Alpha Bank began doing business in Cyprus in 1998 when it acquired Lombard Natwest Bank, which it renamed Alpha Bank Limited and then more recently Alpha Bank Cyprus Ltd. Over its 11 years there, Alpha Bank Cyprus has successfully expanded and grown to offer all financial services, making it one of the country’s largest banks which has made a significant cultural and social contribution to Cyprus.

The Bank has a state-of -the-art network of 36 Branches and specialist units covering all cities in Cyprus, and has been selectively upgrading or relocating its branches with the aim of bolstering turnover and reducing operating costs. The network of branches is also supported by efficient alternative service channels (a network of ATMs and internet banking). The ATM network has been upgraded and the Bank’s cards now come with EMV (smart chip card) certification from the VISA and Mastercard organisations. The Bank has also upgraded the ''Alpha Express Banking'' service by introducing a new platform and has extended the online period from 9 to 18 hours. Furthermore, Russian was added as the third language option for users of the website, in addition to the pre-existing Greek and English versions. The ''Alpha Express Banking'' service covers all online transactions via the ''Alpha Web Banking'', ''Alpha ATM Banking'' and ''Alpha WAP Banking'' services.

Deposits stood at Euro 3.3 billion and loans at Euro 4.4 billion, figures which place the Bank in number three position in the Cypriot market. For yet another year, housing loans performed better compared to other financing categories. The Bank has kept the quality of its loan portfolio high despite the difficult economic environment, with the percentage of loans in arrears being just 4.1% of overall financing.

A prudent strategy and coordinated effort was implemented in 2009 which focused on attracting new deposits and retaining existing ones. The key feature of this was new competitive deposit products which were launched such as time deposits with advance payment or monthly payment of interest, the special benefits and incentives deposit account ''Alpha Payroll'' and the ''Alpha Pension'', ''Alpha Young People'', ''Alpha Newly-weds'' and ''Alpha Farmers'' accounts.

Emphasis was also placed in promoting cards and introducing new card loyalty schemes such as ''Alpha Higher'', ''Alpha Gold Rewards'' and the ''5'' and ''Winday-Wednesday'' competitions, as well as extensive promotion via radio and television spots and spreads in the printed media, plus the mailing of info-letters and flyers to customers.

In addition to supporting Alpha Bank Cyprus with its bancassurance activities, Alpha Insurance also provides insurance services in Cyprus in both the life and health sectors and in the field of general insurance. Good relations with reinsurers, timely payouts of claims, well-trained staff, professional insurance brokers who work exclusively with the company, and a full range of products which are constantly being upgraded and improved, plus of course the reliability one associates with the Alpha Bank Group have allowed Alpha Bank Cyprus to stride well ahead of its competitors.

Based on an analysis of the economic environment and the challenges faced by the market, the Bank’s business priority in 2010 will continue to be to attract new deposits in the local market and via its international operations network, to restructure and selectively develop its loan portfolio based on predetermined credit criteria, to hold down operating costs, to increase productivity and to continuously improve the quality of services offered to customers. Of course, against what is an adverse economic environment, the primary concern is to effectively manage credit risk and to improve the rate of collection for loans in arrears so as to safeguard the quality of the portfolio.

For more information, please visit the site www.alphabank.com.cy