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Halkbank, established in 1938 with mission of supporting artisans and SMEs and accelerating sustainable economic development in Türkiye, has become one of the prominent, stable, pioneering, and reputable brands in rising country. For 86 years, the Bank has been leading the development of the Turkish banking sector. Halkbank develops products and services that respond to the needs of the real sector with its expertise in SME Banking.
Osman Arslan, who has been serving as the General Manager of Halkbank since 8 June 2017, is also a Member of the Board of Directors of Halkbank.
With the ladership of Mr.Arslan, In 2023, despite the inflationary economic developments worldwide, Halkbank continued to be a strong supporter of Turkish economy, achieving growth of 57.6% in total assets, 50.8% in cash loans, and 76.5% in total deposits. Halkbank created an economic value of 57,7 billion TL in 2023.
Like rest of the world, artisans, entrepreneurs, and SMEs in Türkiye are among those most affected by social and economic developments. Halkbank increased its support for SME customers by allocating 55.7% of its commercial loans to SMEs. Halkbank continues its market leadership on SME credits with a marketshare of 18,6%.
Shaping its efforts with goal of making concrete contributions to all SDGs, Halkbank continues to fulfill its responsibilities in critical areas for a sustainable future. With leadership of Mr.Arslan, considering the needs and expectations of its stakeholders, the bank has identified four strategic focus areas for 2023:
-Entrepreneurship
-Digitalization
-Creating Value for the Local Economy
-Supporting the Fight Against Climate Change
With Mr.Arslan’s leadership, Halkbank accomplished many first time innovations in Turkish banking industry on its focus areas:
To support entrepreneurship, Halkbank designed and implemented projects focusing on Youth entrepreneurship (eg. Hubrica, JetLuck), Women Entrepreneurship (eg. Women Support Packages, Producing Women Competition), Entrepreneurial Loans (a first in Türkiye) and entrepreneurship support systems.
Halkbank established the first "Women Entrepreneurship Banking" department in Türkiye, providing support not only through banking activities but also offering various assistance to promote women's participation in the workforce and support women entrepreneurs.
Emphasizing digitalization, Halkbank has updated all its services with an innovative approach. It introduced Paraf RingPay, the wearable technology as a ring-shaped credit card, for the first time in Türkiye. Additionally, Halkbank became the first Turkish bank to open a branch in Metaverse. The bank digitalized all critical internal processes with Robotic Process Automation (RPA) tools to achieve efficiency and process excellence.
Halkbank has adopted sustainability and environmental policies as part of its corporate strategy. By aligning all service units with Zero Waste regulation, Halkbank has become first Turkish bank to receive the Zero Waste Certificate at 1096 service points.
Halkbank, implementing pioneering practices in all focus areas, attaches importance to contributing to social welfare while providing support to the real sector, SMEs, and stakeholders. With this vision, the bank focuses not only on banking activities but also on social awareness campaigns and corporate social responsibility projects.
Serving customers from all socio-economic levels and educational backgrounds, Halkbank has also taken responsibility for education in country by offering free educational platforms such as the "SME Development Platform" and the "Producing Women Academy." Additionally, through its YouTube channel, the bank continues to educate public about hot topics like health, sustainability, energy etc.
Halkbank also works to minimize its environmental impact, developing environmental policies to reduce energy and natural resource consumption. The bank became the first Turkish bank to implement ISO 50001 Energy Management System. In late 2022, Halkbank introduced the first "Carbon Neutral Credit Card" in Türkiye: Paraf Doğal, which aims to offset the climate impact resulting from plastic use. Additionally, Halkbank supports businesses interested in investing in energy, environment, and climate through its Green Energy Credit Packages.
According to BrandFinance Brand Valuation Research, an independent international auditing institution, Halkbank ranked 22nd among Türkiye's most valuable brands. In 2023, it climbed five places to rank 17th.
Nomination Title: Osman Arslan - CEO
