The business ties between Romania and Germany were strengthened in early September when ProCredit Bank, the only bank in Romania with 100% German shareholders, participated in an event held by ProCredit Bank Germany in Frankfurt. More than 50 German companies with business ties to Eastern Europe attended the event to learn about the ProCredit group, which started its operations in Eastern Europe 15 years ago.
ProCredit Bank has been active in Romania for 13 years, during which time it has striven to become the house bank for small and medium-sized enterprises through the development of long-term, trust-based relationships with its clients.
All the banks in the group follow the same business philosophy, so common ground was easily reached at the event held in Germany, where the management board members of the 10 Eastern European ProCredit banks (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine), as well as ProCredit Bank Germany, were present to discuss business opportunities with the guests. The German companies, which represented the agricultural, mechanical engineering, automotive, textile, IT and renewable energy sectors, enthusiastically embraced this opportunity to engage in close dialogue with the banks.
The ProCredit group’s commitment to South Eastern and Eastern Europe was welcomed by all participants, especially given that SMEs have greatly contributed to the recent economic growth in these countries. Thus, by supporting the economic ties between German companies and businesses in South Eastern and Eastern Europe, the group is not only providing opportunities for people in the region but also contributing to the stability of the economies in the region in general.
Christoph Freytag, spokesperson of the Management Board of ProCredit Bank Germany, presented the unique business model that characterizes all ProCredit banks, emphasizing that by building strong relationships with clients, “We ensure that we understand our clients, their business models and their projects. This is the only way to provide good customer service, and it lowers the risks for the clients and us as a bank.”
The hosts of the event also presented the group’s new self-service areas, which are open 24 hours, seven days a week, enabling clients to conduct their banking operations at any time of day, through a wide range of banking terminals.
“We aim to offer excellent services, and by developing this concept, which shifts some operational activities to the machines in the self-service areas, we are moving towards having branches with a more advisory-oriented role, rather than an operational one,” explained Mariyana Petkova, Deputy General Manager of ProCredit Bank Romania, with regard to the recent developments of the bank in Romania.
Furthermore, the event represented a good opportunity to present how clients can benefit from conducting business with their partners in other countries with ProCredit banks. Businesses can now collaborate through a common partner, ProCredit Bank, and take advantage of attractive new services such as cross-border financing in Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Macedonia and Georgia. In this way, the bank can also offer excellent service for companies wishing to enter a market or move their production into the region, including a financing package both here and in the local economy.
In addition, SMEs can make international transfers to ProCredit group banks in the region at favorable terms thanks to the group-wide account-to-account network for international transfers, which is called ProPay. This means that payment transactions between customers in Germany and customers of the ProCredit banks in the region can be carried out quickly and at low cost.
The event was successful on all sides. German companies were actively involved and genuinely interested in the dialogue with the bank managers, making excellent use of this peer-to-peer exchange. The guests at the event also had the chance to gather information on various topics, such as the payment transaction facilities in the ProCredit network and whether their customers in the region can receive financing to purchase their machinery. Companies that wish to expand into South Eastern Europe also inquired about how to raise local financing so as to avoid burdening their credit limits with German banks.
The new developments described above, which of course also apply to ProCredit Bank Romania, go hand in hand with the high quality standards upheld by ProCredit group throughout the years. By offering the local companies the possibility of trans-border collaboration with their partners, ProCredit Bank is contributing to the economic ties between Romania, other Eastern European countries and Germany.
