Business Forum • 29 August, 2024 at 10:40 AM
Salt Bank, the first Romanian neobank, marks its first 100 days since its launch this Spring and announces the first consumption data and 100% digital banking experience of the 250,000 users who adopted neobanking so far. This milestone is part of Salt Bank's promise to be more than just a bank: a transparent, agile banking experience tailored to the needs of today's users and built together with customers, based on their needs and feedback.
“We aim to change the rules of the game in banking and financial services, offering users a significant jump forward in tech and banking experience, combining a bank's financial stability with the agility of a fintech. This is why we continuously analyze consumers` behavior, their feedback, and ideas from them, developing and improving constantly. We don't aim to be perfect; we want to improve every day and provide customers with products and services tailored to their needs. This is the promise we made when we launched Salt: Banking. But as you want it,” said Gabriela Nistor, CEO of Salt Bank.
Who are Salt Bank's first clients
Salt Bank's clients are mainly individuals with medium and high social status, with almost half (46%) of them earning more than €1,000 monthly, working in creative industries, healthcare, finance or public administration. Two-thirds of the clients are men, primarily using Salt Bank for their everyday banking transactions („daily banking”).
Almost half of the clients come from Romania's major cities, predominantly from Bucharest and Ilfov, Cluj, Iași, Brașov, Timișoara and Constanța. Most of Salt Bank's clients (79%) are in the 21-50 age group.
The most frequent transactions through Salt Bank in the first 100 days since the launch include mobility payments (for taxi or limousine services), followed by payments at restaurants and supermarkets.
From the travelling preferences point of view, the top 3 most popular vacation destinations among Salt Bank clients are Greece, Italy, and Spain. Clients` exotic destinations preferences include the Bahamas, Jamaica, Colombia, Palestine, Fiji Island, Uzbekistan and Thailand or unique destinations in Africa such as Uganda, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe.
Seen as the highlight of the year in the Romanian banking market, Salt Bank attracted over 100,000 clients in its first 10 days only. The fast rate of user adoption of neobanking confirms their appetite for modern, 100% digital banking services that ensure safety, innovation, agility and a friendly, human banking experience.
A bank built together with clients
Salt Bank launched a unique model in the Romanian banking market, where everyone enrolled in the Founders' Community receives a set of special benefits. One of the most interesting benefit is that they can influence the future of the bank – and the 100,000 founders have already done it. Salt Bank has gathered until now over 6,000 ideas and feedbacks so far from the 4,000 members of the Salt Founders' Community. Through active participation in the community, founders directly influence Salt Bank's future.
Their feedback has been essential in improving the experience offered by Salt Bank. The community has been involved in decisions such as the naming of "founder points" – referred to as founder points instead of other naming, transforming founder points into money and/or shares (also a community idea) and the need for human-to-human support in the Care Center.
Salt Bank is more than a neobank; it is the future of digital banking in Romania, ready to provide financial services to Romanian citizens at international standards, with a strong focus on technology and regulatory compliance. Salt Bank, headquartered in Romania, is wholly owned by Banca Transilvania Financial Group – the largest bank in SEE.