“We do not need more optimistic macroeconomic assumptions to deliver our plan. Faster growth would be an additional benefit. Our job is to capture a greater share of the financial activity generated by this investment cycle,” Vassilis Psaltis said, commenting on the bank’s newly announced strategic plan.
“We are moving from the role of a lender that relies primarily on its balance sheet to that of a financial partner for businesses and households, with an emphasis on advisory services and activities that tie up less capital.”
“A business expanding its production capacity needs financing,” he continued. “But it also needs payment services, liquidity management and risk hedging. A business expanding into another country needs financing for trade and cross-border banking services. A business acquiring a competitor needs advisory services and access to capital markets.”
“There is a clear limit to the scope for growth within our current client base. Of the large companies to which we have extended significant financing, around three in four do not yet use the investment banking services we offer. AXIA gives us the expertise in advisory services and capital markets to close that gap.”
On households, he noted that “decisions about how to invest, buy a home, protect one’s family and prepare for retirement are interconnected. They need easy access to our services, advice where it is useful to them, and a simple way to carry out their transactions digitally.”
“Our clients are asking us for international wealth management services. We want them to be able to meet these needs at Alpha Bank too, without having to go elsewhere,” the Alpha Bank CEO continued.
“By 2030, our aim is to increase from 40% to 66% the proportion of clients in the Affluent segment who have started investing.”
Referring to the acquisition of AstroBank, he said it “expanded our presence in Cyprus and strengthened our expertise in serving small businesses, SMEs and private banking clients. But we had already gained momentum. Before the acquisition, our share of new lending was around 11%, almost double our share of total outstanding loans in the Cypriot market. […] In Greece, we are focused on meeting more needs of our existing clients. In Cyprus, we also have scope to increase our market share.”
“We expect our revenue to grow by around 7% a year, from approximately €2.5 billion in 2026 to €3.3 billion by 2030. We estimate that around three-quarters of this growth will come from our client-facing activities, with three revenue streams contributing to a similar extent,” he continued.
“We plan to spend around €900 million on technology over the 2027–2030 period. All of the additional spending will go towards transforming the Bank.”
“As technology reduces the time needed to process transactions, we will train colleagues to take on advisory and relationship management roles. At the same time, we will make targeted hires.
In our branches, our aim is to convert 30% of customer service positions into relationship manager roles. We also aim for relationship managers who meet the requirements to obtain financial adviser certification.”
On the use of capital, he said: “Our principle is simple. We invest where we can create the most value and return to shareholders the capital we cannot deploy at an attractive return.”