Last checked at 23 May 2008 15:26
Press Release
The 7th Asian Banker Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards 2008
Joint Stock Company Halyk Savings Bank of Kazakhstan wins awards in Best Retail Bank in Kazakhstan and Central Asia for performance in 2007
For the second year running, Halyk Bank has won The Asian Banker Excellence in Retail Financial Services Award for Best Retail Bank in Central Asia for its performance in 2007. Halyk also picked up the country award for Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan continues to be a bright spot in the Central Asian banking sector, buoyed by the strong retail presence of Halyk Bank.
Over 150 banks and financial institutions in 23 countries across the Asia Pacific, the GCC region and Central Asia were evaluated as part of the Excellence in Retail Financial Services programme.
Almaty, 23 May 2008 - Joint Stock Company Halyk Savings Bank of Kazakhstan has won two awards at the seventh Asian Banker Excellence in Retail Financial Services Award: Best Retail Bank in Kazakhstan 2007 and Best Retail Bank in Central Asia 2007. The bank received the award at The Asian Banker Excellence in Retail Financial Services 2008 Awards ceremony, held in conjunction with the region's most prestigious retail banking event, the Excellence in Retail Financial Services Convention. The ceremony was held at the Westin Grande Sukhumvit in Bangkok on the evening of 16 May 2008.
About 150 senior bankers from award winning banks in 23 countries across the Asia Pacific, the Gulf region and Central Asia attended the glittering event, the industry's celebration of the region's best retail bankers that recognizes their efforts in bringing superior products and services to their customers.
The awards programme, administered by The Asian Banker, and refereed by prominent global bankers, consultants and academics, is the most prestigious award of its kind.
Halyk Bank has won the awards for Best Retail Bank in Kazakhstan and Central Asia for its performance in 2007.
This is the second year running that Halyk Bank has won the award for the Central Asian region.
While only the third largest bank by assets, Halyk holds a leading position in the region in terms of retail deposit base and generating strong retail banking revenue growth. Compared to other banks in the region, Halyk boasts a stable growth trend for its fee income as well as a relatively high ratio of fee income to total revenue. It also has lower than average NPL ratio and good cost control capabilities with a cost to income ratio of 34.3%.
With the most extensive branch and ATM network in Kazakhstan, Halyk plays an important role in catering to the region's under-served consumers and SMEs. After a sterling 2006 capped by an IPO on the London Stock Exchange, Halyk became one of the first Central Asian banks to put forward a considered overseas development strategy with its partnership agreement with China UnionPay on trans-border payments.
Over 150 banks and financial institutions in 23 countries across Asia Pacific, the GCC region and Central Asia were evaluated as part of the Excellence in Retail Financial Services programme.
"This year over 150 banks and financial institutions in 23 countries across the Asian region were evaluated as part of the Excellence in Retail Financial Services programme," said Mr Phillip Strause, chairman of the Excellence in Retail Financial Services programme and an International Resource Director for The Asian Banker.
The award evaluation process uses a comprehensive methodology to evaluate the strength of individual banks' retail banking businesses that involved extensive research and probing interviews, and taps the combined experience of a team of experienced researchers. The process also incorporates an AC Nielsen customer perception survey to gauge the strength and reputation of retail banks in the different countries.
Mr Strause has close to 40 years' experience working with commercial banks, investment banks, brokerage firms, insurance companies and other specialised financial institutions, further added: "The Asian Banker Excellence programme was instituted in 2001 on the premise that an outstanding player in the retail financial services industry should build business franchises that are sustainable, competitive and profitable over a period of time".
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About The Asian Banker
The Asian Banker is the region's most authoritative provider of strategic business intelligence to the financial services community. The Singapore-based company has offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Beijing and Shanghai as well as representatives in London, New York and San Francisco. It has a business model that revolves around three core business lines: publications, research services and forums. For more information, please visit www.theasianbanker.com.
About Halyk Bank
Halyk Bank is one of Kazakhstan's leading financial services groups and a leading retail bank with the largest customer base and distribution network among Kazakhstan banks. Halyk Bank is developing as a universal financial group offering a broad range of services (banking, pensions, insurance, leasing, brokerage and asset management) to its retail, small and medium enterprise and corporate customers.
As at the end of 2007 Halyk Bank's branch network consisted of 670 outlets, comprising 22 regional branches, 125 district branches, 473 limited service branches, four VIP centres and 46 personal service centres.
For further information
The Asian Banker
For more information regarding the event, please contact Peter Hoflich at phoflich@theasianbanker.com or Ananya Dutta at dananya@theasianbanker.com or by phone at +65 6236 6174.
Halyk Bank
Assel Atinova, Head, FI
asela@halykbank.kz
+7 727 259 04 30
Ainur Issabayeva, PR manager
ainuris@halykbank.kz
+7 727 259 08 16