BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 11
By Jeila Aliyeva - Trend:
Turkmenistan’s State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs has undertaken a number of steps over the past year to modernize the bank, The Banker magazine told Trend.
The Banker and its international panel of judges have awarded The State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs of Turkmenistan with the title 'Bank of the Year 2020' in Turkmenistan.
Furthermore the The Banker revealed the reasons why it has selected the mentioned Turkmen bank as the winner in the annual contest.
“Turkmenistan’s The State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs has undertaken a number of steps over the past year to modernize the bank, a move that has helped the bank win the country’s Bank of the Year award. The bank recorded solid financial results in 2019, seeing a net profit by 1.5 times and 1.1 times in tier 1 capital, alongside a non-performing loan ratio of only 1.2 percent,” said The Banker.
The Banker clarified that in order to create a robust business model, the bank worked with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) on a plan to digitize its operations, and improve expertise and management practices.
“Changes introduced including expanding the ATM and point-of-sale (POS) networks and bringing in state-of-the-art servers. Measures were introduced to improve cybersecurity, bringing in an independent external audit agency to ensure the bank’s card systems were meeting international standards. As well as bringing the technology up to date, the plan also focused on developing the capabilities of the bank’s workforce. Consumers benefited from the introduction of new products, including an overdraft credit card loan and online loan applications, which removed the need to visit a branch,” added The Banker.
The bank also adopted ‘Milli Visa’ branded bank card, which will bring the bank’s national payment system in line with international payment systems, such as contactless payment technology, said the message.
In terms of COVID-19 impact, The Banker also noted that The State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs of Turkmenistan was quick to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, providing support for small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) customers, with a revised loan schedule for clients that were struggling with repayments.
“Loans were also made available to companies for settling salaries and maintaining operating costs, to enable production and manufacturing to continue throughout the pandemic. SME support forms part of the bank’s future plans as it is working in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank to provide financing to support these companies and expand Turkmenistan’s export sector,” highlighted The Banker.
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