The active transition of Otkritie clients to VTB services began in May 2024
One of the key events for the Russian banking system in 2024 is the completion of one of the largest integrations of top ten banks in history. In 2022, VTB, being the second largest bank in Russia, acquired Otkritie Bank, which was then in eighth place in terms of assets. The duration of the process of merging financial institutions is associated with both a long preparatory period and a gradual transfer of Otkritie clients to VTB. Lenta.ru reports on the main benefits that clients receive from the merger of the banks and what special offers VTB is preparing for them.
At the end of December 2022, the Board of Directors of the Bank of Russia decided to sell 100 percent of the shares of Otkritie Bank to VTB for 340 billion rubles. Thus, the second-largest Russian bank acquired the financial institution with a similar business structure, which was ranked eighth.
Today we are witnessing a unique process for the Russian banking system, since there have never been mergers of the scale of VTB and Otkritie. VTB is the second largest bank in Russia, Otkritie has millions of active clients, which is comparable to the population of a small country. We are taking the best practices of VTB and Otkritie. Clients should feel that it is more profitable together
VTB also stated that they are working on making this transition seamless and are interested in creating a comfortable and clear customer journey.
Road to VTB
The news about the start of the main stage of integration of the banks’ businesses was positively assessed by industry analysts, who predicted the strengthening of all the main areas of VTB’s activity, including its corporate, investment and retail segments, as well as the SME and Private Banking areas.
“VTB is the second largest bank in the country after Sber. Integration with Otkritie will allow it to significantly strengthen its market position. In addition, the merger of the two banks will lead to a reduction in costs and an increase in the overall efficiency of the business. In general, VTB is a comfortable bank in terms of service quality, the integration process with Otkritie will last until 2025, so there should be no inconvenience for clients,” comments Lyudmila Rokotyanskaya, an expert on the stock market at BCS World of Investments.
VTB did indeed emphasize that the merger process would not be quick due to its scale and the need to analyze the best products, services, and practices of both credit institutions. Therefore, the active transition of Otkritie clients to VTB services began at the end of May 2024.
I don’t see any difficulties for Otkritie clients related to the merger of the banks. I think that they will ultimately mostly switch to VTB, especially since the latter is offering improved conditions for financial products to stimulate the process.
All Otkritie clients received offers to transfer to VTB, including debit card holders, depositors, mortgage borrowers, clients with car loans and others. What should Otkritie clients pay attention to and how not to miss the benefit of the moment?
Looking for benefits
The key fact for Otkritie clients is that the conditions for existing products and services do not change when the banks integrate: all services remain available in full.
Otkritie clients will also have access to special conditions for a number of products
Credit card holders will receive increased cashback with a new grace period of up to 200 days on transferred debt, while debit card customers will receive cashback of up to 25 percent in selected categories and surcharges for purchases. Also, customers who have not yet switched to VTB will be offered to open a new deposit or savings account on more favorable terms.
An additional argument when choosing a bank may also be the fact that VTB is actively developing cross-border transfers and advanced digital solutions, in particular biometric technologies and remote service services.
The bank plans to significantly expand its branch network: in its three-year development strategy, VTB announced its expansion by 40 percent, including by entering cities with a population of 50 thousand people.
Focus on product line
In 2024, VTB will launch a payment application. “We have plans to create our own payment application “VTB Pay”, this service has already been partially launched in 2024 and will be available to all clients,” said Yuri Andresov.
“VTB Pay” will operate on the principle of a bank in your pocket: to pay for online and offline purchases, it will be enough to have a smartphone at hand. In addition, VTB confirms its interest in digital identification and wants to take part in a pilot project for payment using biometrics, which in the future will improve the quality of service for customers.
At the same time, VTB is focusing on the development of the “Family Bank”, providing comprehensive services to clients and their loved ones.
If a client receives benefits on a VTB card, the bank provides the opportunity to connect a free program, under which all children of the recipient of payments under the age of 18 are insured against oncological and cardiac diseases. The insurance includes donor search, bone marrow transplantation, search and payment for medications.
The program has no analogues on the market: congenital diseases are also covered by insurance. More than 100 thousand children across the country have already been insured. Otkritie clients who have completed the transition to VTB may also be interested in this product.
Recipe for a seamless transition
“Users are unlikely to feel any inconvenience from the merger of the two banks. I can only allow for some short-term inconsistencies. Most likely, most Otkritie offices will continue to operate as VTB offices,” notes Banki.ru analyst Vadim Tikhonov. If we talk about the seamless transition of Otkritie clients to VTB, then, according to the expert, the bank has experience in merging banking structures and transferring clients to its balance sheet.
In 2021, Vozrozhdenie Bank was merged with BM-Bank as part of the VTB Group integration procedures, and Zapsibkombank in 2022. More than 10 years ago, Transcreditbank, which was large at that time, was merged. In 2016, the main part of Bank of Moscow’s business and more than 10 million of its clients were transferred to VTB, and at the beginning of 2018, the retail subsidiary, VTB 24, was merged
It was also recently announced that in 2025, the largest bank in Crimea, RNKB, will be merged with VTB.
Let us recall that Deputy President and Chairman of the Management Board of VTB Georgy Gorshkov, commenting on the merger of the banks, reported that VTB intends to double the potential coverage of its financial products and services by the end of 2026 and bring it to 100 million people.
The number of active clients is planned to increase from 20 to 35 million people. These goals will be achieved, among other things, through unique offers for Otkritie clients ready to switch to VTB.
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