A keynote by Paolo Barbesino and a study of Generation Z's financial habits marked this year’s Digital Touchpoint

Under this year's motto "Next-generation banking & payment - Simple, Fast, Secure", the second edition of the Digital Touchpoint conference brought together industry representatives and renowned experts in the digitalization of the financial sector.

Organized by ASEE and Payten, leading companies in the digitalization of the banking and payment sectors in Croatia and the region, the conference aimed to share expertise with the community and present insights into the digital trends of the future.

The conference focused on the financial habits and expectations of Generation Z in Croatia. Thus, the research conducted in collaboration with Ipsos showed that data security, physical location, and proximity to Generation Z are the most important characteristics when choosing a bank.

Most use at least one mobile app. It is extremely important to them that they are easy to use and that they guarantee the security of funds and personal data, and their potential development lies in loyalty programs in which Generation Z is extremely interested.

As many as 86 percent of respondents would take out a loan by visiting the bank in person, with half of them assuming that they will indeed take a loan out in the next five years. The research also found that members of Generation Z most often use the Internet to inform themselves about finances and payment methods, while conversations with parents are in second place.

The research provided a good introduction to the panel with the participation of well-known names of Generation Z - TikTokers Lorena Farkač, Adriano Krajcar, Dario Marčac, and Ivan Glazer from ASEE. They pointed out that young people lack knowledge in the field of financial literacy because this material is not taught in school. They see opportunities for banks in youth-oriented education tailored to their habits and the digital channels through which they are informed, which would further contribute to building trust. They agreed that the most important thing for them is safe, fast, and simple services and applications.

Paolo Barbesino, banking digitalization expert and mentor of Central European University InnovationsLab, concluded in his keynote lecture that competition is no longer based on traditional product sales, but on solving customer problems, so in a few years the way banks compete for customers be completely different. The emphasis will be on an integrated customer experience and merging customer’s needs with purchasing and banking products.

"When it comes to digitalization of the financial sector, Croatia is among the leading European countries, and as a reliable partner, Payten's comprehensive and innovative solutions in the field of payments, ATMs, POS terminals, and eCommerce, help customers respond effectively to market needs. Examples of successful digitization include implementing mCash solutions at ATMs, SoftPOS, and SinglePOS. We remain focused on setting trends in the payment industry and top support to our clients in the implementation of new solutions", said Ivan Bušić, General Manager of Payten.

"In the last two years, under the influence of the pandemic, digitalization has gained even more momentum. As one of the leading companies in the field of digitalization and cyber security, ASEE cooperates on complex projects with large organizations from the financial sector, public administration, and telecommunications industry, and our work shapes the digital future of Croatia and the region. From mobile banking, authentication solutions, and customer relationship improvement solutions, what we do every day makes life easier for us and everyone around us. I am proud that we are developing smart solutions that are widely used and that at this year's edition of the Digital Touchpoint conference we have the opportunity to share knowledge and insight into existing trends", said Igor Gržalja, president of the ASEE Croatia management board.

The topic of a panel dedicated to data monetization in the payments ecosystem was large amounts of data used in various industries to achieve the highest quality product or service for the end-user. Details about the role, collection, and use of this data were presented by panelists Ivan Jurković from Franck, Jovan Solomun from Sport Vision, Maja Fočić from Monri, and Darko Marjanović from Things Solver, and moderated by Martina Silov from CRO AI. The panelists concluded that this is the new way to optimize costs, while GDPR is a catalyst for developing quality business models and solutions that improve company image and create personalized products for customers. All agreed that users benefit from the smart use of collected data, and see opportunities for further development with artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The challenges of digital transformation and the regulatory framework whose expected changes should facilitate the operations of the financial sector were discussed at the panel "Application of digital signature in practice", attended by Maja Radišić Žuvanić from the Ministry of Economy, Igor Ljubi from the Central State Office for Digital Society, Andreja Kajtaz from FINA, Leo Lokas from AKD and Damir Popović from IT Sistemi. The fact is that the fourth financial services industrial revolution is unthinkable and unfeasible without a digital identity and digital authentication with an electronic signature or stamp, so signature screens have become a symbol of the digital transformation of customer business, and the pandemic has contributed significantly to digital and paper signature equalization.

In addition to the already mentioned speakers, the Digital Touchpoint conference was attended by Robert Mihaljek (ASEE), Goran Božić (Payten), Tomas Janitor (RPC), Domagoj Vuletić (Payten), Karlo Radmanić (ASEE), Kristian-Renato Škovrlj (Modus Infinitum), Dubravko Kovačić (ASEE), Mario Marić (ASEE) and Zvonimir Mavretić (IT Sistemi).