George Zolnai was born and raised in Budapest. He earned a degree in Mathematics from Cambridge. He began working in the banking sector in 1988, starting his career as an equity analyst in the City in London. He then returned to Hungary, after completing his MBA in 1995. For seven years he was a consultant for McKinsey & Co., where he managed projects for both Hungarian and international banks in strategy, efficiency and bank operations. He has been in bank management since 2001. He spent four years as Executive Director at Pekao Bank SA in Poland, followed by six years with GE Money Bank in Moscow as the Sales and Marketing Director, and later Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Zolnai served as CEO of Budapest Bank from 2011 to Spring 2017. In May 2017 he became the Chief Executive Officer of Raiffeisen Bank.