Each national banking market has its own specific. At the same time, there are rules and principles to which all successful financial organizations are committed, namely customer centricity, social responsibility and, of course, honesty in relationships with partners. Chairman of the Supervisory Board of OJS CB Hamkorbank Ikram IBRAGIMOV has told in NBJ interview about how an adherence to these principles affects the performance of Hamkorbank, as well as about its plans.

NBJ: Ikram Ibragimovich, please, tell us few words about history of Hamkorbank. What is the current financial and credit institution?

I. IBRAGIMOV: Hamkorbank started its banking activity on September 1, 1991. Currently, it is a universal financial and credit institution providing a full range of banking services to individuals and legal entities. Over 22 years since its establishment, Hamkorbank has strengthened its position in the financial service market, for example, it ranked seventh out of the 27 banks of Uzbeki¬stan in the absolute value of earnings in the past year 2013, and entered the top ten in the level of return on assets and capital.
In the customers' deposits the bank rose from the 11th to the 9th place. All this, of course, was a result of our well-coordinated team work and the profes¬sionalism of the credit institution manag¬ers. We are managing to provide a high quality of customer services, build friend¬ly and mutually beneficial relations with them, which has the most positive effect on the performance of the bank.

NBJ: As far as we know, Hamkorbank pays great attention to the introduction of innovative technologies. This is evident from the fact that it became a winner in the nomination of "The best bank striving for the support of modern information technologies and innovative ideas". Why do you place your stake exactly on IT development?

I. IBRAGIMOV: We have always strived not only to keep pace with the times but also to forestall trends occurring in the global banking market. The modern financial organization, to which Hamkorbank refers, cannot be imagined as some office, where business records are kept in the old fashion and the customers have to queue to purchase one or another bank product.
Over the years, a branch office has really played a role of the main access point to the banking services; the rapid development of information technolo¬gies has made adjustments. In the next four or five years we will see a hierarchy such as Smartphone, Internet Banking, call-centre, branch office. The new type of remote customer service is a mobile banking, which is already actively used by our customers, giving them opportuni¬ties to be served wherever mobile network is available. The mobile banking menu includes statements of account activ¬ity, performance of all types of payments, credit institution news, feedback, location of branches and mini-banks on the elec¬tronic map.

NBJ: Nevertheless, the bank retains a quite widespread branch network.

I. IBRAGIMOV: Yes, it does. Today, 28 branches, 150 mini-banks, 18 special¬ized centres, 2 representative offices and 9 subsidiaries are available to our part¬ners and customers. We rank 8th place out of the credit institutions of Uzbeki¬stan in the number of POS.

NBJ: And chances are that you are going to rise to higher level in this rating, aren't you?

I. IBRAGIMOV: No, we do not set a goal to overcome these issues gradu¬ally, expanding our branch network. A qualitative aspect is of fundamen¬tal importance for us in this issue, rather than quantitative one: we con¬stantly optimize our presence, closing unprofitable points and opening new ones of the updated format instead of the previous.

NBJ: Hamkorbank actively works with strategic partners - international finan¬cial institutions (IFIs). Could you tell us more about this collaboration? What it is, and what institutions does the bank have a partnership with?

I. IBRAGIMOV: Cooperation with inter¬national financial institutions is one of the priorities in the development of the bank, as make it possible for our credit organization to make a significant contribution to the development and strength¬ening of the national economy. Our national industry is fast-growing: during the years of independence of Uzbekistan the situation has greatly improved in key sectors such as mechanical engineer¬ing, oil and gas sector, electricity supply industry, non-ferrous metal industry, chemicals and metal working industry, namely, in those industries that define the scientific and technological pro¬gress. Only in the last few years the large industrial enterprises such as Tashkent and Syrdarya SDPP, Asaka and Samar¬kand Automobile plants, Bukhara oil refinery, Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex, etc. were built in our country.
Of course, there are plans to move further in this direction, but this requires a continuous inflow of invest¬ments, both domestic and foreign. The partnership of Hamkorbank with influ¬ential and respected institutions such as the International Bank for Recon¬struction and Development (World Bank Group), the International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group), the International Development Associa¬tion (World Bank Group) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) provides the inflow of foreign investments to our country. I would like to mention our other partners from the IFIs - German Development Bank (KfW), Develop¬ment Bank of the Netherlands (FMO), the Islamic Corporation for the Devel¬opment of the Private Sector, etc.
I shall provide proofs citing some figures. Only during 2013, a number of agreements were concluded in the field of international banking development with international financial institutions and foreign funds, which almost doubled the total balance of funds borrowed from international financial institutions com¬pared to 2012. And the IFIs' share in the bank assets reached 9%.
One of the most successful results of our long-term cooperation with IFIs was the conclusion of the agreement with the International Finance Corporation at the end of last year, under which Ham¬korbank received a line of credit for 15 million dollars to improve access to the financing of micro and small enterprises in Uzbekistan. It should be noted that this loan was comparable to the entire volume of credit granted by IFC for more than 10 years of our cooperation. This clearly shows that IFIs are satisfied with the progress of their partnership with Hamkorbank.

NBJ: At the same time, foreign partners traditionally take an increased interest in aspects such as transparency of the bank operations, the stability of its financial performance, etc. It could be said that they are quite picky in such issues. Have you ever faced this when collaborating with them?

I. IBRAGIMOV: Sure, we have, however we see no reprehensibility about their picki-ness. It is quite natural when international financial institutions want to jeopardize neither their reputation, nor assets under their control. However, in the instant case they have nothing to fear, because Ham-korbank has adhered to the principles of disclosure and transparency of financial information, meeting its obligations to its customers promptly and fully, since its establishment. The auditing companies PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young carry out annual audits of the bank. We were among the first in Uzbekistan who started cooperation with Moody's Investor Service - the international rat¬ing agency, which has the unquestioned authority among investors.

NBJ: In 2013, Hamkorbank launched one of the most grandiose projects in its history such as rebranding. As it is known from the experience of Russian financial institutions, it's a quite costly affair, and the results of rebrand-ing campaigns are not always satisfactory given that it often comes down to the banal replacement of signage. How do you approach rebranding and what goals do you establish?

I. IBRAGIMOV: Our main goal is to demonstrate to the customers that it is not about changing the logo or corporate colours, but the more important factor such as improving the quality of service and level of comfort. You are right in saying that the change of signs is rather its profanation than rebranding. To avoid this risk, we implement a new format of sales points - a format based on advanced solutions of customer services. In this case, all the highlights are taken into account. Customer service areas are organized according to the principle of "open space", and all the physical bar¬riers between the client and the bank employee are excluded. There are sepa¬rate areas for each of sale and service processes. The specialization process has taken it a step further by dividing customers into segments. Each segment has its own specialized subdivisions and zones, various servicing procedures, as well as special employees such as segment-oriented client managers.
In general, the client flow has been optimized. This happens due to a multi¬level navigation system and the queue management system installed. Today, however, a customer can shift for oneself in the communication with bank. For this purpose, we need to create the appropri¬ate conditions: to organize a 24-hour self-service zone, self-service terminals and workstations with access to the bank's website to obtain the necessary informa¬tion about the services, as well as to con¬duct transactions via Internet Banking.

NBJ: So, you mean first internal changes and then - visual one (changing a logo, corporate colours, etc.), don't you?

I. IBRAGIMOV: Yes, we consider visual changes a nice complement to what I previously mentioned. Our key task is to ensure that our customers feel com¬fortable in our sales points irrespective of their needs and opportunities. The bank management understands that the customer centricity is currently the main competitive advantage of a financial and credit institution: if people are not satis¬fied with the quality of bank servicing, than even the most advantageous price conditions will not be able to retain them. They will soon change to another credit institution for servicing that may offer them higher prices for their services, showing at the same time a greater cus¬tomer centricity.

NBJ: The last question I would like to ask you as a part of our conversation is what plans you have for the current 2014? Does Hamkorbank, perhaps, plan to develop new areas of business?

I. IBRAGIMOV: As I noted at the begin¬ning of the interview, Hamkorbank is a universal financial and credit institution offering the widest range of services to both individuals and legal entities. It is essential for us to satisfy any new needs of our customers, flexibility has always distinguished our product policy.
As for the plans for 2014, we shall continue to strengthen our cooperation with international financial institutions: as you can see, this partnership is crucial in terms of the development of both the bank and the economy of Uzbekistan. In addition, of course, we shall continue to improve the quality of our customer experience.
I would like to round off our conver¬sation with statement of fact that Ham-korbank, which name can be interpreted as a "partner-bank", is ready to cooperate today on egalitarian basis for the common prosperity.