International grant programs are of great importance for economic recovery, according to JSC OTP Bank Expert
International programs are of great importance for micro, small and medium-sized businesses, as well as for the recovery of the Ukrainian economy. Ihor Tsymbal, Head of Sales SME JSC OTP Bank, said this while speaking on the main stage of Mind Entrepreneur Summit 2024.
“International concessional lending programs are now successfully operating in Ukraine. To access them, all you need to do is apply to a bank that cooperates with global partners and receive funding. Lending is provided on favorable terms and takes into account all the “pains” of entrepreneurs working in times of war,” the Bank`s expert noted.
He cited the example of successful cooperation between OTP Bank and the USAID Investment for Business Resilience Activity, which was launched in October 2023: “As part of the joint program, we have financed 90 enterprises for almost UAH 500 million at a rate of 7% per annum, which is at least half the current market interest rate due to its partial compensation from grant funding. These were micro, small, and medium enterprises from one of the following target groups: relocated businesses, businesses that suffered from hostilities, agribusinesses, and owned by women.”
Pavlo Huzyr, Head of Alternative Sales Channels at OTP Bank, spoke about raising funds for agribusiness during a hands-on session. According to him, in 2023, the Bank financed the sowing campaign for UAH 1.1 billion, and this year it has provided new loans to SMEs in the agricultural sector for UAH 600 million. He emphasized that the Bank is the market leader in handling financial agricultural receipts and the core of this success is the AgroFabrika scoring project. This project simplifies access to bank loans for agricultural producers and offers numerous partner programs from leading manufacturers of seeds, fertilizers, and plant protection products.
Oleksandr Rasakhatsky, Head of Customer Experience Management at JSC OTP Bank, told that the customer values should be primarily taken into account when developing and supporting all bank products and services, regardless of the types of client – individuals, entrepreneurs, large corporate clients, etc.
“Do regular surveys after a customer purchases something, connects a service, installs an app, etc. It is like a regular blood test to check the body state. Checkups – voluminous studies, in particular on the level of the NPS, or net promoter score – is also important. If you need to solve a business problem, visualize the customer experience, for example, create a customer journey map – step-by-step pictures of the path your client goes along,” advised Oleksandr.
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Public Joint Stock Company OTP Bank is a subsidiary of OTP Bank, which is the largest independent Central-Eastern-European banking group. JSC OTP Bank is one of the largest domestic banks, a recognized leader in the financial sector of Ukraine. The Bank provides a full range of financial services to corporate and private customers, as well as to small and medium enterprises. The bank entered the Ukrainian market in 1998, and since then it enjoys a staunch reputation of socially responsible, reliable and stable institution providing its consumers with services of European quality standard.
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