ProCredit Bank steps up retail banking expansion and strengthens its leadership team

Viorel Vasile is joining ProCredit Bank, where he will contribute to the development of its retail banking segment as the bank expands its product offering and capabilities for individual customers. He brings to the team experience gained at Salt Bank, with a focus on optimising simple, digital banking services that address customers’ needs, according to the announcement.

ProCredit Bank Romania, part of the German ProCredit banking group, is entering a new stage in the development of its retail banking business and strengthening its management team to support this strategic direction. “As of October 2026, Viorel Vasile holds the position of Management Consultant at ProCredit Bank and is set to take on the role of Deputy General Manager for Retail, subject to approval by the National Bank of Romania,” the bank announced.

With nearly 20 years of experience in banking, Viorel Vasile has built his career at the intersection of financial services, technology and customer experience. He was part of the strategic team that launched Salt Bank, contributing to the optimisation of products, features and customer acquisition strategies. Previously, he coordinated card operations and commercial activities at Alpha Bank Romania and developed online lending projects at BRD Finance. Throughout his career, he has been involved in the launch of several innovative products and solutions on the Romanian market. Viorel Vasile has pursued doctoral studies at the Bucharest University of Economic Studies, completed a specialisation in strategy and innovation at Cornell University (eCornell), and graduated from the Executive MBA programme jointly offered by ASEBUSS and Georgia State University in the United States.

“Over more than two decades of operations in Romania, ProCredit Bank has established a strong position and built trusted relationships with entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises. The next step is to extend the same philosophy of responsible banking, based on transparency and long-term relationships, to a significantly larger number of individual customers. We aim to build a banking experience in which technology simplifies interactions with the bank without compromising the values that define us. Viorel’s appointment represents an important step in this transformation, and his experience will help accelerate our retail banking strategy,” said Ștefan Manole, General Manager of ProCredit Bank.

ProCredit Bank Romania aims to make banking services simpler and more accessible to individual customers by leveraging the experience gained over more than two decades of serving the SME segment. Its strategy involves investing in technology, developing digital capabilities and strengthening commercial expertise, within a model that combines digital banking with access to 24/7 banking areas. At ProCredit Group level, this direction forms part of the strategy to develop a mobile-first retail banking model across South-Eastern and Eastern Europe, while maintaining a strong position in financing small and medium-sized enterprises.

The development of the retail banking segment is also being supported by the expansion of the commercial team. Before Viorel Vasile joined the bank, Traian Negoiță joined ProCredit Bank as Head of Sales & Business Development Retail, with responsibility for implementing the sales strategy and optimising distribution channels for individual customers.

The SME segment remains a central pillar of ProCredit Bank’s strategy. Operating in Romania since 2002, the bank has developed a business model focused on entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises, offering financing solutions, transactional banking services and digital tools for managing financial operations. At the end of September 2026, ProCredit Bank Romania’s SME loan portfolio had increased by 11% compared with the end of 2025, while the number of business customers had risen by 18% over the same period.

At ProCredit Group level, the loan portfolio grew by 8% in the first half of 2026, surpassing the €8 billion threshold for the first time, while the number of active customers increased by approximately 27,000, representing growth of 8.2%.

“In the period ahead, ProCredit Bank Romania aims to combine its experience in financing businesses with a modern retail banking model built around technology, accessibility and responsible customer relationships,” the bank stated.

Operating in Romania since 2002, ProCredit Bank Romania is a development-oriented German bank and part of the international ProCredit Group. It specialises in providing financial services to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as individual customers.