Business news from Ukraine

OTP BANK is among top ten best enterprises of Ukraine in category “Banking” – Opendatabot

JSC OTP BANK entered the Top 10 banks included in the Index of the best enterprises of Ukraine with an impeccable business reputation and the highest revenue for 2023 in the Banking category.
According to the results of the year, OTP BANK ranked eighth in the overall rating of banking institutions and third among banks with foreign capital.
The Opendatabot index is updated annually. As stated on the company’s website, the index takes into account both financial indicators (financial statements of companies for 2023) and business reputation of businesses.


The Index for 2023 is available here.
In February, OTP Bank took a leading position in the Bank Viability Rating – 2024, compiled by the business publication Mind. It received four out of five stars and one of the highest ratings among both state-owned and non-state-owned banks with Ukrainian and international capital.

,

History of Ukrainian money: OTP BANK became partner of UCulture project lecture series

As part of its partnership with the UKculture project, JSC OTP BANK will support the platform’s team in preparing a series of lectures on the history of money: from the hryvnia of the princes of Kievan Rus to the present, as well as figures and historical monuments from Ukrainian banknotes.

“We started the collaboration on the first day of World Money Week, which is celebrated annually in more than 100 countries. The joint project with UKultura will allow us to raise deeper meanings, to look at the history of Ukrainian money in philosophical, historical, and cultural dimensions. The platform’s experts study unusual topics, find unexpected facts, and tell them not through dates and a list of names, but through living stories. And they also explain how these stories have affected us today,” said Lesia Syrota, team leader of the OTP Bank Helps Ukraine charity project, Director of Retail Sales and Network Management at OTP Bank.

She noted that Ukrainian banknotes contain much more than the size of the payment denomination and anti-counterfeiting elements. In particular, she reminded that modern money depicts symbols or important artifacts of Ukrainian statehood that have played or are playing a significant role in the country’s history. Therefore, educational lectures will help expand and supplement knowledge about different eras and how they are reflected in the present.

“UKultura is an innovative educational project about Ukrainian culture with a human face. Without bombast and excessive academicism, together with leading researchers, we talk about the achievements and values of our culture from ancient times to the present. The UCulture educational platform was created for students seeking live information about Ukrainian culture, for teachers looking for relevant materials and teaching methods, for cultural professionals seeking to share their experience and knowledge, and for everyone who wants to learn more about Ukrainian culture,” commented Larysa Dovha, UCulture project manager.

All videos created as part of the cooperation will be available for free on the
the Bank’s YouTube channel and on the website UKkultura website.

The UKultura educational platform was launched in March 2023. Its website contains both lectures on the development of Ukrainian culture from ancient times to the present and interviews with leading experts and scholars.

,

OTP Bank transferred UAH 1 million to Superhumans Center in February

In February, JSC OTP BANK transferred UAH 1 million to the account of Superhumans Center, a non-profit project that provides prosthetics, complex reconstructive surgery, rehabilitation and psychological support to Ukrainians who have been injured in the war.

The transfer was made under the charitable donation agreement for 2023-2024 concluded between the Bank and Superhumans Center, which provides for monthly support to the center. The funds are allocated to two crucial areas: support for the heroes, returning them to social life, and the creation of an educational center to scale up assistance and training for prosthetics specialists.

The total amount transferred by OTP Bank to the Superhumans Center is currently over UAH 28.8 million.

As a reminder, in 2023, OTP Bank held two charity auctions, during which it raised UAH 8.8 million. All funds were allocated to the prosthetics and rehabilitation center.

,

First factoring agreement signed under joint program of OTP Bank and USAID

OTP Bank and SVD-Development LLC have signed the first agreement on provision of factoring services under the joint program to support financing of Ukrainian business between OTP Bank and the USAID Project “Investments for Business Sustainability” (formerly USAID Financial Sector Reform Project).

The factoring agreement provides for financing in the amount of UAH 20 million for the supply of products by SVD-Distribution LLC to the network of a Ukrainian retailer of household appliances and electronics.

“Our company was established in difficult times – in November 2022. We decided not to postpone the implementation of the new project. Given our experience, the project is developing, creating jobs (16 people), gaining momentum, and we plan to grow in 2024, including through the OTP Bank and USAID program. Providing financial support, namely factoring on special terms, which we receive under the OTP Bank and USAID program, will help us replenish working capital for the supplied household appliances to the chain of stores and provide additional resources and opportunities for further development. Given the lengthening of logistics chains, our project needs just such a financing instrument,” said Natalia Teslenko, Managing Director of SVD-Distribution LLC.

Olga Volkova, Director of the Sales Department for Medium and Small Corporate Clients of OTP Bank, said that a significant number of corporate clients, especially large companies, when concluding agreements with suppliers, ask for a certain delay in payments for the delivered goods, which can reach 90 days and significantly increases the need for working capital for their partners. “Factoring allows the supplier to receive funds for its goods in the form of a tranche from the Bank immediately after delivery, without waiting for the buyer to pay. This is an effective means of quickly replenishing working capital, which, I emphasize, does not require collateral. It is especially beneficial and convenient for MSMEs, and partial compensation of the interest rate under the OTP Bank’s program with USAID makes it even more economically attractive. Therefore, companies that provide deferred payments for the supply of their goods and need working capital to finance such cash gaps are welcome to apply to the Bank and receive financing at a reduced interest rate,” she emphasized.

The USAID Project “Invest for Business Resilience” increases the supply of financing for businesses by working with a wide range of financial intermediaries, including banks, leasing, insurance companies and others, who raise funds and channel them into effective investments. “We help to unlock access to financial products for MSMEs on acceptable terms to support their businesses. As part of our joint program with OTP Bank, we facilitate access to affordable factoring financing, as this tool has been successfully used in Europe and other parts of the world. It improves business cash flow and frees up funds associated with unpaid invoices. The Business Resilience Investment Project expects to increase the number of factoring transactions and will continue to support the development of the factoring market in Ukraine,” said Yulia Vitka, Acting Chief of Party of the USAID Business Resilience Investment Project.

To learn more about SME factoring financing under the joint program of OTP Bank and USAID, as well as to apply for the service, please follow the link.

, ,

OTP Bank ranked second among commercial banks in rating of primary dealers of Ministry of Finance

In 2023, OTP Bank was ranked second among commercial banks in the overall rating of primary dealers, according to the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine. In total, the rating includes 11 banks – primary dealers.
OTP Bank ranks fourth among state-owned and commercial banks.

The status of primary dealer ensures the exclusive right to participate in the placement of domestic government bonds conducted by the Ministry of Finance, both on its own behalf and for clients of individuals and legal entities, as well as banks and financial companies that do not have this status.

It is worth reminding that in 2023, individuals – clients of OTP Bank purchased government bonds for a total amount of UAH 6.3 billion in equivalent, and the number of transactions amounted to 2064.

In the fourth quarter of 2023, OTP Bank became the first and currently the only bank to provide its customers with access to a unique service – the opportunity to purchase government bonds directly at auctions of the Ministry of Finance. This option was implemented through the OTP Bank UA mobile application. Already in December, 93.3% of customers who wanted to invest in government bonds used it to purchase government bonds. “This tool has become particularly popular because it offers a 100% guarantee of the state to return funds with interest. In addition, it is an opportunity to contribute to supporting the country’s economy, as government bonds are a loan to the state. When we implemented the possibility of purchasing government bonds through the OTP Bank UA app, many customers began to choose this convenient way of investing money,” said Valeria Ovcharuk, product owner of Private Banking at OTP Bank.

To learn more about the possibility of purchasing government bonds in the OTP Bank UA mobile application, please follow the link.

, , , , ,

Correlation of services with Maslow’s pyramid helps to increase customer satisfaction, – member of Board of OTP Bank

When implementing digital services, developing digital products and working with customer experience, the OTP Bank team correlates its approaches with 4 aspects of customer values. This was stated by Oleg Klymenko, Member of the Management Board of OTP Bank responsible for retail business development, during the conference DIGITALIZATION BANKING: the next stage – 2024, organized by the International Financial Club BANKIR.

“OTP Bank is working to improve customer satisfaction in four aspects: functional, emotional, life-change, and social. Most of the competition in banking digital services takes place at the first level – functional. But when you have an operational base, you can start working with emotions,” he said.

According to the banker, the Bank’s Information Center uses AI technologies to analyze customer emotions. “We distinguish 8 different emotions, and when a customer calls, we track their mood by the timbre of their voice. This is necessary for the manager to understand the interlocutor as correctly as possible, because where there is human-to-human interaction, sometimes there can be misunderstandings. Instead, artificial intelligence allows the operator to better navigate the situation,” emphasized Mr. Klymenko.

Life-change, according to the banker, helps customers learn how to use new products that improve their living standards. “One such example is the online purchase of government bonds in the OTP Bank UA app. This is the most convenient and comfortable way to get acquainted with this instrument of investing in government bonds,” emphasized O. Klymenko.

Accordingly, the life-change level allows customers to move to the social level. “OTP Bank cooperates with the prosthetics center Superhumans Center. To raise funds, we held two charity auctions, one of which was fully implemented in the app. It’s like a game, because each auction contains a game element combined with a social mission,” he said.

According to internal research, the NPS level at OTP Bank increased by 8% in 2023 and amounted to 58%. 93% of the surveyed customers are satisfied with the work of the Information Center operators, and 97% with the work of the branch employees.

As a reminder, the charity Christmas auction held in the OTP Bank UA app raised UAH 5.8 million. All the funds were transferred to the Superhumans Center to provide prosthetics to Ukrainians.

,