We hope you have prepared your headphones! 🎧 Today at BT Talks, the podcast of Transilvania Bank, we talk about the courage to face the challenges, and together with Andi Moisescu is 🥁 ... Ömer Tetik, CEO of Transilvania Bank.

Ömer was born in Hamburg and grew up in Izmir. His first language was German and he learned Turkish well when he was five, when his family moved to Turkey. He is Romanian, with a Romanian identity card since 2009 and has been working in Romania since 2000. Since 2013, he has been CEO of Banca Transilvania and is among the most admired CEOs in Romania (2019, Business Magazin).

In this episode I found out that he was a "geek" in college and always liked challenges. We think it's a very interesting podcast, but we don't tell you more, we let you discover for yourself.

"You can easily exploit your skills. To manage challenges well, that makes all the difference." 

About your career in banking 

Ömer started his career at a time when banking was in full development and technology. "Building something from scratch is more difficult, but the impact is much greater. It's also a personal satisfaction. You see your contribution much more obvious, you can give a shape after your choices in what you do and so you leave a mark."

The story of BT

The founders of BT thought from the very beginning as entrepreneurs. "When you have a mother bank in your back that has been doing things the same for a long time, you take on and borrow things. At BT we had to develop our DNA on our own."

For a bank to function it must have contact with reality. "At BT, we depend a lot on the bank's network. The BT network, our military, is actually our contact with reality."

BT's relationship with SMEs

In the area of SMEs and microfinance, BT is the first option for entrepreneurs. "If you think that 60-70% of the employees in the economy work for SMEs or almost 70% of the country's GDP is produced by SMEs, we actually work for the largest holding in Romania. We don't consider them small businesses, they are important businesses for us. We grew up together."

Where the banking system is heading

The pandemic has brought changes in the way we do banking. Due to the current context, the customers' trust in digital has increased. "Things without added value are going to disappear from everyday life. You're not going to waste time going to the bank, but the banker's role as an advisor will remain important."

BT Talks, the Transylvania Bank podcast, is a show in which athletes like Simona Halep, artists like INNA or vloggers & content creators, like Selly – share a little of their stories and mindset, to inspire the whole country.

The episodes can be listened to on BT website, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Youtube. Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss an episode. 😄

Editor: Popa Adelina, Marketing Officer, Banca Transilvania