The banking system has consolidated in recent years, with signs of acceleration, and bankers anticipate that this process will continue in the coming period, given the increasing operating costs, the required capital and the challenges that require investment to be able to keep pace with technological developments and market trends, as argued yesterday by the heads of some large banks in Romania, present at the annual BNR-ASE conference with the theme related to the prospects for the development of the Romanian banking sector.
In the last 12 years, the number of banks in Romania decreased from 42 to 32, and the consolidation process continues with a sense of acceleration felt last year. Although the current context implies higher investments, a higher level of capital and implicitly higher costs, consolidation through mergers is the easiest way through which the banking system can move forward, the bankers said. At the same time, the competition is still quite high, the bankers say, even if almost 90% of the Romanian banking market belongs to the first 10 largest banks.
The level of banking still has room to develop, and there is room for niche banks, even if the bankers are of the opinion that the universal bank model is currently the most suitable for a market like the one in Romania, precisely in terms of the potential existing. Thus, the presence of banks in all segments of the market offers a wider perspective of development on the local market and a stronger growth impulse, in the opinion of the bankers.
