Kazakhstan’s ForteBank experiences unparalleled growth rates, – said Mr. Bekzhan Pirmatov, Chairman of Management Board of Forte.
Previously, the bank reported on indicators for 2022, which were unprecedented for all the time of its existence. In Q1 2023, the indicators continued to grow.
The bank’s assets increased by 8.7%, the loan portfolio increased by 36.2%, the volume of customer deposits – by 5.8% compared to the indicators as of March 31, 2022.
“We have fulfilled the Bank’s 2020-2024 development strategy ahead of schedule for many of the goals set. Taking into account the changed market situation, the bank’s development strategy needs to be updated. In this regard, the main goal of the new strategy is to enter the top three banks in the country in terms of assets, excluding state-owned second-tier banks,” – said Mr. Bekzhan Pirmatov.
The Chairman of the Management Board outlined a number of priority areas in the work on updating the bank’s strategy:
- strengthening positions in all customer segments, including retail, SME, corporate business, Premier (personal banking);
- intensification of the digitalization of products and services for the retail segment, development of an open ecosystem which will represent both bank’s own services and partner services;
- expanding the functionality and convenience of online banking for SMEs and corporate segment: the ForteBusiness App is already one of the market leaders, but the bank plans to cover a wider range of services that will combine financial products with non-financial services;
- improving customer experience and building quality service around the customer;
- effective compliance risk management – due to the increased supervision by the regulator and the continuing risks of secondary sanctions, this issue is also strategically important for the bank.
Forte plans to pay special attention to sustainable development, as well as environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) in its new strategy.
“In 2023, the Bank has already developed an ESG strategy and approved the Sustainable Development Goals. In the near future, the bank plans to obtain an ESG rating (an independent assessment of the company showing the quality of management of environmental and social issues),” – said Mr. Bekzhan Pirmatov.
