Russian Post and the national bank VTB24 have teamed up to create a postal bank ‘Pochta Bank’ which is due to become operational at post offices in the first quarter of 2016.
The postal operator has 50% minus one share in the future postal bank. The transaction, signed by Russian Post CEO Dmitry Strashnov and VTB24 President and Chairman Mikhail Zadornov at the Russian news agency TASS, has been approved by the Federal Central Bank, the Federal Antimonopoly Service and the Ministry of Communications.
"The creation of Pochta Bank is a significant event, not only for Russian Post and VTB Group, but also for the country as a whole. The first attempts to open a postal bank in Russia were made over 15 years ago, but it hasn’t worked out until now,” Strashnov explained. “The launch of Pochta Bank is an opportunity to increase access to financial services for the country’s population, attract funds to the economy which circulate among the population and also to enhance competition on the financial services market.”
Pochta Bank has been established on the basis of the VTB24 subsidiary “Leto Bank” in which Russian Post acquired its nearly 50% share for RUB 5.5 billion (€62.5 million), Zadornov said at the signing ceremony. The new financial institution will be led by Dmitry Rudenko, the current President and Chairman of Leto Bank. The Supervisory Board will comprise the representatives of the Ministry of Communications, Russian Post and VTB Group.
Within three years after the launch of the project, Russian Post plans to open more than 20,000 banking counters at 15,000 post offices. This year, at least 6,500 counters are to be opened at 3,500 post offices.
The development strategy of Pochta Bank will be presented to the Supervisory Board by May 2016, Rudenko told TASS. “According to preliminary plans, we would like to see the credit portfolio of "Pochta Bank" to value RUB 346 billion (€3.9 billion) by 2023,” Rudenko said.
"VTB Group has a unique experience in the retail banking business. It took us only a few years to ensure that VTB24 ranks second in banking retail in the country and even less to make Leto Bank profitable and become the basis for a large-scale project of creating Pochta Bank. Russian Post has the largest branch network in the country and many years of experience in providing financial services. With the establishment of Pochta Bank, these services will be transformed into a modern banking format. VTB Group will be able to significantly expand its customer base and multiply of the number of sales points while Russian Post will be able to raise additional funds for modernising and developing its infrastructure," Zadornov commented.
Pochta Bank is currently looking for possibilities of interacting with Chinese online retailers, Strashnov said during the signing ceremony. “When we start working with the world's major platforms and e-commerce players, our task is, of course, to provide them with a certain range of services. There will be a possibility to pay for the purchase at a Chinese online shop. We are currently exploring such opportunities, a new model is being shaped, a new understanding of the business development concept related to e-commerce, to parcels.”
According to Strashnov, the bank will offer its customers in this field various financial services and additional services. He also stressed that "Pochta Bank" is likely to have market benefits in view of “convenient use”. “But it is certainly not a monopoly area,” he added.
