In the proximity of a way and in difficult financial and social times, financial education can steer the path a people towards either poverty or prosperity. Building on this assumption, the Alternative Banking Dispute Resolution Centre (ABDRC) has taken steps to provide information to the consumers of financial information about their relation with banks and their own finances. During the 12 meetings hosted by ABDRC, economic journalists of repute talk to presidents or vice-presidents of commercial bank, the Legal Director of the National Bank of Romania and the management of the Romanian Association of Banks, university professors, and well-known lawyers. These interviews are captured in 12 financial education podcasts addressing current topics for the economy of Romania. Invitees to the first series of podcasts speak about: role of saving and responsible lending, and about how artificial intelligence will influence the relationship between consumers and banks.

4 April, Bucharest. In the proximity of a way and in difficult financial and social times, financial education can steer the path a people towards either poverty or prosperity. Building on this assumption, the Alternative Banking Dispute Resolution Centre (ABDRC) has taken steps to provide information to the consumers of financial information about their relation with banks and their own finances. During the 12 meetings hosted by ABDRC, economic journalists of repute talk to presidents or vice-presidents of commercial bank, the Legal Director of the National Bank of Romania and the management of the Romanian Association of Banks, university professors, and well-known lawyers.

These interviews are captured in 12 financial education podcasts addressing current topics for the economy of Romania. Quotes and video links to pieces of the first four interviews can be found below.

Invitees to the first series of podcasts speak about:

• Why should be save and stay prudent in this period?
• Why should we go to banks like we go to our family doctor, and why responsible lending is not beneficial only to banks, but to consumers too?
• How would the future of banking look lime and what AI cannot replace the offline banking branches and agencies?

FINANCIAL EDUCATION GIVES THE DIRECTION FOR A PEOPLE

Alexandru Păunescu, representative of the National Bank of Romania in ABDRC, talking to Dan Pop, Senior Editor with Hotnews.ro: “Financial education is so important that it can steer the path of a people towards either poverty or richness, considering that financial services weight heavily in an economy. And still, financial cannot be imposed on consumers. They must to be informed about the costs of a financial product. They don’t necessarily need to know how the ROBOR and IRCC rates are calculated, or how they work and what the macroeconomic indices stand for.

As to how banks related to consumers of financial services, I believe that banking institutions could have a common strategy. Banking staff selling financial products to consumers can also act as an interface for the problems that occur during performance of a contract. Banks have a rather decentralized system to deal with complaints: these are received by the staff placing financial products, and are then forwarded for settlement to the bank’s headquarters. This mechanism can be reconsidered so that banks afford more freedom and flexibility to the employee that sells products and can stay much closers to the bank’s clients. These employees can also be granted larger powers to get involve in solving the problems of consumers. It’s how this works in the rural environment, for instance. There, the bank’s employee has a more personal relation with the consumer.”

PRUDENCE AND SAVING. A HEALTHY SOCIETY, A STABLE ECONOMY

Bogdan Neacșu, President of the Romanian Association of Banks and CEO of CEC Bank talking to Emilia Olescu, Editor-in-Chief of Bursa Newspaper: “The most important thing consumers can do in times of energy crisis, war, healthcare emergencies, and high inflation rates is to be prudent in whatever decisions they make. Our future financial piece of mind depends on how we invest our money, save and make personal business decisions.

I urge people to save! Population is already saving significant amounts, but still not as much as back in 2020-2021. However, we do look like a healthy society that understands the time we are living, despite all sort of macroeconomic, political and geopolitical disturbances. And since Romanians do save, we can say that we have committed also to prudence, and we have to stick to it. What matters is that we don’t undergo recession, despite the overlapping crises. The premises show that it is highly unlikely to get there and that we will continue as a stable economy. However, it can also be that problems escalate. We don’t know the war in Ukraine will develop. In the banking system, we consider all sorts of scenarios, including hypothetical ones, in order to be prepared to meet all the demands of the population, be these liquidities, operations and other services that would give people the comfort that their money is safe and readily available to them.”

THE BANK IS THE “DOCTOR” TO TREAT FINANCIAL RESTLESSNESS

Roxana Hidan, Vice-President of OTP Bank, talking to Norel Moise, Editor-in-Chief with Piața Financiară: “Financial education starts from the front-office, but this should not be provided only in the beginning of the relationship between the bank and the consumer, but also throughout its lifetime.

We expect our clients to be sufficiently mature, and reach out to the bank when they face problems. We should be the family doctor our clients go to at the first sign of financial restlessness, if I can put it like this. The first call should be to the bank and the front-office person, a well-trained employee who knows how to guide the consumers and also to ask for help, if need be.

On the other hand, a responsible lending approach should not be asked only from the bank. Responsible borrowing should be first seen in the person who needs to repay the money in the end of the day. I can only do what’s humanly possible and provide them with all the information they need, be 100% transparent about the costs and clauses, and help them in this “getting-to-know-each-other” phase; however, in the end of the day, it is up to whoever wants to buy something on credit. For banks, responsible lending means to understand the financial health state of the client, and what lies behind their loan application.”

SPEED WILL ROCK THE BANKING SYSTEM

Vladimir Kalinov, Vice-President of Raiffeisen Bank, talking to Cristian Pavel, Editor-in-Chief with Legal Magazin: “The banking system will transform radically over the next years. I expect to see AI-assisted decisions, more use of biometry to identify future clients, and even automations to increase the speed of financial operations. Recently, a co-worker asked me how much time is needed for a payment to be received abroad. When I told him that it could be only a couple of hours, he recalled that, 10 years ago, it needed three days. So, speed it’s what will continue to see. Once the banking systems switches to technology, investments in cybersecurity will increase, and new problems will be there to be solved. Most likely, the bank will not be as visible as today, because it becomes part of people’s everyday life. And despite all these transformations, I don’t see the banks’ physical networks, with branches and agencies, disappearing. The human contact with the bank is essential to build the trust the banking system needs. While including extension of real estate or long-term loans could be eventually automated, this will not happen. People trust the physical interaction more, and their senses and emotions cannot be replicated by Artificial Intelligence. Man-to-man interaction will remain a priority intended for important financial decisions.”

About ABDRC: ABDRC is an entity set up under a European Directive, and intermediates, free of charge and in not more than three months, negotiations between consumers and banks or NBFIs, for contracts/agreements in progress. Consumers from any county of the country may file applications with the Alternative Banking Dispute Resolution Centre (ABDRC) filling-in an online form directly on the website www.csalb.ro. Once the bank accepts to enter the conciliation/negotiation procedure, a conciliator is appointed. ABDRC works with 17 conciliators, of the best specialists in law and with relevant experience also in the financial and banking field. Everything is settled amicably, and the understanding between the parties has the power of court judgment. More information about the work of the Centre is available by phone at 021 9414 (charged a normal rate).