## 4 Results
Northern and Western European nations, particularly Sweden and Finland, Germany, Austria, and Belgium exhibit the highest levels of R&D investment, emphasizing their focus on fostering technological advancements in banking. In contrast, Southern and Eastern European countries, including Portugal and Greece, allocate fewer resources to R&D, suggesting that financial sector innovation remains a secondary priority. The number of employees in the banking sector [109] provides additional insights into the impact of digital transformation on the labor market. Countries with advanced automation and AI-driven banking solutions, such as the Netherlands and Germany, have experienced a gradual reduction in banking employment, reflecting a shift towards digital-first financial services. Meanwhile, in countries where banking digitalization is still evolving, such as Hungary and Slovakia, employment levels have remained more stable, indicating a slower transition to automated banking solutions. Lastly, the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI)--Human Capital component [108] further illustrates the digital divide across the EU. Countries with highly skilled digital workforces, including Sweden and Finland, show strong banking automation adoption, reinforcing the importance of human capital in financial digitalization. Conversely, economies such as Italy and Greece demonstrate lower DESI human capital scores, reflecting the need for greater investment in digital education and workforce upskilling. These trends collectively highlight the varying speeds of digital banking transformation across EU countries, with Northern and Western European economies leading the transition, while Southern and Eastern European nations work towards catching up. The observed disparities emphasize the necessity for targeted policy measures that support digital financial inclusion, investment in R&D, and the development of digital banking competencies across the region. The statistical analysis (Table 2) of the provided dataset highlights key trends in banking performance, digitalization, and economic conditions across the European Union. Return on equity (ROE) demonstrates a moderate mean value, though the distribution is highly skewed, indicating significant variations across observations. The negative skewness suggests that some countries or periods experienced lower profitability, potentially linked to economic downturns or structural inefficiencies in banking operations. The high kurtosis further indicates the presence of extreme values, emphasizing the need for robust econometric techniques to account for such heterogeneity. The variable representing research and development (R&D) expenditure exhibits a relatively low mean and a broad dispersion, suggesting that investment in financial sector innovation remains unevenly distributed across the EU. The positive correlation with GDP per capita implies that economies with higher income levels allocate more resources to R&D, reinforcing the notion that economic development fosters technological progress and banking innovation. However, the weak correlation with ROE suggests that, at least in the short term, increased R&D spending does not necessarily translate into immediate profitability gains for banks. The log-transformed GDP per capita (LOGGDP) presents a strong positive association with digital banking variables, particularly Digital Inclusion (LOGDIGINCL) and E-banking adoption (LOGEBANK). This result confirms the widely accepted hypothesis that wealthier economies exhibit higher levels of digital financial integration. Moreover, the significant correlation between GDP per capita and DESI indicators reflects the broader impact of economic development on digital transformation, with countries investing more in technology benefiting from higher adoption rates of AI-driven banking solutions.