Alfa Bank has Officially Announced 30% Growth of Retail Business and Development of Alfa Bank Express Network since January 1, 2003.
22 Jul 2003
Maciej Lebkowski, Member of the Board of Directors, Head of Alfa Bank’s Retail Business, has announced that the total volume of funds attracted from private individuals and SMEs within the 6 months of 2003 amounted to $1.2 billion, which exceeds the figure recorded on January 1, 2003 by 30%.
The bank’s regional network in Russia enlarged to 100 branches.
The number of individual cardholders reached 430,000 by the end of the first half of the year, with a 23% issuance volume growth in comparison with the year start. In the 6 months of 2003 the bank issued more than 80,000 cards, with a turnover of $667 million, which is 51% more than in the same last year period, and a $185 million balance on card accounts.
The turnover of Alfa Bank’s acquiring business reached $719 million by the end of June 2003, exceeding the last year figure by 42%.
In the first half of 2003 a certain number of Alfa Bank’s ATMs started to provide Euros. The Euro supplying ATM network is constantly growing and also covers the regions where Alfa Bank’s branches are operating.
The new retail business, operating under the Alfa Bank Express brand, was launched in April 2003 and now provides state-of-the-art retail banking services for private individuals and SMEs.
Alfa Bank Express network of 14 branches in downtown Moscow are remarkable for their modern design and uniform layout standards: each branch has a 24 hour lobby with a hotline, and information kiosk and two ATMs, one of which is equipped with a drop-box.
Alfa Bank Express combines best practices of retail banking service and provides integrated products and services that truly meet customers’ needs and enable them to conveniently manage their money.
When opening an account at the bank, the customer is given a free Visa Electron access card which is used not only to pay for goods and withdraw cash from ATMs but also to credit the account through the ATMs and manage it through any Alfa Bank Express branch.
Alfa Bank Express was first on the Russian retail banking market to introduce tariff groups for current account services. The bank offers four tariff groups - ‘Bravo!’, ‘Class!’, ‘Style’ and ‘Status’ - tailor-made for specific target audiences and allowing for different lifestyles and banking experience.
Customers show great interest in Alfa Bank Express credit products: credit cards and overdraft on the current account (short-term loan). Customers can submit an on-line application for a credit product through the bank’s website.
At present the process of migrating customers from Alfa-Bank to Alfa Bank Express is in progress.
When evaluating the results of the new retail project development Maciej Lebkowski said that the first months of operations gave justified hope for the success of the new retail business of Alfa-Bank. “The results of the advertising campaign, which supported the brand penetration into the market, show that on the whole the target audience has a positive attitude to Alfa Bank Express and is interested in the bank’s product offering. This is also proved by a constant customer flow in our branches and a dynamic growth of the retail client base”, noted Maciej Lebkowski.
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