Tomáš Korbas: Next time we want an innovation award

Being the Czech leader in payment terminals is great, but Tomáš Korbas, our Managing Director of Global Acquiring, wishes to go one step further. “E-commerce is where we would like to play a bigger role in the future, and maybe even be the winner,” says the manager whose leadership earned us the top Mastercard and VISA Awards for 2023.

When was the last time you paid with cash?

At the barber this morning. They don’t take cards, but I happened to have cash, so I paid the old-fashioned way.

Don’t you take it personally when some places won’t accept cards?

No, but it seems to me that everyone sees only the costs and not the benefits: higher sales, customer convenience and reduced cash handling expenses. After all, someone has to keep track of the money, count it, and take it to the bank. I can understand it a little bit with barbers and similar small businesses, but not at all when it comes to larger merchants.

ČSOB wins both main categories of Mastercard Awards 2023

ČSOB won several Mastercard awards this spring. You attended the ceremony; what was it like?

It’s a formal event where top industry people meet. And it’s nice to see ČSOB take home the top prize in more than one category. That’s something that drives us forward. To see who succeeded in other categories, what they got the award for, and what we lack to be just as good.

ČSOB dominated both main categories, Issuer and Acquirer of the Year. How would you explain what these awards mean?

In short, an issuer issues cards and an acquirer accepts cards (allows payment). At ČSOB, we provide both services, with the advantage being that the entire cash flow takes place in one trusted organisation.

So the Issuer of the Year award means that our clients paid more by card last year than the year before?

Yes. I don’t have detailed data, but it is a reflection of the fact that most of our clients have multiple banks and cards, but they pay with ours. They are becoming more active, using their cards more than before.

How have we as a bank contributed to this?

As a bank, we above all enjoy great trust from our clients. When I pay with the card of my bank, it means that is where I have most of my money. It is also proof that we are a safe bank. People are not worried that paying by card could put their money in danger. These are all long-term factors that build up gradually. We at ČSOB have been working on this for many years now.

Can we take the Acquirer of the Year award as confirmation that we are one of the largest payment terminal providers?

Yes. The size is not just related to the fact that we have the most terminals. It is also about quality. The biggest players with billions in turnover trust us with the most important part of their core business: cash flows from day-to-day business operations.

We have also succeeded as an acquirer at the VISA awards. What does it mean that we have received awards from both the major card associations?

As an acquirer, we don’t differentiate whether someone pays with VISA or Mastercard. For me, this is important in that both of the world’s major payment associations recognise and perceive us as a market leader.

We are preparing a new payment gateway and Internet Banking for merchants

Do you consider all of these awards as an achievement worth celebrating?

While we didn’t exactly have a celebration,  I thanked all my colleagues here in Prague and Budapest and stressed that they deserve the credit for this success. It is not a prize that is drawn out of a hat or chosen by likeability. It is all determined by hard data, and that data says that my colleagues are doing a good job.

And what do the awards mean for your future work?

They mean we are good at this business and offer services that benefit both merchants and consumers. However, I can imagine one or two more categories in which we would like to finish first in the coming years.

Which ones are they?

We would like to play a bigger role in the future and perhaps even come out on top in e-commerce. In other words, we want to be the Czech leader not only in payment terminals, but also in Internet payment gateways. At the same time, I would like to see us succeed in the categories for innovation.

I assume that when you mention innovation, it is not just talk. Do you have an ace up your sleeve?

As far as e-commerce is concerned, we are preparing a new payment gateway. It’s not just an upgrade of the existing one, but something that should suit both large and small players in the future. For paying customers, the gateway will be as simple, easy to understand and secure as possible.

For smaller merchants we are preparing a “merchant zone”, which is a kind of Internet Banking for companies that use our acquiring services. You can see your transactions, communicate with us and resolve complaints, and in the future we will also be there to help with financial management.

Are these awards also relevant to our customers? Are they interesting for them?

Certainly. You can have the best marketing campaign and promise all sorts of things, but in the end it’s the clients and partners who will show you whether you have the quality and trust or not. And being the market leader clearly helps us in this. It’s like a restaurant. When the tables are full and the line is out the door, you will want to go there rather than to an empty place.