OREANDA-NEWS. July 25, 2013. Sviaz-Bank has totaled up its performance in retail business development for six months of 2013. Its core business areas – lending and accepting customer funds in deposit – have been growing at the highest rates over the last three years.

The Bank has built up significantly its portfolio of loans made to individuals – by July 1, its portfolio had grown to 39.1 billion rubles, which is 9.4 billion rubles, or 31.8%, more than it was at the start of 2013.

At the end of six months, the greatest share of the Bank’s retail loan portfolio was made up by loans issued under the Military Mortgage program (39.1%), mortgage loans (37.5%), and nonpurpose loans (20.2%), the remainder going into car purchase loans and credit cards.

In 2013, the Bank has launched a series of essentially new loan products that have had a significant influence on loan portfolio growth. In the first quarter, the Bank started issuing military mortgage loans for the purchase of apartments in new housing developments, and in the second quarter, it resumed issuing loans under the Large Mortgage Loans program against the security of residential and commercial properties. The number of development companies that are the Bank’s partners under the New Housing mortgage program has grown significantly as well.

On July 1, 2013, the Bank had a mortgage loan portfolio of 30.0 billion rubles, or 110% more than it had at the half year point in 2012. The share of military mortgages in the Bank’s mortgage loan portfolio reached 51.0%. In a meeting between Vnesheconombank Chairman Vladimir Dmitriyev and Russian President Vladimir Putin last April, Sviaz-Bank was singled out for its operation in the mortgage loan market as, according to Vladimir Dmitriyev, the indisputable leader in issuing mortgage loans to servicemen under the program that is carried out through the Russian Military Mortgage institution. “The Bank has firm control over 25 percent of the market, ahead of other commercial banks. We deliberately finance this program through Sviaz-Bank and monitor its rapid expansion in full realization that it involves a major social issue that must be handled on terms favorable to servicemen,” said Vladimir Dmitriyev.

The Bank continued developing nonpurpose consumer credit, as well as mortgage loans. Over six months of 2013, the Bank issued 3.56 billion rubles in consumer loans, more than double from 1.5 billion rubles issued over the same period of 2012, at a growth rate of 239%. The highest popularity is enjoyed by the new Just Credit express loan program, with the decision to issue a loan made within a quarter hour upon presentation of a Russian citizen’s passport. Sviaz-Bank has issued over 2,400 loans in this category totaling more than 200 million rubles since late May when the program was rolled out. The new program is most widespread in Moscow, Cherkessk, Astrakhan, Irkutsk, Kazan, Krasnodar, Omsk, St.Petersburg, Tomsk, Kyzyl, and Chelyabinsk.

The Bank has registered healthy growth in funds accepted on deposit. Over 11,000 new deposit accounts have been opened with the Bank so far in 2013. Today, more than 20,000 individuals keep their money in deposit accounts with the Bank.

Sviaz-Bank’s portfolio of individuals’ deposits has reached 18.3 billion rubles. The Managed Reserve and 13th Pension deposit accounts that have generated a steadily high demand for several years already, well ahead of other deposits, take up more than 11.4% of the Bank’s total deposit portfolio. Over 500 million rubles have been accepted into seasonal Global Warming deposit accounts. The share of deposits in the national currency reached 78.8% of the total funds on deposit. The Bank is constantly working to improve its line of products and technologies – beginning in February 2013, deposit accounts may be opened with Sviaz-Bank’s ordinary and backup offices and through the Megapay Internet banking system, too.

By now, Sviaz-Bank has issued over 500,000 plastic cards, including those it has issued under its successful wage payment and other projects. Last March, the Bank started issuing Visa Infinite premium credit cards.

The Bank has been expanding its network of automated teller machines and card handling terminals. It has also begun implementation of a project to set up contactless payment terminals at post offices. Kazan has become the first city to start off a large-scale federal project by setting up a first group of “one touch” POS terminals.