Patricio Diez de Bonilla stresses how the human sense guides every decision the bank makes.

International Banker is joined by Mr. Olukayode Pitan, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, of Bank of Industry to discuss the bank’s work with Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, the African Continental Free Trade Area and the bank’s transactions in the Eurobond market.

Cambodia’s Prince Bank Plc. has a short history but has made a large impact. Starting as a private microfinance firm in 2015, it has since evolved into a consummate commercial bank dedicated to achieving its vision of being its customers’ financial institution of choice, expertly exploiting digital channels, as CEO Honn Sorachna explains.

KBC Group is well regarded as Europe’s premier bank-insurance group, seeking to provide a universal service to customers that saves them time and money in various aspects of their lives. In our interview, CEO Johan Thijs explains how the Group not only changes with its customers but proactively anticipates their future needs.

Piguet Galland & Cie SA, “a bank on a human scale”, safeguards what many banks are abandoning as they embrace digitalisation and distance themselves from clients. In our interview, Selman Bicaco Urrutia, Head of Private Banking, explains how Piguet Galland employs digital tools and other means to only intensify its crucial human touch.

Serbia’s AIK Banka is committed to being its customers’ bank of first choice. It has invested generously but smartly in digital transformation, creating products and services that improve the customer experience and internal operations. Board Chair Jelena Galić explains how AIK Banka has become its clients’ reliable and valuable partner.