“Sberbank is among the youngest banks on the Serbian market and we have a huge obligation to contribute, through constant innovations and improvements, to the stability and strengthening of Sberbank in this part of Europe”
Compared to the same period of last year, Sberbank has recorded an increase in profit in Serbia of as much as 35 per cent.
Speaking to CorD about the operations of this bank that’s one of the world’s largest financial institutions, as well as the advancement of Serbia’s banking market, is Marijana Vasilescu, CEO of Sberbank Srbija a.d.
Sberbank’s arrival in Serbia marked the completion of the bank’s transformation into one of the leading international banking groups. How would you rate operations in Serbia to date?
It’s a privilege to be part of one of the largest and most profitable financial institutions in the world, with a tradition dating back 177 years, and to be part of a bank that has, for the last three years consecutively, won the title of the best brand in the banking category at the World Branding Awards.
On the other hand, Sberbank is one of the youngest banks on the Serbian market and we have a huge obligation to contribute, through constant innovations and improvements, to the stability and strengthening of Sberbank in this part of Europe. We can boast of the fact that, compared to the same period of last year, we’ve recorded an increase in profit of as much as 35 per cent.
It is an interesting fact that an average of 12 new “With Us on the Road” cards are issued every hour, and are done so without a single client having to physically come to the bankloyalty card “With Us on the Road”
Certainly what’s most important is the fact that our clients have recognised us as a reliable partner. This is supported by the fact that we achieved growth in total deposits of as much as 21%, as well as the growth of 39% in consumer loans compared to the first nine months of 2017.
I am particularly proud of the fact that we’re succeeding in our mission and maintaining an excellent team spirit, which we’ve demonstrated in practice through numerous humanitarian-volunteer actions with which we’ve contributed to the better functioning of the community in which we operate.
You also cooperate successfully with other Russian companies, which is plain to see with the example of the partnership project “With Us on the Road”.
Sberbank Srbija focused part of its corporate strategy on building stable bridges between Serbian and Russian companies. On this very basis, together with companies NIS and Gazprom Neft, a joint product was created in the form of an advanced loyalty card “With Us on the Road”.
For the needs of this co-branded payment card, Sberbank prepared a simple, digitised and fully automated process that enables users to submit a request for the payment functionality of this card and to sign contractual documents outside of the bank’s branch offices, at more 70 NIS Petrol and Gazprom filling stations. We are proud that more than 32,000 requests have been submitted since the launch of this project.
The consolidation of the Serbian banking sector will also continue next year. What are your plans and in which area of your operations do you plan to invest the most?
The further development of our digital channels is moving in the direction of developing contracting services for credit products. With the entry into force of the Law on Users of Financial Services with contracting at a distance in June this year, the conditions were created for us to be able to create a completely new product, which will enable our clients to receive electronic approval for smaller loans.
We will soon provide our clients with a superior user experience through applications for cash credit with just the consent to conclude such a contract and with the use of two elements that confirm the identity of the user, without going to the bank, and with just a few clicks. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but we are motivated by precisely these kinds of challenges.