Interview with Sławomir S. Sikora, CEO of Citi Handlowy

We encourage you to read the article in “Rzeczpospolita” daily with an extensive interview with Sławomir S. Sikora, CEO of Citi Handlowy, where he explains why he considers the Polish banking sector to be on par with the top Asian markets, both in terms of mobile banking and internet banking, and at the forefront of global competition. You will also read about the outlook for the Polish economy and for the banking sector, as well as the plans of Citi Handlowy:

"Changes at banks are frequently ahead of changes in the society. Banks’ transformation towards digitalization is one of the global trends that will dominate in the coming years. It is expected that within the next five years twenty five per cent of Poles will have a tablet and a seventy five per cent of cell phone users will use a smart phone. As at the end of May, less than 1% of transactions at Citi Handlowy were effected in the traditional way – in branches. Hence, our concept of the Smart outlet network which is a direct response to all those changes in consumer behavior, underlines CEO Sławomir S. Sikora.

"Banks will serve customers according to their expectations. There were some banking concepts in the past based on the premise that the customers did not need a branch or human presence. Those models were absorbed by universal banks; they did not stand the test of time. The group of people who will buy products and services over phone or Internet will grow, though. And we will do our best not to lose the customers trust in those forms of contact. A vision of dehumanized bank poses a threat of losing the special status of an institution of public trust, reads the interview.

"There is a group of clients who consider low price of the service rather than quality to be the main criterion when choosing a service provider. Poles still live under the misconception that banking should be for free. Yet, if we are employing technology and people, then a free service is just that – a misconception. It is an issue of ethics and the banking sector will only benefit from transparent communication with the customer. It means that the customers should receive precise information what they are paying for and how much they are paying. They should know the real costs of the service or product they receive, says the CEO of Citi Handlowy.