Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 28
By Azad Hasanli – Trend:
TBC Kredit, a non-bank credit organization in Azerbaijan, plans to offer clients the online personal cabinet service, the organization's director Nukri Tetrashvili told Trend.
According to him, TBC Kredit has been actively working on implementation of digital services since 2016.
“In early 2017, new amendments to tax legislation came into force, and new laws, specifying that loans can be issued in cashless form only, were adopted. That was no surprise for us, as we had the necessary infrastructure and have closed all the pay desks since Jan. 1, 2017,” Tetrashvili said.
Today, TBC Kredit makes it possible to repay loans online or via payment terminals, he added.
“At the same time, TBC Bank, our parent company in Georgia, has a large experience in the internet banking. Third year in a row TBC Bank’s mobile application and internet banking service are acknowledged as the best in the region. These tools allow getting all services offered by branch offices of the bank. We wanted to implement something similar in Azerbaijan but local legislation, unfortunately, doesn’t allow to fully realize such services. There are certain limitations. For example, any loan agreement must be physically signed in a branch office of the financial organization. In other words, even if we issue a loan online, a client has to sign a loan agreement in our office,” Tetrashvili said.
According to him, the Strategic Roadmap for Development of Financial Services in Azerbaijan specifies adoption of corresponding amendments until 2020, whereupon banks and non-bank credit organizations will be able to register loan agreements online.
“We have been working on creation of the online personal cabinet service for our customers since 3Q17. It will provide any service available in our branch offices. The only exception will be the loan agreements, because, as I have already mentioned, they have to be signed in our offices. But if the amendments are adopted, we will already have the necessary infrastructure for signing of the agreements online,” Tetrashvili noted.
Thanks to the development of digital services, TBC Kredit doesn’t have any need in a big number of branch offices.
“We had seven offices, and then we decided to decrease their number to four. But thanks to the digital services, downsizing the office network almost hasn’t affected our operations,” Tetrashvili said, adding that TBC Kredit doesn’t refuse to open new branch offices and may increase their number in the future.
TBC Kredit has been operating in Azerbaijan since 1999. Starting from 2007, 75 percent of its stock belongs to the Georgian TBC Bank, and 25 percent belongs to Enclude Holding, USA (former ShoreBank International, USA).
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @AzadHasanli