Turkey’s Alternatif Bank, 100% owned by Qatar’s Commercial Bank will maintain its customer-centric focus, invest further on IT and open three more branches in Izmir , Ankara and Istanbul in 2019, said CEO Kaan Gür

Turkey’s Alternatif Bank, 100% owned by Qatar’s Commercial Bank will maintain its customer-centric focus, invest further on IT and open three more branches in Izmir , Ankara and Istanbul in 2019, said CEO Kaan Gür.

“We will continue to provide our customers in the corporate, commercial and retail banking segments with high value products, services and solutions. We desire to deepen our relationship with customers and further penetrate the market,” Gür said in an interview with Gulf Times in Istanbul recently.

Currently, Alternatif Bank has a network of some 50 branches widely distributed across Turkey. This will go up to 53 by 2019-end with the opening of new branches in “industrial zones” near Izmir, Ankara and Istanbul, Gür said.

“Investing in IT is a must”, pointed out Gür, who also stressed on the need to provide “excellent quality banking services to our customers.”

“We are now focusing on digitialisation of the existing procedures, and of course, much more on the mobile banking side. It is going to be another value addition to our existing customer relationship,” Gür said.

On Alternatif Bank’s new head office at Vadistanbul in Istanbul, which the bank owns, Gür said, “Our new head office in Vadistanbul is a prestigious complex with extensive recreational and social areas that is larger than our previous head office building and operations technology centre combined.

“At the heart of all efforts carried out by our bank lies an appreciation for people and our people-oriented approach based on the happiness of our employees. We have designed our new building to be more comfortable and modern, based on an innovative architectural approach and open-office concept in accordance with the needs and expectations of our employees.”

Alternatif Bank’s brand-new head office will bring together all of Alternatif Bank’s 650 employees under one roof.

The state-of-the-art office spans 12 floors and over 15,000 square meters of space. Among its modern facilities are open plan co-working spaces, spacious meeting rooms and private pods. It enjoys plenty of light and a contemporary décor.

Earlier, speaking at the new head office opening ceremony Gür said, “This is the start of the new era for our bank. We believe that along with all of our employees under one roof, we will act more quickly and agilely, and take our synergy to a higher level for our prospective achievements.

“Today, we continue our operations in line with our excellent service approach thanks to our TRY30bn consolidated total assets, 50 advisory branches and jobs we offer to about 1,000 employees.”

“With our expert teams, prudent business culture and advisory bank identity, it is our top priority to contribute to Turkey’s sustainable growth and offer our customers an exclusive banking experience in line with the corporate governance principles, one of the cornerstones of our strategy,” Gür said.

He said, “After we joined forces with our shareholder, Commercial Bank, we also underwent a brand transformation, which represents the very pinnacle of synergy between the two organisations. In line with our renewed strategy and strong performance, we successfully completed the first three quarters of 2018 by taking firm steps to strengthen our role as an advisory bank. Our transformation is still in progress, a reflection of our synergy with Commercial bank and a symbol of our strategic priorities.”

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