Atay, Garanti Bank: Partnership with GE Money will continue in Romania

The Romanian subsidiary of Garanti Bank will continue its
partnership with GE Money subsidiaries, although US giant General
Electric has recently voiced its intention to exit the Turkish
group’s shareholder structure. “Nothing will change in Romania,
we’ll further go hand in hand with GE Money. Future plans for
Romania remain unchanged,” Murat Atay, general manager of Garanti
Bank’s domestic subsidiary, told ZF. The Turkish group is awaiting
NBR’s approval to get a domestic banking licence as it now operates
as a subsidiary. The new institution will be named GE Garanti Bank,
and according to initial plans it should combine the operations of
Garanti domestic subsidiary with those of the other three non-bank
financial institutions held by GE Money. Atay says Garanti has
reviewed its growth plan for this year, targeting more aggressive
expansion. Thus, the territorial network is set to add 50 branches
in the next two years, practically doubling. “We’ve adjusted our
strategy as we had a very good result last year. It’s a time to
invest,” Atay says.