OREANDA-NEWS. Kazkommertsbank (Almaty), whose securities are officially listed on Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), has provided KASE with the following press-release:

"...Kazkommertsbank considers the development of retail and SME banking services in the regions as one of the main priorities of its new strategy for the next three years, said the main shareholder of the bank, the Chairman of the Board of Directors Kenes Rakishev.

He met with each of the 20 directors of the bank's branches and discussed their vision of further development of Kazkommertsbank in their fields. "We have great expectations from the regions", - said Mr. Rakishev.

According to him, today the contribution of regional business into the total profit of the bank is 49%, and over the next three years, this figure will increase up to 69%. According to the new business strategy, Kazkommertsbank plans to shift the focus from corporate clients to the public and business services, as well as to transfer most of the banking services (up to 70%) to online platform. Special attention will be paid to the improvement of customer service at a bank.

"Considering the current risks, we plan within three years to reduce our "appetite" for corporate clients to service the SME and retail lending. We will strengthen the main advantages of Kazkom - improve virtual services, develop credit cards lending, extend acquiring network, update the ATM park providing a full access to our regional clients to powerful infrastructure of Kazkommertsbank", - added Mr. Rakishev.

He also said that one of the top-priority steps of the new Management related to strengthening of KKB regional positions will be the business trip of Marc Holtzman, the Member of the Bank’s Board of Directors to eight regions of Kazakhstan."