National Bank of Greece strengthens market leadership with WAY4

• National Bank of Greece has been awarded for the best Card Management System (CMS) Project at the Bite Awards 2018 held on the 13th of June. During the ceremony the bank has appreciated OpenWay and Accenture companies that helped National Bank of Greece to successfully transform its business on the WAY4 CMS solution.

• National Bank of Greece, the country’s leading banking institution, has successfully completed the migration of its debit card portfolio to the WAY4 card management system provided by OpenWay, a top-ranked digital payments software provider. Investment in the new platform supports the bank’s vision to enhance its leading position in Greece and further accelerate business growth.

National Bank of Greece has replaced its legacy mainframe systems with a modern, future-proofed platform from OpenWay. WAY4 will support increasing transaction volumes and accelerate the development of new products and services. WAY4 from OpenWay is an open, all-in-one platform that enables different types of digital payment: card and account issuing, merchant acquiring, transaction switching, omni-channel digital banking, digital wallets and an e-commerce gateway. It offers product and service flexibility, scalability and high performance – which are the crucial requirements for dynamic business growth.

National Bank of Greece will reduce the total cost of ownership of its IT infrastructure by consolidating its card business on a single platform. It will also cut costs by eliminating outsourcing and certain internal operational costs. More than 4 million debit cards, the majority of which were recently upgraded to contactless, have been migrated to WAY4. National Bank of Greece is now in the process of migrating its credit and prepaid card portfolios and its POS and ATM acquiring business to WAY4; it will also replace its Base24 switch to the payment schemes.

“Delivering an amazing customer service experience is a top priority for us and the centralization of card business on WAY4 enable us to operate more efficiently, react to new market trends quickly, and be more competitive in the open banking environment” - notes Pericles Papaspyropoulos, Sector Head, Cards Division, NBG.

“We are proud to be a strategic partner for National Bank of Greece and support them in the implementation of their ambitious digital payments strategy. Reliance on a technically excellent platform, strong partnership between all involved parties and the commitment to the project from the bank’s top management, brought us to this big success. We would like to thank our partner, OpenWay, for this excellent collaboration” – says George Pallioudis, Accenture Greece Payments Practice Lead.

“WAY4 technology supports end-to-end customer engagement: from seamless digital acquisition to flexible products management via omni-channel to smart data-driven services,” says Sophocles Ioannou, Regional Manager at OpenWay. “We are honored that National Bank of Greece has selected WAY4 as key element of their digital transformation project. We now look forward to further supporting them in delivering innovative services and products to the Greek market,” he adds.

About National Bank of Greece

National Bank of Greecewas established in 1841 and was the first bank to be set up in the Modern Greek State, going on to play a key role in the economy of Greece throughout its 176-year history. Today NBG heads one of the largest financial groups in Greece, playing a key role in the efforts to support the Greek economy and the economic and social transformation of the country.

NBG offers a wide range of financial products and services that meet the ever-evolving needs of private and business customers.

The Bank rightly considers itself to be the preferred bank of families in Greece, as it controls 25% of the retail banking market. Its leading position in savings deposits reflects the trust of its customers who in essence comprise NBG's driving force.

With an extensive branch and ATM network comprising over 542 branches and 1,466 ATMs, NBG covers the entire geographical area of Greece, while it has also developed state-of-the-art e-channels, including Mobile and Internet Banking. Today, NBG's international network includes 93 units, while the Group employs some 11,500 employees (as at 31 March 2018).