Esteemed Stakeholders,
Despite the social and economic impact of the pandemic, we are making great strides with the support of our customers, colleagues and business partners as we leave 2021 behind. Compared to the first period of the pandemic, we can consider 2021 as a year when we have seen normalization efforts kick off and several industries show visible signs of activity.
Entering into a pandemic-induced, fast-paced transformational phase, social structures still continue to evolve with changes in habits. With 24/7 online availability and digitized consumer trends, people have become much more demanding in terms of meeting their needs and satisfying their expectations. Digital onboarding, which came into play in May, marked the beginning of a new era for consumers looking for ubiquitous access to financial services. While this new era has triggered market growth, a more inclusive financial realm and a competitiveness boost, this increased competition has also further strengthened the hand of Financial institutions to offer an excellent experience to their customers through various channels. We have successfully demonstrated our claim to be the first bank to adapt to all developments that rewrite the rules of banking also in the digital onboarding process. I would like to proudly state that, thanks to our investments in digitization and our innovative approach, we are positioned among the banks that adapt to this new era the fastest. Perfecting our processes by leveraging the power of digitization, reaching target groups that expect their demands to be met in a ubiquitous manner 24/7 with an omnichannel approach, and providing our customers with streamlined, trouble-free services not requiring additional processes or effort are core to our human-centric digital banking approach.
Guided by this mindset to navigate success in an environment where open banking is becoming more and more prominent, we offer business models that challenge the future through collaborations. We develop Business models enabling our customers to reach our bank not only through our digital channels, but also through the companies and mobile platforms we cooperate with. Our Extra Limit product, which we introduced in 2021, is a testament to this approach. Extra Limit, a breakthrough business model in which we integrate Digital Onboarding and digital finance processes, is a first in the industry.
We have accomplished another first with our TFXTarget product. We have made the TFXTarget application an end-to-end investment platform by adding domestic/foreign stock and exchange traded fund trading features, allowing investors of all sizes to easily grow their savings and manage assets. In doing so, we enable our customers to trade the stocks of international giants such as Apple, Tesla and Microsoft. We cooperated with the top local and international brands of Turkey and launched Fast Finance and Payment Locations. As we move closer and closer to the invisible Banking vision, I believe that Türkiye Finans has painted a clear picture of the future with its distinctive projects.
At Türkiye Finans, we believe in the power of production and we know that production will pave the way for our economic growth. While Turkey sets new records in exports one after the other, we continue to lead production and exports at every opportunity with a sound belief that Turkey has an annual export potential of USD 500 billion. We continued to communicate our belief in production and exports with leaders from the public and private sectors by organizing more of the “Back to Production” meetings, which we launched in 2020, in 2021. Our latest meeting in Gaziantep, one of the export hubs in natolia, was the most concrete output of our back to production strategy. In the new period, we are committed to organizing meetings that encourage different sectors for production. While the nationwide production campaign, which was piloted in the sectors with potential to propel Turkey forward, became much more effective in 4Q21, Türkiye Finans, a participation bank, remains committed to being involved in production and trade in this period as always. Driven by this approach, we have provided an uninterrupted financial support to Turkey’s economy, both on the retail and Commercial side. This strategy played a pivotal role in increasing the funds allocated by Türkiye Finans by 29 percent and non-cash financing by 55 percent. Despite all the challenges, 2021 was a productive year in which our assets grew by 42 percent. While the support we provide to the economy reached TL 76 billion, our asset size climbed to TL 116 billion.
We know that stability and sustainable development will be backed by production. The foundation of this economic growth is comprised of the elbow grease of each and every one of our citizens and their hard-earned savings. We are well-aware that savings in Turkish lira are key for both our country and our industry to achieve sustainable growth. That’s why we encouraged the use of Turkish lira and savings in 2021, even during the most volatile periods in the markets. As an extension of this approach, we set out to support our customers in making the most of the money they had saved with great effort and devotion, and to help them with our fast, easy and simple solutions regardless of the circumstances. That’s why we say that there is no such a thing as small savings; all savings are large and very valuable. We increased our funds collected by 47 percent compared to the year-end 2020, with our finance management centering around this understanding. In addition, with our Bol Kepçe product, which we consider to be the first hybrid product in the industry, we provided our customers with a double-layered protection for their savings, enabling them to utilize their savings in both participation accounts and lease certificates, an important participation Finance investment instrument. We made a very conscious move by introducing products where our customers could enjoy high returns on their Turkish lira savings, thus increasing the share of Turkish lira funds by 37 percent in the funds collected and managing our Turkish lira liquidity successfully. The 57 percent growth in our participation accounts was another development that increased Türkiye Finans’ strength in fund allocated.
In light of all these positive developments, Türkiye Finans maintains its commitment to ranking among the top 10 banks in 2022 and prioritizes sustainable growth. We will continue to invest in production, trade and exports, which is one of the main strategies of our bank, and pioneer growth in these areas. We will continue to fund different segments of the society and will prioritize providing cash and noncash financing support to the real sector. And in doing so, we will continue to invest in our country and our people, and to deliver innovations that combine a people-centric banking approach with the potential digital banking offers our customers.
Sincerely,
Murat AKŞAM
Board Member and CEO