The Bank’s presence in Serbia dates back to 2002. However, 2005 was a turning point for our operations in Serbia since it saw the acquisition of the seventh largest Serbian bank, Jubanka, which was renamed Alpha Bank Beograd and then Alpha Bank Srbija.
The Bank’s network now comprises a total of 156 Branches.
The contribution made by the new branches to the development in Alpha Bank Srbija’s operations and profits is expected to be significant in the years to come. This will be contributed to by the extensive programme of refurbishment/renovation and relocation of older branches and central services which was completed in 2009. The equally extensive network of 177 ATMs has also assisted the task of the branches in serving customers and promoting bank products.
Despite the unfavourable financial environment, Alpha Bank Srbija managed to continue to improve its fundamentals, achieving a rate of growth higher than that for the market overall. Its loans balance as at 31.12.2008 was up 12% compared to a figure of 8.5% for the market overall. In the Serbian loans market, Alpha Bank Srbija now holds a 6.9% market share, which is 0.2% higher than the figure for 2008. It is worth noting too that these figures improved without any negative impact on the excellent quality of its loan portfolio which is managed in line with the Bank’s uniform risk management policy. Proof of this fact is that Alpha Bank Srbija successfully passed the Serbian Central Bank’s stress tests conducted under the guidance of the International Monetary Fund.
Alpha Bank’s performance in the loans sector is matched by its performance in the deposits sector where the year-on-year rise was in the order of 23% compared to an increase of 15.2% for the market overall.
In 2009 Alpha Bank Srbija made organisational and operational changes. Systems were installed which improved operations and procedures, such as those for the execution of domestic transactions, payroll credit, handling of online interbank orders, etc. In-house restructuring and the new IT system also bolstered efficiency while at the same time a new look was launched for the entire range of retail banking products. An extensive range of banking products and services is now available, including personal and company cards, competitive deposit products, stock exchange services and web banking services.
The Bank also developed and launched new subsidised loans to allow domestically manufactured cars to be purchased, to promote domestic tourism and for the purchase of domestically produced products. The advertising campaign for the scheme to transfer debts from other banks called ''All in one'', which is innovative by Serbian standards, was a great success and contributed to the rise in the Bank’s market share in the consumer loan sector. The new ''Cash Loan on Frozen Bonds'' product, a 2-year consumer loan paid off from treasury bonds, was also extremely popular in the market. Alpha Bank Srbija is one of the main Visa card issuers in Serbia and also launched new Mastercard credit and debit cards (''Mastercard Debit'', ''Mastercard Credit'', and ''Mastercard Credit Affinity''). Customers were also offered new deposit accounts in 2009, such as ''Child Saving Account'', a deposit account for the 8 to 17 year old age group and ''Alpha New Born'', a deposit account for the 0 to 7 year old age group, which are part of the ''Alpha Stednja 1|2|3'' range. These products were dynamically advertised. Moreover, the ''Progressive T.D.'' product, a time deposit with a progressively higher interest rate each month and ''T.D. in Advance'', a time deposit with interest paid in advance at the start of the period, were also launched.
