“A Brave, Innovative Leader”

Petra Karmteg, COO of DNB Sweden’s core focus has been on humans, agile transformation, and execution to transcend boundaries and generate sustainable growth. Her increased business focus and the capacity to form a unified and strong team have unlocked employee potential and ignited innovation in the Sweden organization. “The pandemic has served as an accelerator to long-term value creation, transformation isn’t really optional anymore, we have a new normal and so many opportunities lie ahead for us and for the whole financial industry,” says Petra. “I have always sought new ways of working, ways to increase the pace and be brave enough to innovate, there is no better time than now to explore the untapped potential of the post pandemic world.”

"Change and constant improvements is what drives me. Experienced leader – heading departments up to 100 employees and part of Management teams. I am described as a leader who points out a clear direction and coaches my employees to take own responsibility and find their own way under the direction that anything is possible."

“In order to conquer the competition, our ambition is to become one of Europe's leading technology companies,” adds Petra. Even though DNB is a bank, the new world of banking is undoubtedly digital, and as technology transforms the global payments landscape, the distance between banks and tech companies is shrinking quickly. “We need to be in the frontline of customer centric change, and ways of working is absolutely crucial here. People in finance are used to working based on historic numbers and exact information and that can be challenging when you need speed and new solutions. My job is to make sure that we can cope maintaining focus on regulatory and compliance but at the same time increase speed and look for new ways to conduct our business. Collaboration and a professional support/advisory function has been key to keep moving forward in Sweden.”

According to Petra, having an integrated digital payment infrastructure has opened up numerous possibilities for DNB and its customers. It will make everyone’s daily lives much easier, and the future-proof payment infrastructure will be a key to the Nordic integration. DNB is therefore preparing to make services and systems ready for a new common, modern, and secure infrastructure in the Nordic region. Many of DNB’s customers in Sweden have received banking services directly from Bankgirot. “Going forward they will receive them from us as a bank, providing these services in our new Corporate Payment Platform that has been developed,” says Petra. “To succeed, we in DNB have established our own Business Implementation project that will ensure a good and safe transition to new solutions.”

In 2021 the company gained a stronger position than ever before. It is one of the most financially sound banks in Europe, making them well equipped to tackle uncertainty and support their customers by providing financing for continued sustainable growth. DNB was recently appointed number one globally on gender equality which, of course, is a great acknowledgment. “We have come a long way as this has been a priority in the board and group management and it is a strategic and business-critical decision. We have been working systematically with ambitious objectives and it is fantastic to see the results,” says Petra. “Inclusion is also an important theme. This is of course as business critical as gender balance, the more diverse team, the better decisions, the better results. We need this as an organization that wants to deliver on business objectives, our employees expect us to create an inclusive and diverse working environment and of course, our customers demand this. It’s not that it is the right thing to do, it’s the only thing to do.”

As a steadfast COO, she says that the COO’s of today need to understand the business and its needs to create a team of business advisors with high capacity. High service levels and efficient processes are fundamental, but you bring real value to the organization as business advisors. “The COO-role is often varied and a reflection on the challenges and complexities of running a successful business in the industry you're in,” says Petra. “It can be tasks like helping to build a winning culture for employees or dealing with pressure from investors and staying ahead of the competition, the COO is often the CEOs co-driver in the race for success helping to deal with challenges and navigating in the everyday business life.” IE