DSK Bank partners with Backbase to accelerate its digital transformation

By Joy Dumasia

DSK Bank, Bulgaria’s largest financial institution, has announced its partnership with Backbase, the leading engagement banking platform provider. The industry-recognized software company will work closely with DSK Bank to accelerate its digital transformation and future-proof its operating model by re-architecting the digital solutions around the customer. The Bank will adopt the Backbase Engagement Banking Platform, deployed on Microsoft Azure and Backbase’s Digital Banking and Digital Sales solutions, to enable frictionless self-service and digital onboarding capabilities for the bank’s retail customers.

As a member of the OTP Group (OTP), a Hungarian banking group providing services across Central and Eastern Europe, DSK Bank will leverage the master template developed in SKB Bank, the Slovenian member of OTP and the first Backbase customer from the group. This will enable an accelerated time to market for new digital solutions and a lower cost of technology ownership due to economies of scale and a platform approach.

The front-to-back transformation aligns with DSK Bank’s mobile-first strategy to offer its retail and small business customers a distinctive, end-to-end digital experience. From customer acquisition to customer servicing and product origination, the solution will cover the full customer lifecycle to drive customer loyalty and engagement. The Backbase Engagement Banking Platform will also empower the bank employees with a 360° view of customers, offering enhanced insight into their specific needs.

The partnership aims to reduce processing time, increase customer satisfaction, and boost transactions made on digital channels versus in-branch.

Tamas Hak-Kovacs, CEO at DSK Bank, said: “DSK Bank decided to embark on a digital transformation that emphasizes both “digital” and “transformation” to the same extent. We would like to use the shift in customer expectations to reconfigure our products and processes around the customer needs, irrespective of the preferred channel of the customer. We believe that the Backbase Engagement Platform will enable us to provide the same great experience for clients that interact with us in the branch or transact using our mobile or desktop application.” 

Banks usually maintain dozens of legacy applications to ensure customer access to various services via a number of channels (branch, phone, web, mobile app). The Backbase Engagement Banking Platform complements underlying systems with a comprehensive engagement layer architected around the customers and their needs. This makes the banking experience personalized, seamless, and easy to navigate, offering tailored experiences with the full array of banking services that power the full customer lifecycle.

Matthijs Eijpe, Backbase EMEA Regional Vice-President, said: “Backbase helps financial institutions go beyond traditional banking and move towards true customer engagement. We are delighted that DSK Bank has selected us to be its partner on its customer-first digital journey and that we can help the bank maintain its best-in-class status now and into the future by providing the outstanding banking services that customers have come to expect.”