Esteemed Stakeholders,
2021 was a year in which
normalization steps to eliminate
the negative effects of the Covid-19
pandemic on the economy and social
life started to be taken after the world
had gained experience in combatting
the pandemic. Following the rollout
of mass vaccination programs and
the gradual lifting of restrictions, the
manufacturing and service sectors in
particular bounced back. According to
IMF projections, the global economy
is expected to grow by 5,9% in 2021,
after contracting by 3,1% in 2020. This
projected growth did not occur equally
across the world. Due to widely varying
capacities in fighting the pandemic and
the divergence in access to vaccines,
inequality increased both among
and within countries. The future of
economic growth still poses downside
risks such as potential restrictions due
to new variants of the coronavirus,
ongoing supply shortages, and rising
energy prices.
Supportive fiscal and monetary
policies implemented by governments
around the globe in 2021 accelerated
normalization in many of the world’s
economies and had a positive
impact on demand. However, these
expansionary policies coupled with
a supply-demand imbalance caused
by issues in the supply chain caused
a rapid increase in inflation in many
countries. As the problematic issues
in the supply chain persisted, theuptrend in commodity and energy
prices increased upward pressure
on prices. The effect of price rises
revealed the threat of significantly
higher inflation in both developing and
developed countries. In particular, the
central banks of advanced economies
believed that the reasons for the rapid
uptick in inflation throughout the year
were temporary factors and caused
by the Covid-19 pandemic. By year’s
end however, many central banks had
accepted that the higher inflation
environment will be more enduring
than expected. While some central
banks began to tighten their monetary
policies through interest rate hikes in
the face of inflationary pressures, the
Fed signaled that it would withdraw
its monetary support much faster than
initially expected in 2022.
Meanwhile, the Turkish economy
demonstrated a strong performance
in terms of growth, current account
deficit, and the national budget balance
throughout 2021. Domestic demand
maintained its buoyancy driven by
the monetary expansion that occurred
the previous year. Ongoing support to
the domestic economy and recovery
in the global economy, especially in
the European Union, also positively
affected foreign demand. This
environment significantly contributed
to Turkey’s economic growth. Strong
domestic demand, as well as higher
tax revenue and the boost from tax
restructuring had a positive impact
on the national budget. In 2021, the current account deficit improved by
USD 20,7 billion compared to the
previous year and amounted to USD
14,9 billion. The current account
deficit/GDP ratio was 1,9%. Turkey’s
budget deficit/GDP ratio came in
at 2,9%, below the Medium-Term
Program Target of 3,5%. The Turkish
economy is projected to register more
than 10% growth in 2021. The negative
impact of supply constraints due to
the Covid-19 pandemic increased
inflation throughout the year. Due
to robust domestic demand, public
price/tax adjustments, an interest
rate cut of 500 basis points under the
New Economic Model announced by
the government and the increasing
volatility of the Turkish lira, the
inflation rate accelerated further and
rose to 36,08% by the end of the year.
Thanks to new practices and measures
taken by the Ministry of Treasury
and Finance and the Central Bank
of the Republic of Turkey to prevent
dollarization and further depreciation
of the TL, a portion of the depreciation
in TL was quickly recovered. The
real sector also supported the new
practices. The Treasury & Finance
Ministry’s new practices are expected
to prevent volatility by balancing the
demand toward foreign currencies.
Their effects on the national budget
balance will also be monitored closely.
Steps and measures planned to reduce
inflation will be of great importance in
2022.
Investing in the technologies of
the future as part of its digital
transformation journey and striving
to make its employees and customers
happy, Fibabanka continued to make
a difference in the sector in 2021.
Recording the benefits of this strategy
on its balance sheet, Fibabanka
expanded its customer base to 3,5
million in 2021. As of year’s end,
Fibabanka reported net profit of TL
410 million and total assets of TL 45,2
billion. Fibabanka posted a return on
equity of 19,6% and a capital adequacy
ratio of 23,5%.
Recording successful results driven
by the long-standing history of Fiba
Group, Fibabanka is committed to
continuously improving its service
quality. Fibabanka is taking major steps
forward in the banking sector in line
with its vision of becoming the “Most
Loved Bank of Turkey.”
Taking this opportunity, we would
like to thank our devoted employees,
our business partners, our esteemed
customers and all our stakeholders for
their unwavering support.
Kind regards,
HÜSNÜ M. ÖZYEĞİN
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Esteemed Stakeholders,
Fibabanka has exited another
successful year despite the negative
effects of the pandemic. In 2021, once
again our top priority was the well-being of our employees and customers.
We operated without interruption by
bringing our fast and easy banking
services to our customers.
As in many sectors of the economy,
the pandemic accelerated digitalization
in the banking industry. Banks
that are open to change, flexible,
and have a solid operational and
information infrastructure adapted
to this environment more quickly.
Digitalization also speeded the
development of some areas, such as
remote working and even boosted
certain enterprises in this regard. As
the importance of the logistics and
e-commerce sectors grew in this
new landscape, efforts related to
digitalization and financing of supply
chain systems were speeded up. To
ensure healthy cash flow, solutions
for fast access to finance and fintech
investments for collection channels
proliferated during the pandemic.
In line with these market conditions,
Fibabanka grew rapidly by expanding
its customer base as part of its
ecosystem and platform banking
activities. Thanks to the synergy provided by the business partnerships
established with Turkey’s leading
brands, Fibabanka reached 3,5 million
customers in 2021. While our retail
loans increased by 135% to TL 6,2
billion, our customer numbers in digital
channels rose by 129% to 1 million.
By boosting the number of our brand
partnerships, we will stand beside our
customers whenever and wherever
they need us and make their lives
easier.
We are proud to develop and introduce
difference-making solutions for our
customers and solution partners
thanks to our digital transformation
investments. With the positive impact
of this approach on our financial
performance, Fibabanka reported
total assets of TL 45,2 billion and
net profit of TL 410 million in 2021.
Thanks to brand partnerships and
digital investments we developed as
part of our ecosystem banking efforts,
Fibabanka’s total loan portfolio grew to
TL 22 billion. Loans accounted for 49%
of total assets. In the same period, our
customer deposit volume reached TL
25 billion, making up a 55% share of
total liabilities.
Backed by the sound capital structure
of its main shareholder, Fiba Holding,
Fibabanka recorded a capital adequacy
ratio of 23,5% and a return on equity of
19,6% as of end-2021.
Our Digital Transformation Journey
Continues
In 2021, Fibabanka once again provided
its customers with innovative solutions
thanks to further investments in its
advanced technology infrastructure.
During the year, we launched many
important products and services on our
Fibabanka Mobile and Internet Banking
channels. Thanks to our focused efforts,
we expanded our digital customer base
by 2,5 times. Our more than 1 million
digital customers had the opportunity
to perform many transactions
easily via our Fibabanka Mobile and
Internet Banking channels. Fibabanka
customers were also able to carry out
many investment transactions on our
digital channels. These included 24/5
FX and precious metal transactions via
FibaFX, opening Kiraz Accounts with
advantageous interest rates, trading
shares via FibaBorsa, and 24/7 direct
TL transfers to contracted crypto
money platforms via FibaKripto.
With the introduction of new
regulations during the year, Fibabanka
launched its Video Banking service
– an end-to-end digital customer
onboarding process for potential
customers. This new service facilitates
prospective customers to join
Fibabanka simply by having a chipenabled T.R. ID card and a mobile phone
with the NFC feature.
At Fibabanka, we provide tailor-made
digital solutions to meet customers’
financial needs thanks to our advanced
technology investments. During the
present remote communication era,
we are investing in big data technology
and data science infrastructure. Our
objective is to deliver the best user
experience to Fibabanka customers for
all their financial needs.
Fibabanka - the Leader in Service
Banking
With the Regulation on the Operation
Principles of Digital Banks and
Service Model Banking issued at the
end of 2021, the Turkish banking and
finance world entered a new era. With
this major development, financial
innovation is poised to be promoted
much more in the banking sector.
Fibabanka focuses on understanding
its customers and providing them with
solutions by blending digital banking
and conventional banking. We are
committed to this approach using
decision mechanisms based on data
rather than predictions. Fibabanka aims
to deliver a unique banking experience
by combining its banking services
with its strong digital infrastructure.
In effect, we are digitizing the banking
needs of our customers. As the bank
that best implements ecosystem
banking, we built our core strategy
around Ecosystem and Platform
Banking. As a role model in the
sector, we offer shopping loans as an
offline and online payment option,
providing an alternative to credit cards.
Launching financial services at the
right time with a robust infrastructure
significantly boosted our sales and
customer brand satisfaction.
With our banking talent, well-qualified
human resources and financial
technologies, Fibabanka plans to
provide its Service Banking solution to
all its customers once again in 2022.
Entrepreneurship is a Strategic
Priority
Fibabanka set off on its digital
transformation journey with a strategic
focus on entrepreneurship. Our goal is
to become a bank that operates with
the spirit of a technology company.
As a result, we address various
business disciplines with a holistic
approach. In 2021, Fibabanka assumed
a dual role: We both cooperated
with and invested in startups this
year. All our shareholders, especially
our main partner Fiba Holding, and
our senior management share this
entrepreneurial spirit. This fact greatly
contributed to our success in this dual
role
At Fibabanka, it was very important
for us to support the entrepreneurial
ecosystem and create value with
our employees in this arena. We
were delighted to be a part of
Fiba Fikir Fabrikası, an in-house
entrepreneurship program held by Fiba
Holding in 2021.
In addition to entrepreneurship
programs, Fibabanka leads the finance
sector in digital transformation.
In 2021, we introduced innovative
products and services from 10 different
R&D projects that originated in our
R&D Center. Starting its operations in
2018 and employing over 200 qualified
professionals today, Fibabanka R&D
Center is certified by the Ministry of
Industry and Technology.
Finberg’s Transformational Year
Our corporate venture capital firm
Finberg is a 100% subsidiary of our
Bank. Today, Finberg is one of the
leading venture capital companies in
Turkey. Unlike a traditional investment
capital company, Finberg’s investment
strategy is to invest in ventures that
will create synergy and contribute to
all companies of Fiba Group, especially
Fibabanka. Investing in these areas
was among the most important goals
in 2021. Focusing on fintech and
retail tech, Finberg has recorded 14
investments since its founding. Today,
Finberg has a total fund size of USD
130 million. With the investments
made through Finberg, Fibabanka
aims to grow further by leveraging
major collaborations and developing
alternative financial solutions in the
coming year
At Fibabanka, we aim to establish
long-term and sustainable customer
relations. We develop our product
and service offering in this regard,
while ensuring excellent customer
satisfaction with our innovative
approach and digital infrastructure
investments.
I would like to extend my gratitude to
all my colleagues at Fibabanka, who
worked with great dedication during
this challenging year. In addition, I give
my deepest thanks to our shareholders
and all our stakeholders for their
ongoing support.
Kind regards,
ÖMER MERT
General Manager and
Board Member
