Financial & Corporate IT 2021

In today's Hungarian banking sector, there is no question that banks must carry out a digital transformation of their entire organisation, but market players are at various phases of this process, and the sector is very heterogeneous depending on products, functions and level of organisational development. In its recently published recommendations on comprehensive digital transformation, the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) advises accelerating digitalisation, urging banks to make better use of technological advances (AI, cloud, RPA), UX and their data assets. What will be in the focus of banks' digitalisation in the coming period? Where does the digital transformation of organisations, infrastructure and products start, and how does it continue? Will corporate customers also be in the focus of development in addition to retail customers? How do incumbents defend against challenger banks and fintech disruptors?

The IT managers of banks and the key suppliers of the market are progressing with digital transformation shoulder to shoulder. The question is which stations of this comprehensive process are coming in the near future. What technologies will domestic financial institutions introduce in the near future, and in what areas? How will they continue their ongoing digital transformation? What do bank IT managers think about the central bank's digital recommendations, and what does the regulator expect of banks? What are the main global trends in banking digitalisation?

The coronavirus pandemic has caused major disruptions in the operations of corporations and banks, and remote customer service has come into focus like never before. Digital customer service was a huge challenge for all businesses with large numbers of customers, both because of increased transaction numbers  and with regard to providing a suitable UX. The companies able to ride the digitalisation wave were those that had agile, flexible organisations, well-functioning IT teams, and the IT architecture to service all this. Businesses able to innovate not only met the minimum requirements but also took a step ahead on the road to digitalisation. What have we learned during the pandemic, and what will the new normal be like? Corporate executives will discuss these issues in Section 2/B.

We had never before used cards to pay in stores as much as we did last year, and cash payments are used less and less. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic and the launch of the instant payment system, a chunk of cash transaction have been permanently re-routed to electronic channels, MNB experts said. Providing an electronic payment option is now mandatory at every online register, and a central mobile payment solution is expected to arrive this year, so online payments are booming. This section will focus on the main trends in the payment sector, with the involvement of prominent market players and regulators.

E-commerce has been one of the big winners of the coronavirus pandemic. In 2020, the ratio of online sales in global retail rose to 19% from 16% the previous year. The market has also picked up in Hungary as existing retailers are increasingly present in e-commerce, while new players have also entered the market. In e-commerce, IT and UX developments are in the foreground, as they should be since Hungary is still a country of abandoned baskets.

Some of the stars of Hungary's fintech sector are now active in the global market, but there still are a number of successful fintechs looking for a breakout opportunity. Local market players are still mostly using the B2B business model, but there are also several B2C players in the market. The question is how they can increase user numbers further. In any case, the coronavirus pandemic has shifted emphasis to digitalisation across the world. In this section, prominent representatives of Hungary's fintech sector will discuss the above issues.