„The Bulgarian banking market is one of the most competitive and dynamic sectors in this country, as with regard to the speed of penetration of new digital products and technology innovations it has been developing at a fast pace, thus bringing it closer to the digital maturity of the markets in the countries in Central Europe.“ shared Tatyana Ivanova, Executive Director Digitalization, Data and Operations at UBB and Innovation Leader of KBC Group in Bulgaria during the Investing in Our Future event, organized by Darik Business Review. The event was held on 15 April at 2020 Event Space in Sofia.

Main topics of the event’s third edition were green investments, digitalization, sustainable development and the changing work environment. Being one of the keynote speakers, Tatyana Ivanova presented the digitalization trends in the banking sector and answered questions, linked to the penetration of artificial intelligence in the banking activity, the scope of services, provided by banks online to their customers, the readiness of banks for the euro adoption in Bulgaria and others.

She pointed out the introduction of instant payments as an example of Bulgaria’s anticipatory adoption of technology innovations, being used 3 years already, as compared to the adoption of the SEPA Instant Payments Regulation in the EU as of the start of this year. „The new normal is the use of banking products and services in a fully digital way. It starts with becoming digitally onboarded as a customer, opening a bank account in just a few clicks, then applying for and obtaining a consumer loan, and even a digital mortgage. All this happened within the last four years and results from the substantial investments of the entire banking sector in Bulgaria in digitalizing the core banking products.“, added the Innovation Leader of KBC Group for Bulgaria.

In her opinion, the role of artificial intelligence in the financial sector will continue to gain ground, as thanks to it more and more products and services will be offered without employee interference. As an example she pointed out the use of AI by DZI during the handling of Casco claims, thus enabling customers in just a few clicks to upload photos of their damage and within 30 minutes of submitting the claim to receive a financial indemnity proposal or an engagement letter for repairing the car at a service centre, thus saving their time for arranging inspections, filling out of documents on paper, etc.

As far as Kate, the digital assistant of UBB is concerned, who has turned 3 years of age quite recently, Tatyana Ivanova emphasized that Kate’s reached autonomy levels of approximately 68% had saved an average monthly time, equaling the working hours of 23 employees at the Bank.

„Kate is very efficient in managing the change. We have a quite positive example of the manner in which our digital assistant helped customers who underwent the integration process over the last two years by providing answers to various queries. She will also be a key helper in the transition to the euro, ready to address the questions, to be raised by customers during the interim period.“, shared the Innovation Leader of KBC Group for Bulgaria, while answering a question, linked to the readiness of banks for adopting the euro currency and the role of digital assistants in servicing customers during this process.

The Investing in Our Future forum of Darik Business Review is being organized in partnership with UBB.