80% Digital Retail Lending: Inside CEC Bank's Transformation | Evolv Podcast

How does a 160-year-old bank modernise its operations, turn legacy technology into a competitive advantage and achieve over 80% digital retail lending, without losing the human touch? We barely scratch the surface of CEC Bank's transformation story: a bank that has tripled its balance sheet in six years while modernizing its technology, operations and customer journeys. In this episode of the FintechOS Evolv Podcast, Mark Dearman sits down with Gabriel Pralea, Sales, Distribution and Transformation Program Director at CEC Bank, to explore how one of Romania's oldest banks is combining its extensive branch network with digital innovation to transform the way it serves customers. With more than 1,000 branches across Romania, including rural communities, CEC Bank is bringing together trusted human relationships and digital services. Today, over 80% of its retail lending is handled through digital platforms and workflows, with some of the strongest adoption coming from smaller communities. But as Gabriel explains, technology alone doesn't deliver transformation. Success depends on aligning business and technology priorities, involving employees from the outset and making change management a core part of the journey. The conversation also explores CEC Bank's partnership with FintechOS, including the modernization of customer onboarding and product origination, and how the bank is approaching the next wave of innovation through AI. In this episode, we explore: Turning legacy technology challenges into opportunities for innovation Achieving over 80% digital retail lending across an extensive branch network Modernizing onboarding and product origination with FintechOS Combining digital banking with human trust and financial inclusion Why employee adoption, co-creation and change management are critical to transformation Moving beyond AI hype towards practical use cases, responsible adoption and measurable business value Building the foundations for AI-driven efficiency, better customer experiences and sustainable growth Episode chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:20 CEC Bank: 160 Years of Banking Heritage 06:03 Aligning Business and Technology for Transformation 12:03 Balancing Digital Innovation and Human Trust 15:57 Achieving Over 80% Digital Retail Lending 19:14 Driving Digital Adoption Across Communities 23:59 Why People and Change Management Matter 34:04 AI Beyond the Hype 39:13 Building the Foundations for Responsible AI 49:09 Turning AI into Practical Business Value 59:31 The Future of CEC Bank About FintechOS FintechOS is the agentic platform for unified product operations, helping financial institutions transform how products are built, priced, distributed and operated. Learn more: https://fintechos.com Subscribe to the FintechOS channel for more conversations with banking and insurance leaders shaping the future of financial services. #FintechOS #EvolvPodcast #CECBank #digitalbanking #bankingtransformation #ProductOrigination #aiinbanking