Péter Csányi, CEO of OTP Bank, named Best Bank in CEE, discusses the technologies and skills needed for the future.
As Central and Eastern Europe’s banking landscape evolves, OTP Bank is accelerating its transformation into a more diversified, digitally driven regional powerhouse.
Deputy CEO Péter Csányi discusses the bank’s strong 2025 performance, expansion ambitions and growing reliance on AI to enhance customer experience, automate lending and strengthen fraud prevention.
Csányi also explains why the next phase of banking competition will depend not only on technology, but on leaders capable of combining digital expertise with strategic execution.
Global Finance: What milestones did the bank reach in 2025? What’s next?
Péter Csányi: Last year was an outstanding year for OTP Group, marked by strong financial performance and continued structural transformation. We delivered a return on equity above 20%, while our balance sheet total approached €118 billion ($129 billion). Growth remained robust, with double-digit organic expansion in our loan portfolio across almost all of our 11 markets, supported by strong retail demand and improving corporate activity.
Our results are increasingly driven by our diversified regional footprint. More than 70% of the Group’s profit was generated outside Hungary, and a significant and growing share comes from eurozone countries, reflecting the success of our long-term expansion strategy and the resilience of our business model across different economic environments.
Growth remains firmly on our agenda. Alongside strong organic dynamics, our ambition for 2026 is at least one new bank acquisition that further strengthens OTP Group’s international presence and long-term value-creation capabilities.
GF: What are you doing to capture the next generation of customers?
Csányi: Building on digital, mobile-first solutions, we deliver a simple and fast customer experience designed to support young people’s digital customer journey—from account opening and daily banking to self-service functionalities. At the same time, through data-driven personalization, we provide relevant offers tailored to customers’ real-life situations and habits.
We continuously develop our digital solutions and services to improve ease of use, incorporating customer feedback to make the experience even more intuitive and efficient, all built on stable and secure core banking services. We believe in combining seamless digital capabilities with a stable, physically present advisory network across all OTP markets, as clients still value personal service for more complex banking needs.
Our goal is to build long-term trust, establish strong relationships with our customers, and contribute to the sustainable growth of the future customer base within a reliable, modern digital environment.
GF: What role did Al play in your 2025 performance?
Csányi: AI has been playing an important role in OTP Group’s performance by supporting our strategy to make banking simpler, faster, and more convenient, while creating tangible business value. As we continue to expand fully digital, end-to-end retail services—from new online credit products to instant money requests, digital card features, and enhanced mobile app functionalities—AI helps us deliver quicker, more accurate, and more personalized customer journeys. By now, our digital sales ratio is significant even by European standards, and our AI capabilities provide a solid foundation for our ambition to reach the top 25% on the continent.
AI-based intent recognition improved service quality across chat and voice channels, while automated document processing and complaint handling accelerated back-office operations. Our recommendation engine used behavioral patterns to display relevant content, and our proprietary deep-learning fraud prevention model strengthened real time protection. In lending, machine learning models enabled automated credit assessment, covering 80%-90% of consumer loan decisions, and supported micro and SME pre-approval processes.
In 2026, AI will become even more integral as we scale automation, deepen personalization, and expand generative AI and large language models to enhance internal knowledge management and customer service.
GF: Which skills will be in most demand within your firm in 2026?
Csányi: By 2026, the most in-demand skill sets at OTP will sit at the intersection of technology, judgment, and execution. AI and data literacy are becoming baselines across the organization, but the real scarcity will be talent that can think systemically, make sound decisions under uncertainty, and translate strategy into tangible outcomes.
On the technology side, demand will remain strong for deep digital and data expertise—including AI engineering, data governance, and modern core systems—as scalable, responsible technology is now inseparable from sustainable growth. As banking continues to shift toward digital, personalized, and frictionless experiences, product innovation, end-to-end journey design, and data-driven commercial decision-making will also be critical.
Meanwhile, rising AI-enabled fraud risks and regulatory complexity make advanced, technology driven risk management, real-time monitoring, and financial crime prevention indispensable across the Group.
Across all these domains, the most valuable capability will be leadership: people who can integrate risk awareness into strategic choices, think globally, and mobilize diverse teams to execute confidently in a fast changing financial landscape.
