Akbank was named “World’s Best Digital Bank” by Euromoney in 2019 “Awards for Excellence.” Akbank also received the “Best Bank of Turkey” award for the 13th time. In addition, Euromoney has named Akbank among the 50 leading banks in the world.
Commenting on the awards, which are also known as the ‘Oscars of the financial world’, Akbank’s CEO Hakan Binbaşgil said: “We are pleased to receive these awards not only on behalf of Akbank, but also our country and our banking sector. The fact that “World’s Best Digital Bank” title was received by an emerging market bank for the first time is highly significant, and we are hugely proud of this achievement. In Turkey, the banking sector is at a better level than many developed countries in terms of digitalization and the use of technology. It is very encouraging for us to see that our bank’s visionary initiatives and digital strategy are recognized by international institutions.”
“Technological advancements and particularly the digitalization trend are changing consumer behavior faster than ever. As Akbank, we have never made any compromises in our long-term innovation-driven mindset. We continue our efforts to bring new approaches to our sector, to further improve our service quality with the help of new technologies, and to make investments in these fields. We believe in the future of Turkey. In 2018, we invested USD 200 million in technology and innovation. Our investments continue in the same direction in 2019 as well. Our ‘Akbank Data and Life Center’ is going to be operational this year. This center will play a very important role in shaping the future of banking in Turkey.”
“Our vision for the future of banking is a holistic and integrated one, far beyond focusing on mobile channels only. It is an approach that covers all channels across all segments and aims to create the perfect customer experience at each point we interact with our customers. As a part of the “Next Generation Akbank Branch Model” we have so far completed the transformation of around 300 branches all over Turkey. Our new human-focused and technology-driven “phygital” branch model is both physical and digital. We are offering our customers the banking of the future today. We also respond to the needs of our customers in a more effective and efficient way through our smart service platform called ‘FIZ - Financial Intelligence.’ FIZ enables us to provide the right customers with the right products at the right time through the right channels thanks to the advanced analytical methods where we use machine learning models.”
Emphasizing that Akbank has put in place a pioneering project focusing on the integration of young people into financial life, Hakan Binbaşgil added: “We care deeply about integrating the next generation into the financial system as they are the future of our country. We are taking a number of steps in order to ensure that they perform their daily banking transactions in a fun and social way. The most recent example of this is the ‘Tosla’ application developed by our subsidiary Aköde, which is the first fintech founded by a bank as its subsidiary in Turkey. With Tosla, we are providing an enjoyable and social platform enabling young people to perform their daily financial transactions without having to be a customer of Akbank or any other bank.”
Hakan Binbaşgil concluded: “Our investments in digitalization has made very positive contributions to both customer satisfaction and our financial results. I would like to thank Akbank employees for their hard work and innovative spirit, as well as our customers, investors and partners.”
Burcu Civelek Yüce, Executive Vice President at Akbank in charge of Strategy, Digital Banking and Payment Systems, also commented: “With our investments in new technologies, we have successfully transformed Akbank from a traditional bank to a technology-driven and innovative bank while sustaining our heritage of great service and products. Our ‘Mobile First’ strategy, helped us become a global leader in this area: 94 percent of all banking transactions are being performed through non-branch channels at Akbank, 2 out of every 3 general purpose loan is sold through digital and out-of-branch channels, as well as 51 percent of new credit card sales. Our customers access our mobile application 30 times per month on average.”
“At the end of 2017, we established our innovation center ‘Akbank LAB’, creating an innovation structure using the best practices in the world. Alongside our innovative projects, we are also taking steps aiming to ensure that innovation is adopted and accepted as a part of the culture at Akbank. Akbank LAB supports entrepreneurship in two ways. Our first goal is to encourage all Akbank employees towards innovative and entrepreneurial thinking. Our second goal is to work closely with external stakeholders, including financial technology companies, to further strengthen our innovation network.”