Panos Virvilios, AUSTRIACARD AG: “Our main challenge is to provide meaningful digital transformation services”

“At a time of crisis, it is important that we use our insights and experience, helping our customers to contain and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the financial system and the broader economy,” Panos Virvilios, Marketing Manager at AUSTRIACARD AG told The Diplomat-Bucharest.

“Developments in financial markets are almost impossible to predict at this time. The comparison with the financial crisis of 2008 can work up to a point, if we refer only to the financial losses generated by the coronavirus. The only certainty at this time is related to prevention: no measure in this direction can be considered excessive, whether we are talking about actions at personal or institutional level.

In the field of financial services, prevention costs in establishing a business continuity plan as detailed and applied as possible for such situations. Some companies may not have such a plan already approved and tested, so the situation can be complicated.”

What is your company’s business approach in the current economic context?

The pandemic has brought about a change in redefining our priorities, communication crisis management and business continuity coming to the front.

In terms of business priorities, digital reform, automation, and social responsibility our business continued on the same path, in the current context.  These elements constitute the guide of operation and activity of INFORM, not only in terms of internal operation but also in terms of services offered. Our company has always been characterized by the speed of reaction but also the timely adaptability to new market dynamics. Understandably, our culture and values ​​are channelled by our teams and the applications we provide to our partners – customers.

INFORM has a presence of 120 years in the market and is definitely one of the longest-lived Greek companies, which despite its age, maintains business vigour, strong reflexes, and dynamic profile. Change and continuous improvement  as well as adjustment to the current market conditions and customer needs, is in our nature and has defined us throughout our course in time.

How do you see the evolution of the Romanian financial industry during the COVID-19 recovery?

The evolution of the Romanian financial industry during the COVID-19 recovery is difficult to be predicted now, as we are still on the peak of pandemic wave.  Having said that however, Romania is a market which has all the potential to recover and move into prosperous paths in no time, once this unprecedented situation has passed us. For the time being, a continuous monitoring will help us understand the immediate challenges in society and economy, and the long-term impact on the interconnected financial system and how to deal with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At a time of crisis, it is important that we use our insights and experience, helping our customers to contain and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the financial system and the broader economy. Our highly sophisticated teams are using their expertise to create meaningful digital solutions and a result to that is the recent launch the Digital Onboarding, RPA & Chatbots services, with immediate success. 

All our focus has been placed upon meaningful digital transformation services, which can provide an actual competitive advantage to our clients and their customers to make fast and comfortable decisions in today’s highly volatile operating environment.

What are the main challenges for your company in the medium and long term?

The transition from physical delivery to electronic delivery and electronic data and form management creates new opportunities but also is a challenge for INFORM, as we are now considered a strategic provider of banking and telecommunications organizations as well as the private and public sector, with the solutions it provides.

Our focus and main challenge is to provide meaningful digital transformation services, which can provide an actual competitive advantage to our clients and to continuously develop and personalize them as to deliver the best customer experience to their users.  It is important to understand that INFORM has been known for its secure printing capabilities, holding an important market share in the Romanian market.  These services have been our core business, and  we are complementing them with digital services, which as of current  account for 50% of our offerings.

What role will the epidemic play in the future of the financial market?

Developments in financial markets are almost impossible to predict at this time. The comparison with the financial crisis of 2008 can work up to a point, if we refer only to the financial losses generated by the coronavirus. The only certainty at this time is related to prevention: no measure in this direction can be considered excessive, whether we are talking about actions at personal or institutional level.

In the field of financial services, prevention costs in establishing a business continuity plan as detailed and applied as possible for such situations. Some companies may not have such a plan already approved and tested, so the situation can be complicated.

The existence of these plans is all the more important as, already, measures have been announced that will cause losses to financial institutions beyond those already estimated, resulting from the difficulties of directly affected companies to meet their financial obligations on time (transport, tourism, etc.).

On another hand, the pandemic has highlighted the value of information technology, as many people and companies have begun to realize that it has a lot to offer. So, going on digital and adopting digital services to carry on the day to day activities could be a winning card and also a necessity in the pandemic landscape.

What are your main concerns for the foreseeable future?

The pandemic did not discourage us at all at this level at all – on the contrary at INFORM, we intensified our efforts to create new solutions, develop market share and enter new markets. We immediately adapted to new working methods, to ensure the safety of all our people, and our focus became the continuous operation and offering new solutions to our customers, precisely to deal with the pandemic. Digital onboarding for digital banking and the support of all contactless payment solutions are great examples of the implementation of our new investments.

What should a company do to move the business forward during and after the pandemic?

Having an overview of the current situation, a crisis situation, the solutions are appropriate and a continuous evolution is needed through fast and correct decisions.

Digital transformation can help any business regardless of the area it wants to improve, the customer experience, the operational processes, the business model.

Obviously, the new services and new investments create needs for new staff, training and upgrading of existing staff. And that is exactly what we did at INFORM.

New executives entered our organization, with special experience in new technologies, we created new departments of innovative technologies and finally we built a thorough investment plan in human resources for the coming years.

(P)