Financial Health and Inclusion
Protecting its customers’ financial health is a key topic that Garanti BBVA places emphasis on, and works to achieve constant self-development in through new ideas, projects and initiatives.
According to the World Bank Global Financial Inclusion data, 2 billion people in the world do not have access to financial services offered by financial institutions. For this reason, Garanti BBVA works towards improving access to financial services in our country. Facilitating access through all its channels in Turkey, where 43% of the adult population lacks access, Garanti BBVA ensures that its customers are informed about their financial positions, and are on top of their financials. With its segmented approach Garanti BBVA provides consultancy and guidance on financial planning and offers solutions to its customers according to their needs varying from savings to pension.
Garanti BBVA provides guidance to its customers for a more balanced budget management, and aims to have a positive impact on their lives by offering financial planning services and products that encourage savings such as ‘NET Savings Account’ and ‘Spend and Save’.
With its responsible banking approach, Garanti BBVA shares advantages and possible risks of products and services. In this context, Garanti BBVA communicates with its customers transparently in all sales & marketing activities, and provides all the information they need in a clear and easy to understand way. It offers feasible solutions and aims to build long term and sustainable relations that are built on trust.
Three exploratory researches conducted in order to shed light on studies about financial health and inclusion. The first one of these researches was intended to shape the principles and design of a new service developed to facilitate Money management and achievement of personal goals of customers. Another research was the mortgage survey aimed at identifying the emotional states customers went through during the home buying process and the financial factors they considered for making a decision. The last survey, Financial Health, was conducted to gain an insight into people’s relationship with money and how they manage their money when considering universal values.
Garanti BBVA has 18 products and services available designed to support its customers in terms of managing their financials and improve access to financial services in Turkey. Within the scope of products and services under this topic that can be broken down into different groups, Garanti BBVA;
- Enables transactions such as bill payments, Money withdrawals/deposits/transfers by/to people who do not have a bank account via branches, Paramatiks and mobile banking,
- Enables women to use their gold savings for loans and deposit accounts through depositing physical gold in terms of grams via branches and gold service point jewelers,
- Is instrumental in instilling a habit of saving up in 400 thousand customers with its NET Saving Account product, a first in the sector. Garanti BBVA also offers the Government Incentivized Marriage&Housing Accumulating Accounts to encourage Turkish citizens to save up money,
- Offers segment specific programs, products and service for customers of all ages such as Garanti BBVA'li Gelecek (Guaranteed Future), Bonus Genç (Bonus Young), and Retirement Banking Program,
- Conducts initiatives that contribute to physical and financial freedom of disabled customers and facilitate their access to service from branches and Paramatiks through Disabled- Friendly Banking. By the end of 2018, over 10 thousand employees completed the web-based Sign Language training to provide better service to disabled customers. Garanti BBVA is happy with this result, as 65% of the assigned employees completed this optional training. In 2018, Garanti BBVA served through 5,210 disabled friendly Paramatiks, which corresponds to a 36% increase on an annual basis. The accessibility of Paramatiks for visually impaired customers was enhanced, and credit card debt payments can now be done from the visually impaired menu.
Also in 2018, Garanti BBVA framed all communications according to the principles of “Transparent, Clear and Responsible Banking”, and carried out new initiatives directed towards the dissemination of these principles. Accordingly, general purpose loan, auto loan and overdraft account agreements were rewritten in a simplified and more intelligible fashion. “Product Summary Pages” were designed, which provide an outline of important information about credit card and loan products. All employees watched the training videos that are intended to help them talk about all necessary information in an understandable manner in their centralized, face-to-face contacts with customers.
With the Garanti BBVA Discount (Supplier Finance System) product updated on the basis of customer and sector demands, Garanti BBVA remains the pioneering bank of the sector. The Bank targets to touch more customers with the Garanti BBVA Discount relaunched with new functions in 2018, and offer them solutions for achieving greater efficiency in the utilization of their working capitals. The Bank continues to support customers’ cash flows through its discount products that provide financing without furnishing extra collateral, and fulfills their short-term funding needs.
The Direct Collection System contributes to customers’ performance of their commercial operations with healthy financials.