Insights

  • Oct 12, 2026

    E-invoicing mandates in Central and Eastern Europe: who must comply, and when

    Mandatory B2B e-invoicing is already live in Poland, Romania and Croatia, Slovakia follows on January 1, 2027, and Bulgaria has proposed January 1, 2028. Hungary and the Czech Republic have no general mandate yet. From July 1, 2030, EU law requires structured e-invoices for cross-border B2B trade everywhere.

  • Oct 5, 2026

    The digital euro in 2026: where the law stands and what banks in Central and Eastern Europe should prepare

    The digital euro is not law yet. The Council agreed its position in December 2025, the European Parliament confirmed its mandate on July 9, 2026, and the two are negotiating. If the regulation is adopted in 2026, the ECB plans a pilot from mid-2027 and could be ready for a first issue during 2029.

  • Sep 28, 2026

    Sourcing and cost optimization: where companies find savings in non-personnel spend

    Companies spending more than EUR 1 million a year on goods and services other than salaries usually find savings in a few places: categories nobody owns, contracts that renew automatically, demand that is never questioned, and suppliers that are never benchmarked. A structured review finds them in weeks, and a success fee model means the company pays only from what is saved.

  • Sep 21, 2026

    Strong customer authentication: the exemptions and how risk-based approval works

    Under PSD2, electronic payments need strong customer authentication unless an exemption applies. The main exemptions are low-value contactless payments up to EUR 50, low-value online payments up to EUR 30, recurring payments of the same amount to the same payee, trusted beneficiaries, and transaction risk analysis, which allows online card payments up to EUR 500 without authentication for providers with very low fraud rates.

  • Sep 14, 2026

    EU Instant Payments Regulation: the deadlines for banks in Central and Eastern Europe

    Banks in non-euro EU countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania must be able to receive instant euro credit transfers by January 9, 2027, and to send them, with verification of payee, by July 9, 2027. Banks in the euro area have been bound since 2025.

  • Sep 7, 2026

    Bank branch networks in a digital market: efficiency without losing customers

    Customers now do most of their banking on their phones, but they still choose a bank partly for its branches and turn to them at important moments. The answer is not fewer branches by default but a network where every branch has a clear role, routine transactions move to digital channels, and branch staff are rewarded for helping customers go digital.

  • Aug 31, 2026

    Commercial due diligence: what investors check beyond the numbers

    Financial due diligence tells an investor whether the past numbers are right. Commercial due diligence tells them whether the future numbers are believable: how big and how healthy the market is, how strong the company’s position is, how loyal its customers are, and whether the business plan can be delivered.

  • Aug 24, 2026

    AI and automation: how to estimate the savings before you invest

    Do not start with the technology. Start with the processes: map them, measure what each costs today, compare those costs with companies that have already automated the same work, and invest where the gap is largest. That turns "where could AI help?" into a ranked list with a number next to each line.

  • Aug 17, 2026

    Entering a new market in Central and Eastern Europe: greenfield, partner or acquisition?

    There are three ways into a new market: build your own presence, work through a local partner, or buy a local company. The right choice depends on four things: how fast you need revenue, how much local know-how the business needs, how much control you must keep, and how much capital you can commit.

  • Aug 10, 2026

    Employee value proposition: how to build one that holds up

    An employee value proposition (EVP) is the honest answer to one question: why would a good person join this company and stay? It is built from evidence in five steps: understand the goals, audit what is really on offer, define the target people, write the proposition and messages, then activate it through every touchpoint of the employee life cycle.

  • Aug 3, 2026

    How to plan the go-to-market for a bank’s mobile app re-launch

    Start about 20 weeks before the launch date, and no later than 14 weeks. A good plan works in four phases: customer insight and concept, a detailed strategy and tactical plan, sunsetting the old app and preparing branches and the contact center, then go-live. The goal is not downloads but customer lifetime value.