OREANDA-NEWS. September 21, 2010. AccessBank has opened its newest regional branch in the city of Barda, one of the oldest cities in Azerbaijan.

The Bank reports that due to that the number of its branches in the country reached 28.

According to AccessBank, expansion of the branch network in the regions expands banking services to previously unbanked populations and offers business development to the inhabitants. The new branch, like the majority of the AccessBank branches, will provide a full range of banking services to both individuals and legal entities including money transfer systems, current and deposit accounts, VISA plastic cards, and disbursement of business and retail loans.

“AccessBank has become one of the leading investors in the economic development of the regions of Azerbaijan and is the leading bank in the financing of agriculture. The opening of the Barda branch will help us further advance these goals,” AccessBank’s general manager Andrew Pospielovsky said.

AccessBank was established with the purpose to render financial services to Azerbaijani families and micro- and small entrepreneurs.

The International Fitch Rating Agency has recognisedAccessBank as the most reliable private bank of Azerbaijan (BB+), and the Euromoney Publication Group named  AccessBank as “The Best Bank inAzerbaijan” in its 2010 Awards for Excellence. AccessBank is 100% foreign owned by six shareholders, consisting of: the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, the International Finance Corporation, the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, KfW Development Bank – the Development Bank of the German Government (20% per each), Access Microfinance Holding acting in microfinance field as a strategic investor (16.5%), and LFS Financial Systems GmbH – a German consulting company (3.5%).