How Does the Nexus Between Digitalization and Banking Performance Drive Digital Transformation in Central and Eastern European Countries?

The aim of this paper is to create a digitalization index for banking sectors using a set of indicators based on World Bank data for the period of 2010–2021, which will allow us to rank the sectors of Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs). The digitalization index is built based on how ready banks are for digitalization, the potential customers available for digital banking, and the level of digital infrastructure, with each of these aspects representing one pillar. Based on the calculation of the digitalization index, we emphasize that Romania is the leader, followed by Latvia and Lithuania, while Hungary and Estonia are at the opposite pole. Furthermore, we applied the fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) method to measure the impact of digitalization on banking performance. This study reveals that Romania, Latvia, and Lithuania lead in digital banking transformation due to significant investments in infrastructure and customer engagement, while Hungary and Poland lag in terms of digital readiness. The results indicate that digitalization has a significant positive effect on banking performance (ROE), although countries experiencing market saturation had the potential to see a decline post-2018, necessitating further innovation to sustain growth. In the digitalization context, the results are relevant for policymakers, showing that investing more in digitalization is important and that there is a need to help people have greater access to banking services due to a lack of willingness and financial education, factors which prevent them from embracing digital changes. The results show that improving banking digitalization positively influences banking performances. This study provides an innovative and complex index for assessing banking digitalization in Central and Eastern Europe, with valuable implications for policymakers. We highlight the need to align digitalization policies with the specific level of digital development of each country in order to optimize the integration of digital technologies and enhance economic competitiveness.