Hungary's K&H relies on AI and digital banking

Hungarian K&H Bank is pushing ahead with its digital transformation. In view of growing customer expectations, the bank is increasingly investing in artificial intelligence and digital platforms in order to offer faster, more intuitive and more personalized financial services.

Digitalization is now one of the central pillars of the corporate strategy, explained a spokesperson for the bank. It affects almost all areas of the business - from customer service and insurance processes to internal procedures.

Bank and insurance in one app

An important step was the closer integration of banking and insurance offerings. Customers can now manage many financial and insurance matters via a single mobile application.

Internally, the bank describes this concept as "banking insurance in your pocket". The aim is to simplify services and adapt them more closely to customers' everyday digital lives.

The bank emphasizes that this is not about technology for its own sake. Rather, the digital transformation is a reaction to changing customer expectations: Users today demand fast, transparent and seamless financial services - similar to large online platforms.

AI assistant takes on more and more tasks

Artificial intelligence plays a central role in this. It is particularly visible in the digital financial assistant "Kate", which the bank has developed in recent years.

The AI-supported assistant now has several hundred functions and can automate numerous banking transactions. Around 150,000 active users regularly access the service.

The bank expects around 1.7 million interactions via the assistant this year.

In the long term, "Kate" is set to develop from a digital helper to a personal financial advisor who actively supports customers in making decisions.

Digital banking is becoming the standard

The strong expansion of digital services reflects a fundamental change in the banking sector. Financial institutions are no longer just competing with each other, but also with the user experience of large technology platforms.

Customer expectations in terms of speed, personalization and user-friendliness are correspondingly high.

According to the bank, around 80 percent of customers are now digitally active. More than 700,000 users regularly use mobile banking.

Digital channels are also becoming increasingly important in the sale of financial products. More than half of new private accounts are opened online, as are the majority of loan and credit card applications.

Growth despite high investments

Parallel to the digital transformation, the bank's core business is also growing. The loan portfolio increased by nine percent last year, outperforming the Hungarian banking sector as a whole.

Deposit volumes rose by six percent in the same period.

In the first three quarters of the year, K&H generated a net profit of 91 billion forints. Although the profit was below the previous year's figure, the bank attributes this to high IT investments and additional government levies, among other things.

Next phase of digital transformation

In the coming years, the bank intends to further expand its digital systems. In particular, the focus will be on fully automated processes, more personalized financial services and the increased use of artificial intelligence.

In the long term, AI will also take over more complex tasks in the background and automate banking services to a greater extent.

The goal is a banking model that not only responds to inquiries, but also recognizes customer needs at an early stage and proactively makes suitable offers.

Sustainability remains a strategic focus

In addition to digitalization, sustainability is also playing a growing role in the bank's strategy. The volume of sustainable loans has doubled to more than one billion euros within a year.

K&H is also expanding sustainable investment products in Asset Management. The bank now manages assets worth around one trillion forints in corresponding funds.

In the future, the bank expects artificial intelligence, personalized services and fully digital financial processes to have a significant impact on the development of the banking sector.

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