The UBB Mobile achievements and evolution were presented at a special media event in the UBB Gallery on 12 October 2023. Being the biggest bank in Bulgaria and leader in the digitalization and transformation of the banking market, United Bulgarian Bank (UBB), part of the Belgian financial group KBC, has been constantly offering new digital products and services. The event was attended by Tatyana Ivanova, Executive Director Digitalization, Data and Operations at UBB and Innovation Leader of KBC Group in Bulgaria and by Miroslav Rizenov, Director Digital Channels at UBB.

UBB Mobile remains at the core of the Bank’s digital transformation and uplifts the UBB bank-assurance model and customer experience at a next level through the access to many banking, insurance, investment and pension insurance products and services. „Following the finalization of the integration process between UBB and the ex-KBC Bank Bulgaria, over 900 000 unique users or over 20% of Bulgaria’s population in active age will become customers of UBB Mobile. Based on an internal survey the satisfaction of the UBB’s mobile banking app users is 90%. This is the biggest recognition for us, as it comes from customers. Yet customers are at the core of everything we do at UBB.“, commented Tatyana Ivanova, Executive Director Digitalization, Data and Operations at UBB and Innovation Leader of KBC Group in Bulgaria.

The design has been smart-copied from the Belgian app KBC Mobile, which was awarded the Best 2023 Mobile Banking App in Belgium and one of the top three best banking apps in the world by the independent research agency Sia Partners. The new visual transformation of UBB Mobile has been directly inspired by KBC Mobile, but also tailored to the expectations of local users, based on focus group exercises, held with real-life clients.

The remote access to a wide range of banking services, offered by UBB Mobile, is aligned with the commitment of UBB to sustainability through reducing the use of paper. 50% of new clients use the opportunity to open an account without needing to physically visit a branch of the bank or sign paper documents. The time, needed for checking clients’ identity has been drastically reduced to less than 11 minutes, which poses a significant 10-time improvement. Through this process the Bank has reduced 15 times its costs for attracting clients, thus saving considerable resources.

95% of customer interactions with the Bank are digital, while 96% of payments are being made via a digital channel. The digital assistant Kate has been gaining ground as a valuable helper. 71% of UBB Mobile users interact with Kate and every 5-th proactive message from her entails request for a product or a service. Kate can boast with 57% autonomy – customer inquiries, which Kate understands and can provide answers to independently. Our digital assistant has freed 46 400 working hours for employees at the Bank's offices from trivial questions and routine operations.

Presently users of UBB Mobile are 87% of total active individuals, customers of UBB. The app offers an integrated range of banking, insurance and investment products and 150 functionalities. It is the only banking app in Bulgaria through which users can access their pension records. Another unique functionality in the app is the option to apply for a Life Insurance to a consumer loan.

The new design of UBB Mobile is now more intuitive, allowing customers to navigate easily. The new vision includes a fresh dashboard, containing the most frequently sought information by customers and providing fast reports on accounts and cards, showing recent transactions. Product menus have also been upgraded, split by categories, thus facilitating customers in their requesting products and services they need in a fully digital way.

The focused Personalization menu enables the user to personalize his/her user experience through an option for hiding account balances, theme change, notifications on/off, consent management, etc. Apart from that the new Advice functionality provides an opportunity for current and new users of UBB Mobile to become aware of the app structure through brief guidelines as to the most frequently used menus and vast range of functionalities, while navigating and facilitating them.

„The new features in the app are not only proof of the service quality, rendered by us, but also a clear sign that we remain engaged in innovations and provision of maximum convenience to our customers. Our efforts for expanding the mobile banking services for users - the many solutions for payment and the avant-garde range of beyond-banking services we render, make the lives of our customers more convenient and help them save time and money. It is news of literally the last several hours that we have succeeded in shortening the login time for UBB Mobile by 3 seconds. The Bank’s team has been now working also on new functionalities, among which P2P payments over the phone, deposits of large amounts, filing of claims under insurance policies with DZI, electronic bank account declaration statement.“, shared Miroslav Rizenov, Director Digital Channels at UBB.

UBB Mobile is downloadable from Google Play, Apple Store and Huawei AppGallery and the digital onboarding for new clients is easy, fast and in just a few steps.