Ukraine’s Raiffeisen Bank to maintain leadership in corporate segment, compete in retail – head

Raiffeisen Bank Ukraine (Kyiv) aims to remain a universal bank, retaining its top position in the corporate segment while expanding its market share in the retail sector, said Oleksandr Pysaruk, Board Chairman of Raiffeisen Bank Ukraine, in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

"Our goal is to maintain our leading position in the corporate client segment, where competition has intensified significantly, and to become competitive in the retail segment, where our gap with market leaders objectively widened during the war. I am confident we can achieve this," Pysaruk stated.

He noted that Raiffeisen is one of the best banks in Ukraine for serving large Ukrainian and international companies, as well as small and medium-sized businesses. However, it has never been a leader in retail banking, the Board Chairman admitted.

"We will remain the fourth-largest bank in the country by total assets and client funds, and the third-largest lender to Ukrainian businesses. We plan to increase our share in retail lending, significantly improve digital services, and enhance the customer experience in the retail segment," Pysaruk said.

He acknowledged that transforming a traditional universal bank is never inexpensive, and Raiffeisen is ready and already investing in this transformation.

"We are investing in the MyRaif mobile app and completely overhauling backend processes to improve customer experience and operational efficiency," Pysaruk revealed. He added that MyRaif recently introduced the IBAN payment service alongside convenient card-to-card transfers.

Currently, the bank maintains two applications for individual clients – Raiffeisen Online and MyRaif – but plans to phase out Raiffeisen Online by mid-next year following further improvements to MyRaif.

Another major project is the transition from the old BIFIT client-bank system for legal entities to the new Raiffeisen Business Online platform.

"In addition, we are investing in cybersecurity and cloud technology, areas where we are market leaders. Over the past four years, we have invested heavily in modern banking technology, and now we need to turn these investments into enhanced customer experiences," Pysaruk concluded.

As of October 1, 2024, Raiffeisen Bank ranked fourth among Ukraine's 62 active banks by total assets (UAH 229.12 billion), according to the National Bank of Ukraine. It was also among the top three most profitable banks for the first nine months of 2024, with net profits reaching UAH 6.151 billion, slightly up from UAH 6.135 billion in the same period last year.