We are building a community⁣ as an independent, values-based bank. Together with our customers, we are helping the worldbecoming a better place.

the chairman of the board⁣

 I am Zsolt Fáy, founding owner since 1995, Chairman of the Board and a major shareholder of MagNet Hungarian Community Bank.

I am originally a computer scientist, graduated from the Budapest University of Technology. I was one of the first IT graduates in the country, which was in great demand at the time. I founded an IT company in the early nineties, and what we earned from this business we invested in the stock market, we made a good return. In 1995, Attila Rostás and I founded our savings cooperative, the predecessor of MagNet Bank, with the profits from this. At that time we were actually learning banking on the go. Of course, this is now almost thirty years ago.

For me, it was the 2000s that brought a major inner, spiritual turning point.I had my third child in 2001, which changed my life and my thinking in many ways, and I redefined everything I thought was valuable in my life. Since then I have also been practicing yoga. I feel that the perspective that I have adopted through yoga has also played an important role in helping me to recognise what is really important in today's world, including what is important in finance and banking. Over time, I felt that the changes I experienced as a private person needed to be brought in sync with the way we conduct our business. To this day, operating profitably is important to me, but I measure success not just in terms of zeros, but more in terms of the positive impact we have.

Deputy Chief Executive Officer for Bank Development, Member of the Board of Directors⁣ ⁣

I originally graduated from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the University of Technology with a degree in Computer Science. Later on, I also did a post-graduate course at the University of Economics. I was involved in the foundation of HBW Express Savings Bank, the predecessor of Magnet Bank. It has been an exciting process to watch us grow from the very first customer to now serving over 10,000 individuals and businesses. And from one branch to many more. In the meantime, much of banking has moved to the world of the internet, and we have tried to be at the forefront of this.

Over the years, of course, we ourselves have changed and evolved a lot, and other things have become important to us. I think that in some ways the world we humans have created for ourselves is a strange one. At times it is unnecessarily over-complicated and difficult to understand. From a seemingly simple bureaucracy to taxation, or even choosing a product to buy. Advertising is usually no help in this process, but rather misleads us. Market conditions have led companies to outbid each other and to present their products in an even more favourable light, presenting features that are perhaps not so important as essential necessities.

Unfortunately, this is also happening in the world of banking. Over-complicated, hard-to-understand banking products and bundles deliberately make it difficult to navigate and make sensible choices. Yet when you think about it, the principle is simple: depositors put their money, which is surplus at the moment, into the bank, which pays them interest. It then lends that money to whoever needs it. It would be good to get back to basics! To think about what we really need, what is important to us, and to live accordingly.

In my spare time, when I'm not with my family, I like to take my photography backpack and photograph nature. It would be nice to live in such a way that we still have something to photograph tomorrow!

CEO, Member of the Board of Directors⁣ ⁣

I have been working at MagNet Hungarian Community Bank, or more precisely its predecessors, since its inception in the spring of 1996. I was involved in the start-up and expansion of the savings cooperative, its transformation into a bank and its debut as the first Hungarian community bank.

I got my first degrees at the Budapest University of Economics in the mid-eighties, where I studied finance and IT. A few years later, I had already completed my economics degree and then, in the banking system, which was becoming a two-tier system, I did my traineeship in commercial banking, reaching the senior management level in the first part of the 1990s. In the years following the turn of the millennium, I also obtained an MBA in Finance and Quality Management from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics.

Perhaps the most important and most important thing I have learnt so far has been working together on the transformation into a community bank. We have now reached a point where it is widely known what a community bank is, what value-based, ethical banking is. For me, this is the real success, the outstanding achievement of my work so far.

And something else that is important in my life: my family and friends. And of course I also have various leisure activities, I like to see the world, drive a car or a motorbike and even tinker with technical things. Although I spend most of my time at work, I also try to spend as much time as possible with those close to me. Family and friends give me energy and love, and I always need that. Of course, I also try to give as much as I can.

community development director (organisation and brand development), equity partner, board member⁣ ⁣

Prior to becoming a community bank, I joined MagNet Bank in early 2010, on the news of the responsible strategy it was adopting at the time. Since joining, I have led the Bank's Community Development area, which includes developing the organisation's people strategy, communications and branding and marketing activities, as well as shaping the Bank's engagement with its civil society partners and socially responsible strategy.

I have degrees in Human Resource Management and Communication, international qualifications in sustainability, leadership development, organisational psychology and business coaching. I have been working in the field of organisational and leadership development and human resource management for more than 20 years, both internationally and domestically, in financial, corporate and consulting firms.

Even with the environmental, social and economic difficulties that we are facing, I can look to the future with optimism, given the strategy we have adopted. Even if I cannot quantify this either in present values or in terms of an increase in the gross happiness index. For example, I remain a firm believer in conscious consumers. Those who shop at local markets, seek out fair trade labelled products, understand their ecological footprint, who have a slower pace, perhaps more books, a city bike or a yoga mat.

As a community bank customer, as a business leader, we now know that they not only behave this way when they are spending money, but also when they are saving it. We can now see and measure that it's not just good for them. That is why we love them so much. And also what we do. A good and likeable bank, based on shared values, informed choices and responsible decisions, with people like us, customers like us and international value-based banking partners like us. Today it is possible to bank selectively at home.