VKF_FRAE_2017

PART I: INTRODUCTION 48 VakıfBank Annual Report 2017 VakıfBank announced its way of communication in the relaunch in 2017. With the vision of being the Leading Bank of Strong Turkey, VakıfBank emphasized that it will be the strength by all of its stakeholders. 2017 AT A GLANCE »» WE SHALL BE THE STRENGTH BY GROWING TURKEY VakıfBank’s vision for the new period was unveiled at a press conference hosted by CEO Mehmet Emin Özcan, with the participations of Assistant General Managers and the actor Engin Altan Düzyatan, the face of the VakıfBank brand in the new period. In his speech, Özcan stated that Turkey is no longer the old Turkey: “Now there is a strong, developing, leading Turkey which is the envy of the whole world. We set our vision for the new period as the “Leading Bank of Strong Turkey” in order to offer better services to our customers, give more support to the economy of strong Turkey, and add to VakıfBank’s strength.” He also elaborated on the targets for the new period. »» LEAP FORWARD IN DIGITAL BANKING In 2017, the VakıfBank Mobile Banking app was the product that stood out among VakıfBank’s digital banking channels, as it enjoyed a 62% increase in the number of users, which exceeded 2.2 million. For 2018 the target was set at 4 million, while more than 90% of Bank transactions were realized in non-branch channels during 2017. Setting off from the fact that technological development has affected and changed the banking sector the most in the whole world, VakıfBank continued to invest in digitization in all of its business processes and products. VakıfBank continued to modernize its in-house banking practices and end-user products, and continued to keep its IT infrastructure up-to- date with the latest technologies. A FIRST IN THE SECTOR: LOCAL GOVERNMENT BANKING VakıfBank added a new one to its long list of firsts in the banking sector, by establishing a Local Government Banking department. Through this department, the Bank aims to meet the demands and needs of local administrations more quickly and effectively, and provide private banking services to municipalities as well as their affiliates and subsidiaries. The Bank is the strength by local governments not only in their financing needs, but also all kinds of infrastructure and superstructure projects. Also providing consultancy services to local governments to help them access international funds, VakıfBank continued to support municipalities and their subsidiaries in many areas, ranging from energy efficiency to cash management products, transportation solutions to waste separation projects.