The FINANCIAL — The net profit of the Georgian Banking sector constituted 16.8 million GEL in May 2011 and net profit for the year’s first five months had already reached 98.2 million GEL.
The Georgian banking sector is recovering from the financial crisis and has been showing profitability for several months already.
As of June 1, 2011, the banking sector in Georgia is represented by 19 commercial banks, including 15 foreign-controlled banks and two branches of non-resident banks. Compared to the previous month, total assets of Georgian commercial banks (in current prices) increased by 92.9 million GEL (by 0.9 %) and constituted 10,775.6 million GEL. The banking sector’s own funds (equity capital) is equal to 1,810.9 million GEL, which makes up 16.8% of commercial banks’ total assets.
The share of foreign capital in banks’ total paid-in capital constituted 81.4 percent. The share of the five banks that have the largest assets out of the total amount of the banking sector’s assets decreased by 0.7 percentage points compared to the previous month and constituted 77.9 percent.
Moreover Georgia is leader in the region by number of POS terminals, with a total of 10,286 units, 1,512 ATM stations, and about 3 million cards.
The most in demand products at Georgian banks are different types of loans. The incentive of loans with lower interest rates in all probability is what governs the high demand.
TBC Bank
The most demanded products at TBC Bank are consumer loans, mortgage loans and cards.
“The tendency of loan issuance in TBC Bank is rising fast in amount as well as value. From 1 January, 2011, till the end of June 2011 the loans portfolio increased by 18%. In contrast, in the same period in 2010 the loans portfolio increased by 20%. Now we have a 54% bigger loans portfolio in value in comparison with June 2010,” said Gega Bagaturia, Products Manager, Sales Department at TBC Bank.
According to Bagaturia, from January 1 till the end of June 2011, more than 24,000 deposits were created to the amount of 320,000,000 GEL while in the same period of 2010 almost 22,000 deposits were created to the amount of 200,000,000 GEL.
In the first half of 2011 the top offers from the Bank have been the following:
Mortgage loan offer – clients are able to take out mortgage loans with the lowest interest rate in Georgia – 11%
New Credit card – TBC Prime Card offer: 0% for the first 3 months! The cardholder receives no interest during the first 3 months of usage. Also clients are able to have a 55 day grace period and lowest yearly interest rate – 18% for transactions made with merchants. Moreover, clients have the possibility to order a credit card with the picture they want.
In the first half of 2011 42% more credit cards were issued compared with the same period of 2010.
Bank Republic
One of the most demanded products at Bank Republic, Societe Generale Group is the 11% mortgage loan campaign. This campaign was a real success and contributed to the increase of the portfolio and at the same time soon became a very desirable and favourite product on the market, serving to attract many new customers.
“Bank Republic is trying to be maximally consumer oriented by offering tailor-made products and quality service to each customer. Both the lending and deposit directions are much demanded at BR. Issuing mortgage loans, consumer loans, instalments, and cards is an active trend and a reflection of market demand. One of our main priorities is to be adaptable and flexible enough to satisfy all the needs of our customers, even the most demanding ones. Online and ATM payments are also much demanded services amongst others,” said Tiko Janashvili, Communications and PR Coordinator at Bank Republic, Societe Generale Group.
“In general, mortgages, consumer loans, auto loans, instalments etc. are really demanded by our clientele. Since we have the international status of being a member of Societe Generale Group, the public is really very confident in our reliability and strength and choose to place their savings in our bank. Therefore our deposit portfolio is growing and reflecting the credence of society towards Bank Republic,” Janashvili added.
Bank of Georgia
Bank of Georgia is actively engaged in promoting different types of loans and cards to the market. The latest offer from the Bank includes the Love Card and American Express Rewards Card.
American Express Rewards Card offers clients expenditure control and management. Moreover the cardholder has the chance to access the saving programme Membership Rewards and special benefits and services associated with American Express.
One of the latest products from Bank of Georgia is a special loan offer for small and medium size businesses. Any company which takes out a loan of up to 500,000 USD will be free of interest expenses for the first three months. This will provide the chance for entrepreneurs to more freely manage their finances and to expand their business with the help of the amount saved.
The Love Card is a card specially designed by cardholders. The card has all standard features – Visa Electron, Visa Classic, Cirrus Maestro and MasterCard Standard. Moreover, Bank of Georgia offered special prices for those who will perform most of their transactions with the Love Card.
Discussion about this post