CEE23 SME Banking Conference

Agenda

November 29-30

Krakow & Remote

November 29

The Conference will start on November 29 (pre-conference day) at 15.00 CET with several workshops designed for the participants interested in learning specific topics in detail.

Workshops will be available only for participants registered for in-person attendance (if you haven’t registered yet, please register here).

Please choose the workshop you’d like to attend

Digital Factoring

The Roadmap for Digital Transformation of SME Finance

How to implement
e-invoicing for SME customers

Workshops

All workshops will be held in parallel sessions and will last till 18.30 CET.

All the workshops will take place in the Conference venue:

ICE Kraków Congress Center (address: Marii Konopnickiej 17, 30-302 Kraków).

Networking

At 19.00 CET, we will welcome all attendees at the Manggha restaurant for the Networking Dinner located in the Museum of Japanese Art and Technology Manggha, with a great view of Wawel Castle.

The restaurant is 8 min walking distance from the conference venue.

Location

The Main Conference Day – November 30 – will start at 9.00 CET with the Registration and Welcome coffee in the Conference venue – ICE Kraków Congress Center

(address: Marii Konopnickiej 17, 30-302 Kraków).

November 30

The beginning
Panels and presentation will start at 10.00 CET in the Conference room, and online – on smebanking.tv. Please register here to receive full online or in-person access to the conference and materials. Olena Gryniuk – CEE Director at the SME Banking Club, and Conference Host – will open the conference and will welcome speech and announcement of the conference lineup.
First panel

The very first panel will be devoted to the topic of How Artificial Intelligence changes the Financial Industry. It is the 4th year this topic is discussed during CEE SME Banking Conferences. This year Klaudia Archimowicz (Head of Operations at Verita HR & Magazyn Rekruter, Poland-UK) will moderate the discussion, looking into the case studies from the banks and AI future. Bartlomiej Wegner (Director of the Office of Transformation Projects and Programs at Bank Pekao, Poland), Philippe De Brouwer (Head of Model Risk in the service center at HSBC) and Michał Poliszkiewicz(Account Technology Strategist at Microsoft) will share their practices and thoughts during that discussion.

First
panel
Second panel
Second
panel
The next panel will be devoted to the topic of Digital Customer Onboarding, biometrics, and prevention of frauds in digital customer journeys, which will be led by Kamila Wincenciak (Head of the Innovation and Fintech Department at Alior Bank, Poland). Kamila will discuss with the panelists the latest trends in digital (business) customer onboarding, the role of biometrics in enhancing digital identity verification, the possible influence of deep fakes on businesses, and what banks and businesses should do to protect themselves. Panelists contributing to that discussion: Enrique Caballero (EMEA Director at Aware Biometrics, USA), Wiktor Jaszczak (CEE Director at Facephi Biometrics), Wojciech Widenka (Customer Onboarding Director at ING Bank Poland) and Pawel Jaszewski (Customer Lifecycle Tribe Leader at BNP Paribas Bank Poland).
Third panel
After that discussion, the topics will switch to the creation of SME Ecosystems – as the business models making possible to implement embedded finance, integrate beyond banking services (like e-invoicing, online accounting), use this data to sell and cross-sell banking products, and also make the usage of it convenient for SMEs (actually in one ecosystem). What is the role of banks and fintechs in that? And how to benefit from it. Olena Grinyuk will moderate that discussion, featuring the following panelists: Katalin Kauzli (Business Development Director and Co-founder at PartnerHub, Hungary), Maciej Salata (Consulting Director/Corporate and SME Digital Banking at Comarch, Poland), Nelson Wootton(CEO and Co-founder at SaaScada, UK), Filip Jaskula (SME Tribe Lead at Santander Bank Polska, Poland).
Third
panel
Fourth
panel
Fourth panel
The next panel will be devoted to the topic of Digitalization of factoring and receivable finance products for SMEs Simon Peterman (CEE Factoring Coordination Manager at Raiffeisen Factor BankAustria) will moderate that discussion, and together with the panelist will discuss how digital tools, data (among others, integration of the e-invoicing data) and new business models can speed up and accelerate access to the factoring/invoice finance service. Panelists contributing to that discussion: Federico Avellan Borgmeyer (Chief Partner Officer and Member of the Management Board at efcom, Germany), Cristian Ionescu (CEO at Instant Factoring, Romania), Karol Leszczyński (Product Manager at Comarch Factoring Digital Platform, Poland) and Łukasz Adamczyk (Head of Process, Product and IT at ING Commercial Finance, Poland).
Fifth panel
During the next, Panel Michal Pawlik (Vice-President of Business Development for CEE, Co-founder at SMEO) will lead the discussion on How to approach and accelerate digitalization of SME lending, how to automate credit risk process for SMEs, considering best practices in the region and how to offer SME loans in the context of customer business. The following panelists will take part in that discussion: Kamil Goslawski (Senior Key Account Manager at CRIF Poland), Christian Ruehmer (CEO and Co-Founder at Qlana, USA), Marcin Woch (CEO at Algolytics, Poland), Balazs Topor (SME Segment & Product Head at Raiffeisen Bank International), Jiří Lexa (Head of Marketing and Partnerships, Lemonero).
Fifth
panel
Sixth
panel
Sixth panel
The next topic that will be discussed is the Digitalization of Sales to SMEs. To that topic will contribute Jevrosima Zogovic (Sales Lead) and Jovan Radnic (Product Marketing Manager at Logate (Montenegro), Onur Gul (Head of Digital & Remote Sales and Marketing, Business Banking at ING Bank Turkey), Tomasz Gasiorowski (Commercial Director at Monevia, Poland) and Piotr Mieczkowski (CPO SME Customer & Digital Area at Santander Bank Polska, Poland). They will discuss digital sales and service models for micro and SME customers, and how to create real omnichannel customer experience. The Panel will be moderated by Simon Koci.
Awards ceremony
At 18.00 CET, Olena Gryniuk will announce the CEE SME Banking & Tech Awards Ceremony open!
Awards
ceremony

With nearly 30 years banking technology experience, i.e. transaction and payment processing, credit card personalization, payment and other transaction terminals, Artificial Intelligence applications in finance, cryptography, Distributed Ledger Technology and factoring solutions in different “C” positions in Business Planning, Finance, M&A, R&D, Marketing & Sales, Operations and After-Sales with World Card International, DataCard Corporation, Gemplus/Gemalto, FidelioNetworks, FirstData Corporation, Postbank POS Transact, Tech4Fin Deutschland and Factoring Blockchain Solutions, Federico is the strategic architect and now executer for efcom’s new global marketing & sales approach.

Federico is also Senior Partner at the Amontis Consulting Group, Executive Board Member at Sevar AG, Board Member at Meshed Systems, Sales Partner at Asteria AB and holds an MS from Technische Universität Berlin, MBA Visiting Scholarship from University of Illinois and lectures Entrepreneurship at the Computer Science Department at University of Applied Sciences in Darmstadt. He has lived and worked in the Americas, EMEA, Mainland China and speaks Spanish, English and German.

Katalin Kauzli is a co-founder of Partner HUB Ltd, the developer of a white label digital invoice management solution for banks. Charlie-India is the core IT platform for the BUPA and OTP eBIZ solutions.

Customer-driven and targeted-oriented manager with expertise in business transformation, product & process optimization, and digitalization in SME & Corporate Banking areas. For +10 years I’ve been responsible for transaction banking products and digital banking ecosystems. Certified Scrum@Scale Practitioner (CSASP). Professional Scrum Product Owner (PSPO). Agile Tribe Leader

Klaudia has been leading teams delivering projects for banking clients at Verita HR since 2017. Her particular focus is on delivering human resources solutions to financial services and technology clients within Poland. Working mainly with Polish, Chinese, British, and U.S. clients with businesses and teams based in Warsaw and Krakow. Klaudia and her teams are also located in these financial and technological hubs. Klaudia attends and speaks at some of the leading Fintech and Banking events in Europe and the U.S., both in person and online. She is a specialist in all things blockchain, Web3 and digital assets. As well as specializing in working with quantitative and fixed income professionals within investment banking. Additionally, Klaudia works as the Digital Lead at Disruption Banking and Magazyn Rekruter. Ensuring that clients receive the most important stories affecting financial services and organizational development. These stories are driven by data. And they use the most effective storytelling and the most engaging visuals.

Nelson Wootton is the co-founder and CEO of SaaScada. Nelson has held many senior technology and business roles over the last 20 years, including several CTO and CIO roles delivering global projects.

Nelson is a cloud evangelist, having worked on and in cloud (and nothing but cloud) since 2006. His extensive experience and huge passion for technology and its ability to transform business processes, coupled with a track record of delivery, has enabled transformational changes in numerous businesses over the years. He has led, scaled and exited two technology businesses. As a huge technology enthusiast, Nelson still gets excited by the possibilities!

Benjamin Berényi is the Co-founder and CEO of PastPay. He has a background in finance and management consulting and holds a Masters degree from Rotterdam School of Management. PastPay is the leading B2B BNPL provider in Central Eastern Europe. It enables B2B merchants to let their buyers pay with flexible payment terms while receiving revenues instantly. This boost in the buyers’ liquidity results in an average growth of 10-20% in merchants’ revenues. PastPay offers an omnichannel solution and takes over associated default risks, this way becoming a true partner in B2B trade.

Jan is disrupting the funding market for eCommerce & Omnichannel companies as the Founder & CEO at Lemonero.

Experienced entrepreneur, skilled in eCommerce, Fintech, and entrepreneurship.

* Founder & CEO at MonkeyData – an eCommerce analytics company with 30,000 customers in 30+ countries.

* International speaker focused on Fintech, eCommerce, Data and AI (spoken at events in Austin (USA), Berlin, Amsterdam, London, Athens, Prague)

* AYLP alumnus and member of The Aspen Institute Central Europe.

* Founder of “Future Education Initiative”, the educational platform which helps teachers in the Czech Republic gain access to the world‘s best courses and teaching methods.

* Volunteer and Member of the Board of Centre PANT – NGO with a focus on Modern History and Politics.

Wiktor leads the Central Eastern Europe region at FacePhi, working with clients across various
verticals on streamlining eKYC processes, applying biometrics in different use cases and fighting
fraud.
He has been involved in the digital finance and banking for almost 7 years. Prior to FacePhi, Wiktor
was at LexisNexis Risk Solutions as the main expert at EMEA level helping banks and fintechs in
automating cross-border payments. During this time, he was able to share his knowledge to the
wider audience on banking and fintech events in Zurich, Riga, and Tashkent.
With a strong background fintech, digital transformation and UX, Wiktor focuses on securing
compliance and anti-fraud systems with simultaneous attention on improving customer experience in front-end channels.
Wiktor is a strong advocate of co-creating the product with customers and enjoys working on
projects that require inter-team cooperation in order to deliver value for the project.

Kim is an experienced player with a demonstrated history of working in the Artificial Intelligence, Data science, information technology, and services industry. Certified in Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Data Analysis, Sales, Databases, Big Data Analytics, Management, and Business Process Management.
Over 10 years of experience in data management and digital transformation. Mainly related to the financial sector – banks, as well as the e-commerce sector and global corporate companies. Specialization in analysis and optimization of business processes, data management, implementation of digital solutions, workflow systems, and decision engines (On-premises, SaaS, Cloud). Additionally, supports organizations in the analysis and implementation of solutions in the areas of risk management, open banking, ESG, antifraud, AML, ML (Machine Learning), BPO (Business Process Outsourcing), and ECM (Enterprise Content Management). All of that brings new quality and additional value for organizations.

Marcin Woch, CEO of Algolytics Technologies, is an experienced expert, practitioner, and Data Science manager with twenty years of experience gained in consulting and implementation projects for leading telecommunications, financial, and e-commerce companies.

He is also a co-creator of the DSML platform, focusing on machine learning and MLOps. Since 2018, he has been developing Algolytics Technologies – a company providing a comprehensive DS/ML platform equipped with generic models for managing the risk of consumer and company insolvency, as well as for fraud detection.

Meaghan is a fintech researcher and consultant with 12 years of experience driving customer-focused innovation in financial services. Passionate about using emerging technologies and business models to increase financial inclusion, improve banking, and create the best possible customer experiences. A writer and keynote speaker, covering European product, regulatory, and tech trends at Forbes.com, drawing on extensive experience in London, Berlin, Scandinavia, and Lisbon.
Jevrosima Zogovic is the Fintech Sales Lead at Logate. She possesses in-depth knowledge of banks’ needs and frustrations in the modern banking environment, having worked directly with some of the largest banks in the Balkans. At the CEE23 SME Banking Conference, she will take the stage to present different paths to great customer relationship management. Jevrosima spoke on banking topics at Technobank conference, Central Bank of Montenegro’s Fintech conference, and events organized by Association of Serbian Banks.
Sarah Häger is the CCO at Enable Banking where she is evangelizing Open Banking, Open Finance, and Financial APIs to further accelerate innovation in the financial industry. She has previously worked in a large bank, across several countries (Europe-wide) and along the value chain, with the main mission to provide value for corporate customers. The last 7 years she spent on taking the open banking vision from PowerPoint to the multi-awarded solution of today. She is passionate about innovation, technology, and creating commercial opportunities out of regulation.

Visionary AI-tech entrepreneur. Diederick advises the board of directors and leadership teams on digital business development, digitalization, and automated, machine learning-based, financial decision-making.

Big behavioral data & AI for FinTech, Banking, Smart Building, PropTech, E-commerce, Mobile telecom

Over 10 years of experience in data management and digital transformation. Mainly related to the financial sector – banks, as well as the e-commerce sector and global corporate companies. Specialization in analysis and optimization of business processes, data management, implementation of digital solutions, workflow systems, and decision engines (On-premises, SaaS, Cloud). Additionally, supports organizations in the analysis and implementation of solutions in the areas of risk management, open banking, ESG, antifraud, AML, ML (Machine Learning), BPO (Business Process Outsourcing), and ECM (Enterprise Content Management). All of that brings new quality and additional value for organizations.

Olena Gryniuk is responsible for the development of the SME Banking Club in the CEE region. Before getting involved in the SME Banking Club activities, Olena was in charge of SME products and sales in Raiffeisen Bank and Eurobank groups.

About SME Banking Club
The SME Banking Club was established by a team of former SME bankers in 2010 as a professional network of bankers to exchange information and experiences in the segments of micro, small and medium-sized businesses. The SME Banking Club organizes regional SME banking conferences and webinars that bring together financial institutions, technology companies, and development finance institutions to share knowledge, spur innovation and promote the growth of SMEs in the region. Moreover, it provides its members with access to detailed analytical market reports and annual studies. SME Banking Club’s main activities are concentrated in Central and Eastern Europe. 

Enrique Caballero works at Aware Inc, as Sales Director EMEA, for the Biometrics division. His areas of function include evangelizing Aware’s Biometrics and Digital Identity solutions and their impact on transforming the government and private sectors landscape.

Customer-driven and targeted-oriented manager with expertise in business transformation, product & process optimization, and digitalization in SME & Corporate Banking areas. For +10 years I’ve been responsible for transaction banking products and digital banking ecosystems. Certified Scrum@Scale Practitioner (CSASP). Professional Scrum Product Owner (PSPO). Agile Tribe Leader
Marcin Mosiołek, an Applied AI Expert and AI Solutions Architect at SII Poland has a robust 13-year background in commercial artificial intelligence. His professional journey encompasses roles such as AI Manager and Head of AI, contributing significantly to projects in autonomous driving, document analysis, and computer vision. Marcin excels in bridging the gap between theoretical AI concepts and practical applications, particularly in the realm of information retrieval and the development of innovative search-related products. Currently, his focus is on Retrieval Augmented Generation and developing effective embeddings for search. His expertise in these areas earned him the Microsoft AI MVP award in 2024. Marcin holds an M.Sc. degrees in Computer Science with a specialization in AI from the Wrocław University of Science and Technology.
Simon is an innovation, user experience, and marketing lover, and a co-founder at Everly.eu – online magazine oriented on innovative Challenger banks and fintech.
With ten years of banking experience, Florent leads at Raiffeisen Bank International Group in driving Digital Acquiring Products, Group Strategy, and transforming Network Banks in Central and Eastern Europe.
Founder & CEO. With a team of 50 UX-UI designers, Andras creates user interfaces and voice solutions that generate conversion.
Senior manager with a background in both Business and IT in the banking industry. Experience with project and agile deliveries and business transformations. Currently responsible for Segment management and business development for SME & Corporate of ČSOB bank Leader of client cyber security and protection cooperation in the Czech banking market under the banner of the Czech Banking Association. Member of the supervisory board of a leading Czech company in qualified digital signing. Experience in both Retail banking and Corporate banking.
 
Purposeful and independent business journalist and finance PhD.

An executive, manager, product owner, and technology enthusiast with over 12 years of experience. In my work, I leverage technology, data, and user research to create and implement business strategies that enhance product adoption, conversion, sales, and customer satisfaction.

I have successfully completed over 60 projects in the field of mobile applications, SaaS, and digital transformations for companies such as Microsoft, Nokia, Eurobank, BZWBK, PFR, Poczta Polska (Envelo), RWE / Innogy, IKEA, mBank, VISA, STS, Play, Virgin Mobile, AMS, Agora, Wirtualna Polska, Hypermedia, K2, Qpony.

Currently, COO at Algolytics Technologies.

An expert in modern IT solutions for banking and a manager with many years of experience associated with the company for over 22 years. I manage the Banking Area Development Division.

I am responsible for acquiring new customers and cultivating relationships with existing ones, developing products, and creating innovative banking solutions. Privately, I am a technical diver, runner, and amateur high-altitude climber. In my free time, I let off steam on a punching bag.

Sergii Demchuk is the CEO and co-founder of NOVALEND – a Polish fintech for SME lending.

Sergii has 18 years of experience in fintech, banking, and microfinance. He has successfully led several lending startups in Poland, the Baltics, Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine.

Sergii has held a senior role in the international lending group, driving business growth and innovation in emerging markets across Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Sergii shares his expertise on fintech innovations and alternative lending solutions for SMEs. He holds a Diploma in Finance and is fluent in English, Ukrainian, Russian, and Polish.

In his role, Jürgen Krenn is responsible for Financial Sales at CRIF Austria sind 2011. In close cooperation with Austrian banks and leasing companies, he develops solution fields in credit risk management and the digital application process.

Krenn studied technical mathematics and general management and has many years of experience in the IT and finance world. He worked for the Raiffeisen Banking Group for seven years and previously gained a wide range of experience in management consulting.