October 18 (SeeNews) - Telekom Romania said on Wednesday it has partnered with Poland's Alior Bank in the launch of Telekom Banking - a package offering digital financial services to customers.
The package of services will be introduced in phases, with daily banking services already launched and an online exchange platform to follow, Telekom Romania said in a press release.
With Telekom Banking, customers can open current accounts in lei, euro, U.S. dollars and British pounds, attach debit cards to them and have 24/7 access to their funds via the Internet and mobile banking solutions, it added.
"When we speak about Telekom Banking, we speak about a banking services offer aiming to meet the fundamental expectations of its clients [...]. We are glad that through our partnership with Alior Bank, we are now at the forefront of simple and easy to use banking services," Telekom Romania CEO, Miroslav Majoros, said.
Telekom Romania and Alior Bank plan to launch an Internet banking platform in November, offering a wide range of functionalities for mobile devices, including transfers to other accounts using QR code or NFC function, balance view of the latest three transactions without being logged-in, P2P payments.
In the near future, the Telekom Banking package will also include services to finance purchases of telecommunications devices offered by Telekom Romania offer, as well as unsecured consumer loans and overdraft.
The banking services will be provided by the Bucharest branch of Alior Bank Warsaw.
"We have ambitious plans and we are convinced that with Telekom Romania we are going to achieve them and we will be successful on the Romanian market where we see great potential," Alior Bank deputy CEO, Celina Waleśkiewicz, said.
"In this first phase, we will offer current accounts, debit cards, deposits and an online exchange office. In the second phase, we will be launching an interesting credit offer and we will continue to further enhance our value proposition," Waleśkiewicz added.
Telekom Romania comprises fixed-line operator Telekom Romania Communications and wireless operator Telekom Romania Mobile.
Telekom Romania Communications posted negative earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of 17.8 million euro ($21 million) in the first half of 2017. The pro forma earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of Telekom Romania Mobile, fell by an annual 26.4% to 29.5 million euro ($34.9 million) in the first half of 2017.
Alior Bank is Poland's ninth largest bank with assets of 61.8 billion zloty (14.6 billion euro) at the end of June 2017. It provides services to nearly 4 million clients, including over 180,000 businesses.
($ = 0.8502 euro)