Finansbank battles for a 1.4% share of the market

Finansbank will invest in order to open 38 branches by the end of the year in a bid to boost the number of SME clients, aiming to reach a 1.4% share of the assets of the banking market. Over the course of 2006, the company has been one of the most aggressive players, managing to exceed the 1% market share and climb to 1.2% by midyear. “We will expand our territorial network to 93 branches by the end of this year, compared to the 55 we held halfway through the year,” said Tamer Ozatakul, president of Finansbank Romania, speaking at the “Zilele Biz” (“Biz Days”) conference on Tuesday. The bank opened 15 branches in the first half of the year, in addition to the 40 it had at the end of 2005. Recently, the bank entered the SME funding segment, one of the most fashionable lines of credit among lenders. “For the time being we are funding SMEs with a turnover of less than one million euros per year, but we will start to gradually offer products for bigger SMEs, too,” specified Ozatakul. According to the president of Finansbank, the SME market is underdeveloped in Romania, mainly due to the lack of funding opportunities.