Mihaela Nadasan, Deputy General Manager Financial Institutions and Markets, represented Banca Transilvania at NEXTFintech - The Bridge to Inclusive Finance, the most important acceleration event for FinTech startups in Romania. The messages delivered were the following:

Because start-ups are Banca Transilvania's specialty, the focus on FinTech start-ups came naturally, and later turned into a business approach. They teach us how to be agile.

BT has entered into partnerships with FinTechs and in the capital of some of them.

In the case of our bank, digitization started as a need to add to the customer experience, then became a way of thinking, and in 2020, in the context of the pandemic, a necessity.

The agility of FinTechs, combined with the expertise of banks, brings the best results for customers.

In the collaboration between banks and FinTechs there is a need for continuity, commitment, increased attention to security and regulation.

Sustainability must become the main guide in the actions undertaken by FinTechs.

11 startups were part of the accelerator program, which lasted 12 weeks and included four mentoring modules: sales & matchmaking, product marketing, international market transition strategies and investment readiness. Start-ups presented their projects at NEXTFintech, thus having the opportunity to showcase their products, progress and attract investors. The international jury named the following start-ups as winners: 22Trust Venture - Best Product, Leaseman - Best Startup, Investory - Best Pitch and ZOOM Report - Popularity Award.

NEXTFintech was organised by Techcelerator with the support of the EFSE Development Facility, Google for Startups, GapMinder VC, TechAngels, RoFin.Tech, Stripe and the Department for International Trade of the British Embassy in Bucharest.