This time, I have the pleasure of interviewing the man behind one of the most meaningful touchpoints of the Snappi brand: Panagiotis Kytinos, Head of Customer Support. Around here, we often say Snappi has soul and this part of our DNA is guarded 24/7 by human customer support. Not bots. Not scripts. Real people, with real empathy and yes, every single one of them holds a university degree. 

We meet in Ioannina, the happiest city in Greece, while Gabriella is giving a guest lecture at the local university. We’ve agreed to start at 10:00. At 10:18, he descends the stairs like a character from a Greek indie film: grey suit, confident smile, carefully groomed beard. Stylish. Effortless. Somehow, all Greek men carry this timeless elegance. Coming from Estonia, the land of unicorns and hoodie-wearing fintech founders, it’s refreshing. 

We dive straight into the core of what customer support really means. For Panagiotis, it starts and ends with one thing: listening. Not just hearing, but truly caring. “We’re all born with something we’re best at, a set of tools gifted at birth,” he tells me. “But not everyone finds it in one lifetime. You have to be bold.” 

Bold, indeed. Until the age of 23, Panagiotis was living life at full volume: nightlife, bartending, no real direction. Then something shifted. He enrolled in physiotherapy, then earned a master’s in health care management and after the master’s degree a second bachelor’s degree in business administration But life, as it does, had other plans. The economic crisis hit. Back to bartending. Until one day, his brother-in-law asked if he’d try a day job in a call center. 

Panagiotis’s reaction? “Not even if I were dead.” 

Six months later, he asked for that very job. And it changed his life. 

He describes it beautifully. Customer support, for him, is not about serving. It’s about connecting. “You’re just one human being meeting another, trying to help. That’s all it is. We bring our bodies to work for 8 hours a day, why not use that time to do good for someone else?” 

Within a year, he was promoted to team lead. Then more teams. And more responsibility. Before joining Snappi, he built the entire customer support function for TBI Bank from scratch. He knows this world intimately but more importantly, he loves it. And he’s honest enough to say it out loud. 

“At one point, I looked at myself and said, ‘This is what you enjoy. Own it.’” 
So few people reach that kind of clarity. It’s rare. And powerful. 

“Customer support centres are the bank branches of tomorrow,” he adds — dropping wisdom like it’s nothing. And I believe him. Despite AI’s rise (which he’s excited about too), the need for human connection won’t disappear. If anything, it will grow. 

Snappi is not building a bot-first experience. It’s building a banking culture rooted in empathy. One where security, transparency, and trust aren’t afterthoughts, they’re built in. 

“In most places I’ve worked, customer support was an afterthought,” he tells me. “At Snappi, it was one of the very first things we built.” 

And it shows. His team is made up of skilled, dedicated professionals, many of whom have never worked in direct banking before but they’re outperforming industry veterans. Why? Because they care. Because they listen. 

“Sometimes you can’t offer a solution. But if you’re honest, respectful, and human, the person on the other end will understand.” 

We talk about the Greek banking culture and how deep respect plays a role. 

“Whether you have 1,000 euros or 1 million, it’s your hard-earned money. And you deserve to be treated with dignity.” 

I ask him the now-signature Snappi Journal question: If you had to describe Snappi in one word, what would it be? 

“Force,” he answers immediately. “We are a Force.” 

And he’s right. 

“This word didn’t come earlier but now, it’s real. We’re here. We’ve passed the theories. Now we’re building something that brings value, security, transparency, and ease to Greek communities.” 

Snappi is not here to make things complicated. It’s here to make lives better.  

Panagiotis also brings up financial literacy and how customer support can play a huge role there. 

“You want a 100K loan, but you make 5K a year. Should we judge? No. But should we talk honestly about the impact of that choice? Absolutely. We don’t just say no. We explain why. We help people understand. That’s also financial literacy.” 

And that’s the Snappi difference. 

“In my head, I’m never doing enough for the customers. I’m always looking for the next improvement, the next feature, the next better way to serve.” 

His journey started at 16, serving coffee. Now he’s shaping the future of banking — one conversation at a time. 

Snappi isn’t just building a product. It’s building a movement. A human force. 

And Panagiotis? He’s the heart of it.