Oschadbank recognized for leadership in financial inclusion and digitalization of services for small and medium-sized businesses

Oschad received awards in the Best Financial Inclusion Provider and Best SME Banking Digitalization nominations at the Ukrainian Fintech Awards 2024 ceremony held on April 4 in Kyiv.

Since the beginning of the full-scale war, Oschadbank has focused its efforts on ensuring uninterrupted operations and customer support. Remote servicing, which is one of the components of Oschad's inclusiveness program "My Accessibility", played a major role in this. The program envisages improving the physical accessibility of branches and increasing their number in the frontline areas, developing a separate service model based on the principles of equal treatment of all customer groups, humanized service, comfort during physical presence in the branch and when applying remotely, as well as further development of remote services.

As for the retail business, in 2023, 157 million transactions totaling almost UAH 362 billion were made in the Oschad 24/7 system (two mobile applications and Internet banking). Of these, 2.5 million transactions totaling more than UAH 2 billion were made using OschadPAY (cash register in a smartphone). The automation of Oschad's contact center continues. Currently, almost 80% of client requests are resolved through customer self-service.

"The process of improving Oschadbank's digital products does not stop. Last year, we invested in the development of new options for the Mobile Oschad app: we made more than 10 updates, introduced 25 new functions and services. This year, we have already implemented a new type of cashless payments at points of sale in the OschadPAY app using a QR code. We are pleased that our fintech colleagues highly appreciated the results of our work," commented Anton Tiutiun, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of Oschadbank in charge of retail business.

Oschadbank 's victory in the second nomination was secured by the successful launch of OschadBusiness, an online service for lending to micro, small and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs), in March last year.

This innovative online platform allows entrepreneurs to apply for loans remotely and receive a decision within 24 hours without having to visit a bank branch, which is a unique offer in the Ukrainian market. The service provides for real-time tracking of the application status, which ensures transparency and convenience of the process at every stage.

In total, during the year of OschadBusiness operation, 6,000 entrepreneurs joined the platform, the bank received 1,800 applications of which 388 positive decisions provided on MSME financing and 181 loans were issued totaling UAH 422.5 million. Thanks to the additional channel, the incoming loan application flow increased by 25%.

"I am grateful to our customers for their interest in the new service, and to my colleagues for their professionalism and quick adaptation to new realities. In wartime, Oschadbank has optimized lending – our approach to customer financing has changed dramatically. We have significantly simplified the procedures, adapted the package of documents for obtaining a loan, created a "virtual branch" and established online communication between the bank and the client. We are trying to reduce the credit burden on borrowers as much as possible by participating in various national, regional and international programs, as well as by modernizing products and processes," said Natalia Butkova-Vitvitska, Oschadbank Management Board Member in charge of MSMEs.

The Ukrainian Fintech Awards is an annual award created to recognize the professionalism and contribution of leading companies to the development of the Ukrainian fintech ecosystem, highlight annual achievements and popularize the Ukrainian fintech market. The winners are selected by a jury of representatives of the Ukrainian and foreign fintech markets.

Jury members use information provided by nominees or third parties. In addition, the team of the Ukrainian Association of Fintech and Innovative Companies can collect additional information about the nominees from open sources.