Welcome to „Discover CEE“!

This is Raiffeisen Bank International’s blog and information platform for leading experts, analysts and successful entrepreneurs and companies, to share their ideas, visions and experiences about doing business in CEE. Our goal is to connect opinion leaders, inspire entrepreneurs and businesses and show the potential, diversity and beauty of the entire CEE region.

  • Data protection: „We should be proud to have – with GDPR – the strongest and most modern data protection rule in the world”

    By Marlene Schloffer, RBI Daniela Bollmann, data protection officer at RBI, about her job, why she is proud of GDPR, what kind of data banks collect, how the customers benefit from this and how to prepare for and respond to a data breach. What is the purpose and goal of a data protection officer and […]

  • EUR/USD: New spring with positive spillover effects on CEE

    By Sebastian Petric, RBI Purposeful European crisis management was key for the recovery of the EUR versus the USD. That being said, optimism with respect to the EUR and the EU crisis response may hit a ceiling from a mid-term perspective. Sebastian Petric, CFA sheds light on this and other crucial drivers of EUR/USD and […]

  • Culinary highlights

    In summer, due to rising temperatures and brighter evenings, friends and families meet outside for a barbecue or a nice dinner. We have looked at some countries where our CEE network banks are doing business, to see which culinary highlights are ideal for a wonderful summer evening. Be inspired by the beloved Siberian dish Pelmeni […]

  • Do not fight the ECB in CEE

    By Gunter Deuber, RBI “Do not fight the Fed” is considered a core motto on international financial markets and among professional market observers. In the current crisis, this applies equally to the ECB. The ECB’s action is currently seen by financial market players as sufficiently decisive and timely (e.g. rapid announcement of the flexible PEPP […]

  • EU COVID-19 crisis response: A look from the CE/SEE perspective

    By Gunter Deuber, RBI From the perspective of the CE/SEE region, there are currently some positive aspects emerging from the rather swift and joint economic policy response to the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis. Overall, the EU is making available some 5-6% of GDP as an anti-cyclical crisis response. For comparison: Joint EU economic policy efforts in […]

  • Is Cloud computing a disrupter in financial services?

    By David Zeller, RBI Like electricity from the socket, cloud services are almost immediately available without having to order, install and maintain technical infrastructure within a company. Cloud providers guarantee immediate access and unlimited resources. This results in an incredible gain in speed and is therefore especially important for innovations. But could it be a […]

  • CEE Bank Card Fraud Trends

    By Alexandra Shevchuk, Raiffeisenbank Russia Raiffeisenbank and Kaspersky Lab analyzed the key trends of bank card fraud in 2019. The analysis and conclusions are based on data from Raiffeisenbank’s card transaction monitoring system, information provided by fraud analysts at Kaspersky Lab, as well as data from the FinCERT report by the Bank of Russia. Reduced […]

  • Cloud and Security: “The bank is always responsible for the security of customers’ data”

    By Peter Gerdenitsch, RBI | When it comes to information security, the financial sector can be considered as one of the most mature industries in the market. Security concepts have always been part of banks in the form of organizational and technical security measures, which structure the continuous effort to protect customer data and the […]

  • A close look at 19 fintech ecosystems in CEE

    By Katja Fiedler, RBI | More than 65 per cent of the population in CEE is expected to be using digital banking services by the end of 2020 making the region an attractive market for fintechs, that is to say technology providers to the financial services industry or financial services providers utilizing technology as a […]

  • Advanced Analytics: “Identifying relevant patterns helps us to solve real life problems”

    By David Eschwé, Vjekoslav Bonic and Robert Barcik | Advanced Analytics & Artificial Intelligence Tribe at RBI               The technical developments over the last years have fueled tremendous Advanced Analytics activities around the world. Every day new sophisticated approaches are developed. Within the Advanced Analytics & Artificial Intelligence Tribe […]