CEC Bank and Mastercard launch the LOCALNICII Start-Up Package, a banking product for local businesses at the beginning of the road

CEC Bank continues to support Romanian entrepreneurs and launches, together with Mastercard, the LOCALNICII Start-Up Package, which offers complete services for day-to-day operations, with zero costs in the first year.

The package is addressed to Romanian entrepreneurs in the first year of activity and was developed to help small businesses more easily overcome the challenges they face at the beginning of the road.

“CEC Bank is close to local businesses and we want to support and encourage these entrepreneurs on their way, perhaps difficult, to grow a business from scratch. That’s why we meet them with a current account package that not only offers zero costs in the first year, but also innovative solutions that allow you to turn a mobile phone into POS, ready at any time for transactions, as well as a suite of benefits, which to support their development. Thus, we continue the growth of the #Localnicii platform, launched last year, together with KANÉ Group and Mastercard, dedicated to supporting local entrepreneurs “, said Bogdan Neacșu, President – General Manager of CEC Bank.

“The last year has meant an extremely difficult period for most businesses on the market, regardless of size, and an even more difficult context for those who have turned their passion into a new business. A study we conducted in the second half of 2020 showed that one in three Romanians discovered new stores in their community, and two in three said they would continue to buy products from boutiques and local stores. So the signs from consumers are among the best. And the LOCALNICII Start-Up Package completes the favorable premises, from a business perspective. The goal is to provide entrepreneurs with the solutions they need to seamlessly integrate into the digital economy and encourage consumers to purchase local products. We are happy to consolidate, thus, the Mastercard activity, to support the Romanian business and to build a better future for the local entrepreneurs “, said Cosmin Vladimirescu, Country Manager Romania and Croatia, Mastercard.

The LOCALNICII Start-up package comes with zero monthly administration fee in the first year after opening the package and offers numerous services and benefits, such as: current account and card account in lei, salary account, savings account, Mastercard Business debit card , Internet and Mobile Banking and the SmartPhone POS card payment service, which is activated on request and is free for the first year. In addition, in the first year, no fees are charged for receipts and payments in lei through Internet Banking and Mobile Banking and customers receive 0.1% per annum interest at sight for all cash in the current account in lei, as well as access to Mastercard solutions (Package for Digitizing Your Business, free insurance for online shopping and the Premium & Business Program / mymastercard.ro). Complete information about the advantages of the LOCALNICII Start-up package is available at www.cec.ro.

#Localnicii, the platform dedicated to small entrepreneurs

Launched in 2020, the #Localnicii platform, developed by KANÉ Group, with the support of CEC Bank and Mastercard, is a sustainable movement to support the new entrepreneurial generation, with the mission to encourage local businesses and stimulate the consumption of Romanian handicrafts.

At the heart of this initiative is the Local Box, a kit of local products, curated periodically by KANÉ Group and addressed to companies and individuals, in order to support the community of small entrepreneurs. Between

December 2020 and April 2021, 6 editions of the Box with Locals were made, containing products from 45 entrepreneurs, which generated for them the sale of over 25,000 products. The launch of the LOCALNICII Start-Up Package is synchronized with the launch of the 7th edition of the Local Box, which contains a new selection of local producers, being also available on www.altmarkt.ro for consumers who want to support Romanian brands.