Leave your mark!

UniCredit Bank Hungary had a very successful year in 2016. As the Deputy CEO of the bank and Member of the Management Board, Marco Iannaccone explains, this profitable result has made it possible for the bank to extend its support activities to new areas.

Marco Iannaccone highlights to Diplomacy&Trade that “indeed, we worked a lot last year but this is the deserved result of our work that began many years ago. Of course, we are proud that by this excellent results and strong business performance especially in dynamically increasing corporate lending as well as leveraging on our local expertise and also the international knowledge through our Group, we were able to contribute to not only to the development, expansion and success of our corporate clients but also to the growth of the Hungarian economy.”

As to what the main direction for UniCredit Bank Hungary is, the Deputy CEO points out that being a subsidiary of a simple successful Pan-European Bank as well as doing successful business in Hungary for 27 years now are very big asset. “We have already been a premium bank in many business segments, but we are expanding this concept to all business and functional areas of our bank. All the initiatives we have defined from employer branding to digitalization will help us further develop our market position and our leading role among profitable businesses – all this at a very competitive Hungarian banking market – both in the corporate and retail sectors.”

Leave your mark!

This profitable result has made it possible for the bank to extend its support activities to new areas, like creating the ‘Leave your mark’ program. “Our bank has been supporting the community throughout its history. We are a bank our customers can trust, we play a tangible positive role in their everyday lives with relevant business solutions to the real needs and wants of our customers. But also beyond that, we wish to give back to the society in which we operate through supporting excellence in Hungary. We have been supporting talents for almost 20 years on the one hand, and on the other, this program is part of our premium banking concept also started last year. We started to elaborate the campaign more than a year ago. Indeed, our successful year 2016 and excellent results gave us the opportunity and means to realize our new program,” Marco Iannaccone explains.

He adds that the ‘Leave your mark’ initiative is in line with the values, image and fundamentals of UniCredit Group. “Other talent programs usually strive to foster newcomer talents who are beginners, who haven’t yet proved their talent and are not known yet. They support starting-out of talents. The approach of our ‘Leave your mark’ program is different: it strives to foster the talents’ step further in their career, to have the chance and means to go on a road where they have already achieved considerable results.

They are not beginners, they have proven their talents, skills and excellence but are not that widely acknowledged yet. A jury asked by – but completely independent of – UniCredit Bank Hungary has shortlisted 3-3 talented individuals out of 100 nominees in three areas: visual arts, music and taste. Both UniCredit clients and the public at large are invited to participate in the program by sharing the stories of the talents and voting for their favorite ones. The goal is to find the most talented person in each category who are the most committed towards excellence. The winner of each category, who will be chosen solely by public vote, will be awarded a prize of HUF 3 million (close to EUR 10,000) each with which they can further their career.”

The program is connected to UniCredit Bank’s premium banking services where clients – as surveys have shown – are committed to support talents, as is the bank, itself. According to the Deputy CEO, the ‘Leave your mark’ program showcases the premium banking business concept, which is about the bank’s permanent striving for excellence in serving its individual, private, small business and corporate clients – just as talented people, who truly and  continuously strive for constant improvement, do in their own fields. “With the program, by giving an example, our ultimate goal is to extend the culture and attitude of talent fostering to the society at large.”

Helping Italian and international firms

UniCredit is headquartered in Italy, therefore, has specialized knowledge and extensive experience regarding serving business needs of Italian firms of which there is a large number present in Hungary, too. As regards offering and providing special services to Italian companies to facilitate their operation in Hungary, the Deputy CEO stresses that “we are here to serve our clients and offer the best knowledge and customized products in line with their plans. We have a special focus on serving all international corporates, with dedicated relationship managers speaking their languages, knowing their culture and needs. Being a Hungarian subsidiary of a strong Pan-European Group, we benefit from the ability of mixing the group support and knowledge with the local specific products and services.”

In the past few weeks and months, there have been several bilateral economic meetings and talks between Hungarian and Italian officials, including a business forum in Milan this October. As to how much these efforts can help enhancing business links between the two countries and what role UniCredit can play in all this in the future, Marco Iannaccone points out that “as a subsidiary of UniCredit, we feel responsible and therefore, we are fully involved in these bilateral economic events. As we have strong long-standing experience in Hungary as a financial group, sharing business experience and presenting the resulting opportunities of the country for a potential new investor are very important.”