00:01Fatbada Reno could be called a pioneer.
00:05She built the first fully digital bank in the entire Western Balkans.
00:10No branches, just an app.
00:14Now JetBank, as the new bank is called, has launched in Albania.
00:22Now we see a very good momentum for the banking system because there is a lot of changes happening
00:31with technology, with people and the way that the people are reacting or expecting from the banking system.
00:44But Albania is difficult territory for an online bank.
00:48Large parts of society still rely on cash, something the government wants to change.
00:54By the end of the year, all businesses will be required to accept cashless payments.
00:59That has been met with criticism from small businesses.
01:04We should use cash, at least people of my generation.
01:08We don't know how electronic payments work. Cash is better.
01:15The problem? Cash fuels a local shadow economy, which is huge in Albania.
01:27Albania has still 30 to 40 percent of its economy that pays neither taxes nor social contributions.
01:40Furthermore, the expert says, the lines between the shadow economy and money laundering from organized crime are blurred.
01:48The EU is pushing for reforms if Albania were to join the bloc by 2030, as is currently planned.
01:55The digitalization of the banking sector is a key component of this.
02:00Many traditional banks are already heavily promoting electronic payment methods.
02:05But JetBank is the first to operate exclusively digitally.
02:08And with Fatbada Reno for the first time ever in the country, a woman is CEO of a bank.
02:15I tend to believe that it's not about me being a woman or a man, but being the way that
02:22my experiences have brought me in here.
02:24I believe that when you see, when you manage people, it depends on your personality, the experiences that you went
02:33through.
02:33It's a young team. No one is older than their mid-40s. They see themselves as pioneers.
02:39Very difficult, but also a very good experience because you can manage and see all the new technology in this
02:46area.
02:48For security reasons, the bank's servers are located in Europe.
02:52They are looking at all the access control and how the performance is happening in real time on our applications.
03:00The Central Bank of Albania granted JetBank its license a few days ago.
03:06Interest in the business has been high so far.
03:09But the new bank's success will depend on convincing the people of Albania that digital banking is secure.
Comments