Tetik, Credit Europe: We cannot remain just "the credit card bank". We are pursuing Internet and mobile banking

14 apr 2011 Autor: Liviu Chiru

The bank will move towards smartphones and Internet - this is the future bet of Omer Tetik, appointed at the helm of Credit Europe Bank, a medium-sized player controlled by Turkish billionaire Husnu Ozyvegin, last autumn.

Credit Europe, formerly Finansbank, is most often associated with its credit card with interest-free instalments and a bonus for use - CardAvantaj, launched as far back as the early 2000s, which made the bank leader on this segment, although in terms of overall assets it is not a top player.

After seeing fast growth in the boom years, and exceeding the one billion-euro mark by assets, the Turks have been among the first to resort to cuts when the crisis came, cutting around a third of its employees and branches. Having a flexible organisational structure, the Turks are now seeking a new niche.

"CardAvantaj remains an important product, but it needs to be developed. We don't want to remain just 'the credit card bank", we want to develop our business on the Internet and on phone banking," Tetik, 37, told ZF in an interview. The Turkish bank has in the past few years kept its position as leader of the bank cards market, with a portfolio of 325,000 cards. Over the past few years the card portfolio has stagnated, but for this year the target is 360,000 units.