Salt Bank - innovations that change digital banking

Salt Bank, the digital bank of the Banca Transilvania group, has managed, less than two years after starting its activity, to already reach total assets of 2 billion lei and over 700,000 customers, as announced by Gabriela Nistor, CEO of the institution, during the end-of-year conference.

"2025 was the year in which we wanted to demonstrate that we have a well-established strategy, in which we wanted to see what we mean as a bank. We are a leap in banking and technology, because we do banking the way the client wants, but also the way those who want to "stay in their bank” want. We have remained in the middle of the distance between fintechs and traditional banks, and everything we have thought, designed and built falls under the three pillars: beautiful, good and safe by design. This year we laid the bricks for what would become a true digital, online bank, during the following year”, said Gabriela Nistor.

She also spoke about the technological innovations offered by Salt Bank to its clients in 2025 and emphasized those regarding the safety of using applications. The first of them is Call Monitor through which the client can identify whether he is receiving a real call from the bank or if it is a fake call. The real call is identified with the color green, while the fake call, from malicious individuals claiming to represent the bank, is identified with the color red.

The second novelty is the Help Mama application, through which Salt Bank customers, who also have parents with accounts at this bank, receive a warning when their parents, elderly, vulnerable people, want to make a larger payment. Help Mama blocks the payment in question until the customer sees it and gives their consent to make it.

"It is a functionality that needs maturation and training, but it is very appreciated in the market. We are talking about two functionalities - Call Monitor and Help Mama, which are unique in Romania”, stated Gabriela Nistor, CEO of Salt Bank.

She also mentioned that during 2025, there was a practical transition to Salt 2.0, thanks to the new products offered to the bank's customers. For example, if in April the bank launched investments in Romanian stocks and ETFs, starting in October Salt Bank clients can buy stocks and ETFs from the international market

The rapid development of the bank is also reflected in the accelerated expansion of the team: "We have reached 429 people within the bank. The structure is starting to resemble that of a digital bank more and more. More than a third of the bank's team is in the technology area. A large part is built in-house. We have concluded 2 bancassurance partnerships this year, which will not only bring a completeness of products, but will also bring products that will give us a unique position in the market. These are the partnerships concluded with NN and Asirom", said Gabriela Nistor.

• What Salt Bank clients spend their money on

Salt Bank is not just a modern financial instrument, but a platform that users use daily for gaming, traveling, coffee and, unexpectedly, to send messages of love.

Robert Anghel, Deputy CEO of Salt Bank, stated that Salt Bank has become a channel through which Romanians express their affection through bank transfers. "I love you" or "I'm sorry" are just a few of the messages that accompany transactions made through the application. Representatives of the institution say that the analysis of user behavior reveals increasingly diverse trends, and the space reserved for explanations regarding the payment made has transformed into a place for personal communication.

The phenomenon is confirmed even by the bank's risk team, which observes the rapid evolution of this habit: "In the risk team, one of the activities is to monitor transactions, so that we can ensure that the purpose for which the money circulates is correct. For this, even the details given in the payment explanations are checked. These have become, surprisingly, one of the ways in which Romanians declare their love for each other. We noticed the phenomenon last year as well, but if last year there was a mention related to love, this year such mentions have increased sevenfold", specified Robert Anghel.

The Salt Bank user profile is mostly young, with an average age of 31, and financial behavior confirms a strong preference for the gaming area, one of the dominant categories among transactions. Bank representatives state that this type of consumption increases significantly when the Salt card is used, and some customers constantly invest in this hobby. "Customers use the bank to pursue their passions. For example, transactions in the gaming area increased fourfold when the Salt card is used. The customer who invested the most in gaming is a person who paid over 10,000 lei during the year, which is more than two average salaries from Romania. On average, a gaming transaction is about 80 lei in our portfolio,” said Robert Anghel, who specifies that the analysis does not include gambling.

Another area in which Salt Bank excels is that of travel, thanks to the exchange rate considered among the best on the market. The current account offered by the bank has become a preferred option for Romanians who travel frequently, which is visible in the volume and value of international transactions. Users end up in surprising places, which is evident from the history of payments made.

"The current account at Salt Bank is the best current account in Romania. It is used intensively when traveling, because we have the best exchange rate in Romania and it shows in the usage. By the way, I found out that there is an Auchan in Ivory Coast because I saw transactions with our card at a merchant called Auchan in Ivory Coast. There are transactions with the Salt card in almost all interesting places in the world. On average, approximately 830 lei is spent on air travel per trip. There is a Salt client who invested 10,000 lei in travel in 2025”, Robert Anghel claimed.

• 30,000 orders for placing financial investments

The Salt Bank representative also said that the number of payments for coffee made with the bank-issued card increased three times in 2025 compared to 2024, that the average payment is 24 lei at the cafe, and a single customer spent 6,000 lei on coffee alone in a year.

As for purchases with the Salt Bank card made in the supermarket, they increased 3.5 times in the current year compared to 2024, the average of a single payment being 53 lei, while the number of payments with the card for public transport increased four times.

Throughout this year, Salt Bank granted 10,000 loans, with an average value of 35,000 lei, the fastest loan being granted in 2 minutes and 21 seconds, with no granting fee, no early repayment fee and no other hidden fees, according to bank representatives.

Regarding financial investments made by the bank's clients, Salt Bank received over 30,000 placement orders in 2025, with an average portfolio value of 5,300 lei. The largest order placed was 450,000 lei.

The bank also offers accounts for companies, accounts in which invoices can be issued in the e-Factura system. This year, over 8,000 invoices were issued, the highest collection being 1,150,000 lei through Salt Bank. 80% of companies that have a Salt Bank account are active in that application. For a minimum turnover of 50,000 lei, the business account is free, with no commission.

As for bank deposits, they amount to a total value of 2 billion lei, with the minimum value of a deposit being over 10,000 lei. Salt Bank representatives stated that the value of the amounts placed in deposits by the bank's customers increased by 92% in 2025.

Salt Bank thus manages to outline a digital ecosystem adapted to the connected generation, in which technology, mobility and personalized experience define the way Romanians relate to modern banking. The accelerated pace of growth, massive adoption among young people and the diversification of usage behaviors consolidate Salt Bank's position as one of the most dynamic financial projects in Romania.