Hungary for more

The biggest challenge is to overcome the current low growth period together with our clients. GDP growth is 0 this year but next year returns to 3% and inflation is at 18% which should decrease to 6% in 2024. HUF/EUR is very volatile. So, we need to preserve our portfolio quality and assist the client needs, e.g. through providing subsidised loans for SMEs, hedge foreign exchange risks or provide subsidised export finance.

The other challenge is the ever-changing regulatory environment, additional taxes, the digital challenge on the market and the fierce competition. So, we need to be smart and quick to react to those topics, but we are good at that.

Raiffeisen is now in Hungary for more than 35 years. We are a trusted brand and while we were the most profitable in Hungary measured on ROE last year, we have the highest client satisfaction results with a Net Promoter Score of 50 in Corporate for instance. But we are also leading the market in Institutional and Retail clients. And here’s why: We build a strong relationship bank very consequently in all segments as part of Raiffeisen group. While we use all the knowledge we have in RBI and the Network Units we have very strong product areas on the Hungarian market. We are innovative and react quickly to market changes. Now we lead the market in foreign exchange services, export finance or investment banking in the national bond program to just name a few.

In digital innovations we were the first to provide QR-code-based payment services and real time payment requests to corporate customers. For Institutional clients we have a dedicated team which builds on our strengths: leadership in market services, strong presence in custody and the mentioned digital services including open APIs.

We also have a very strong and stable professional team to service our customers which we develop through an internal training framework. It is of utmost importance to us, to only have the best people on all managerial levels.

In 2024 we want to keep our profitability and portfolio quality in returning growth and strongly decreasing the interest rate environment. So pre-workout activity in risk-sales  cooperation, optimal investments of model portfolios in Treasury and client deposit pricing is high on the agenda. To find the right balance between conscious RWA management and returning loan growth will be a challenge.

We continue the digital innovations like Rflex, DaVinci or GIG, implement LMS, and introduce the merchant acquisition service. We also leverage further on the ESG momentum. Recently we were awarded as Green Bank of the country by the National Bank already.

At home with my family but I also like playing tennis, skiing, wine tasting, going to theatre, reading … to many things in fact. I have a home at the Balaton Lake, it’s really relaxing to be there. 

Budapest is an incredibly beautiful city, close to Vienna, geographically but also culturally. I would go to the main square at the 3rd district, where buildings of the 19th century, socialist panel buildings and Roman ruins of an ancient military city meet. Two tram stations from Raiffeisen HQ. I would also recommend to visit the wine area in Etyek close to the city or to swim in one of the old Turkish baths.