Marko: Raiffeisen Regional Processing Center (RPC) is one of the biggest processors in the region, currently serving only Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) banks. We fulfill all the requirements of our customers in terms of flexibility and time-to-market, and we are present almost in all countries in the region. Where do we want to be? First of all, we want to consolidate our whole portfolio on the OpenWay platform, and to onboard the rest of the banks that are not currently on RPC from RBI Group, and in a few years from now, to have RPC ready for new challenges.
RPC is teaming up with OpenWay, because OpenWay is one of the industry leaders in the payments area, and industry-wise, OpenWay is also following industry trends. This is why we at RPC are going to leverage this benefit of cooperating with OpenWay.
Marko: What we see as a trend, of course, pandemic-boosted, is the digitalization of payments in general. Also on the issuing side, we see a digital footprint in all markets, expanding, in terms of digital cards, in terms of penetration of mobile payments, but as well as in acquiring. We also see that some new technologies are coming, such as SoftPOS, or POS on a mobile device.
The cloud is something that is coming, but as we have seen yesterday, the cloud is not some magic bullet for everything, or a golden bullet. It should be applied where it makes sense from the technology point of view. Applications definitely need to be cloud-ready and secure enough. We also see an additional level of security that needs to be added on top.
And as mentioned, mobile technology is something definitely that is, let’s say, conquering the world further. When you look at trends in banking for the last 20-25 years, you see a pyramid. So in the beginning there were plenty of services, banking-related, which were put on mobile and on web. Then, the next phase, where, let’s see, half and half. So put some services in the branch, and the rest on web or mobile. So now we are here having, let’s put everything on mobile and web, and just if you need, let’s put something in the branch for the physical presence. And of course, neobanks are coming where you don’t have any physical presence or interaction with the customers.
Marko: We are using a basic product, which is based on common functionality. And then there is a country’s market or even product, or network bank specifics. We are using basics, and then applying all the specifics on top. From the normalization or standardization offering point of view, we use the concept of reuse, which is quite popular in RBI. This helps us to become cost-efficient, and time-efficient in general when we are offering our products.
Marko: It definitely changed ways of interacting with people. I am quite a social person, and I like people interaction, so I took it quite hard personally, still coping, as all of us. And I really am looking forward to the end of the pandemic and getting back to interactions with real people.
Marko: The strongest impression is meeting real people after some time, to socialize and share experiences.
Usage of data in the future, because data is definitely the future gold. Super interesting was the project economy from Antonio, but also structuring the projects from Mr. Gromov. Those were the topics that were the most interesting so far.
Looking forward to the next OpenWay Club!