2016 ANNUAL REPORT
TÜRK EKONOMİ BANKASI’S PERFORMANCE IN 2015
Presented below is a summary of TEB’s shares of the banking industry’s basic indicators as of 31 December 2015 and 31 December 2016 together with information about changes in those shares. Looking at the highlights of the Bank’s performance in 2016 as compared with that of 2015 we see that:
(million TL) |
31.12.2016 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
TEB |
Sector |
TEB’s Share (%) |
|
Total Assets |
79,727 |
2,730,942 |
2.92 |
Total Loans |
56,364 |
1,782,733 |
3.16 |
Total Deposits |
49,833 |
1,547,551 |
3.22 |
Number of Branches |
515 |
11,747 |
4.38 |
Number of Personnel |
9,640 |
210,910 |
4.57 |
Source: Sectoral figures taken from BRSA’s December 2016 monthly bulletin
Digital Banking
Cash Management
SME Banking/Women Banking
SME Banking
Call Center
Retail Banking/Family Academy
Corporate Communication
Branch Operation Management
Legal Affairs
Human Resources
TEB provides major domestic and international firms, corporate groups and holding companies whose annual turnovers amount to at least TL 50 million with products and services together with added-value-creating solutions that reflect both its own extensive product and service options and capabilities as a financial institution as well as those of its strategic partner, BNP Paribas.
In the corporate banking business line TEB serves customers in the areas of:
TEB provides its corporate banking customers with superior made-to-order service through 15 corporate branches (7 in İstanbul alone), expert-staffed Foreign Trade Centers and a team specialized in dealing with the unique needs of multinational firms. TEB supports these services with the synergies arising from its own group companies and its partnership with BNP Paribas in 75 countries.
In 2016, TEB once again further strengthened the solid and trusted reputation it enjoys in the corporate banking business line while maintaining the highest level of customer satisfaction by addressing its customers’ particular needs in the constantly changing and intensively competitive environment that is characteristic of financial markets.
TEB strives to be “the first bank that comes to mind of customers” whenever a customer is in need of any product or service in the corporate banking business line.
A differentiated and specialized bank in foreign trade
Foreign trade is a business line to which TEB has been giving special attention since the 1980s. Benefiting also from the global service network of its strategic partner BNP Paribas, TEB enjoys an international reputation as a distinguished specialist in foreign trade finance.
In foreign trade finance BNP Paribas ranks first in Europe and third in the world. BNP Paribas’s operations in 75 countries and Trade Centers active at 100 locations in over 60 countries significantly contribute to TEB’s competitive edge in the foreign trade finance business line.
As a well-established expert in foreign trade finance, TEB can also provide specialized operational solutions such as foreign trade legal framework consultancy and preparing letter of credit documentation.
TEB also has correspondent relationships with more than 1,200 banks located all over the world and it is constantly seeking to expand this network in line with its customers’ needs. In addition to its correspondent network, TEB also makes use of the network of its main shareholder, one of the top 5 banks of the world, BNP Paribas in 75 countries to offer its customers competitive prices and maturities in foreign trade transactions.
Cost-effective fund transfers
Whenever customers with investments in different countries need to transfer funds internationally, TEB is at their side with an extensive network of correspondent banks that make it easy to effect transfers in 135 different currency units to more than 180 countries. For customers who need to transfer euros or US dollars domestically, TEB offers same-day value-date solutions that are also very cost-effective.
TEB handles Chinese yuan (renminbi) transactions for its customers.
Under an agreement between TEB and Bank of China, TEB is authorized to process renminbi (RMB) denominated foreign trade transactions for its customers. This means that TEB customers can transfer funds to RMB accounts in China and other countries, pay for their imports in yuan and have letters of credit issued in yuan. TEB is also the first bank in Turkey to issue yuan-denominated export letters of credit and letters of guarantee.
TEB also processes on-shore and off-shore RMB payments through Bank of China Ltd Beijing and Bank of China (Hong Kong).
100% of our syndicated loan was renewed.
A one-year syndicated loan which TEB had obtained to support foreign trade finance and whose term expired in August 2016 was renewed at the rate of 100%.
This loan was renewed at Libor + 0.85% and at Euribor + 0.75% for 367-day tranches, thus making it one of the lowest-cost sources of funding for which an agreement was signed in the Turkish banking industry in 2016. Twenty-four banks took part in the syndication, underwriting a two-component (EUR 352 million & USD 205 million) loan. This renewal once again confirmed the strong reputation that TEB enjoys in international markets.
TEB Trade Centers
Providing both foreign trade finance and foreign trade consultancy products and services, TEB’s Trade Center network is the first of its kind in the Turkish banking industry. TEB Trade Centers are located in five cities (Adana, Ankara, Bursa, İstanbul and İzmir) which together account for approximately 70% of Turkey’s total foreign trade.
Thanks to TEB’s and BNP Paribas’s foreign trade finance expertise and extensive correspondent networks, TEB Trade Centers are places where foreign trade finance models can be exactly tailored according to a customer’s needs.
Strongly positioned in export finance
TEB is one of Turkey’s most prominent and experienced banks in the foreign trade finance business line. The Bank’s strong position in export finance is attested to by sectoral data. According to September 2016 figures published by BRSA, the Turkish banking industry’s export-finance lending accounted for about 6% of total loans when retail credit is excluded. In TEB’s case, about 12% of the Bank’s performing loans excluding retail segment lendings were used to finance exports.
TEB is ranked 6th in the sector in terms of its total volume of export credits. While TEB’s share in Turkey’s total foreign trade stood at 6.8% as of September 2016, the Bank mediated in 9% of the guarantees provided to Turkey from outside the country and mediated in 6.12% of export letters of credit.
The staffing of every TEB Trade Center includes a team whose members have expertise in structured trade and commodity finance. This team devises financing solutions that are specifically fashioned according to the goods involved and customer cash flows. In this way, firms can be offered made-to-order products that go beyond the sector’s conventional financing methods.
Traditionally strong in hazelnut and tobacco export financing, TEB is also adept at coming up with financing solutions for other export commodities such as grain, edible oils, synthetic lubricants, plastic raw materials, chemicals, fruit concentrates and mineral ores such as iron, copper and chromium. Supported by experts, TEB customers’ financing needs in both domestic and international markets can be precisely addressed at every stage from initial procurement to final collection.
Having completed the legal infrastructure, TEB commenced its licensed warehouse operations in early 2013. Concurrently with this, TEB introduced yet another innovative product to the Turkish banking industry by becoming the first bank in the country to own a licensed warehouse and to offer structured commodity financing credit whose collateral is the goods that are being held in it.
One of the solutions offered to exporters within the scope of rediscount credit opportunities intended for exports, which the Central Bank of Turkey allocates to Turkish exporters, TEB actively plays a role in the market as a provider.
Foreign trade training
TEB provides its customers with specialized consultancy services related to their foreign trade and investment activities. In addition, TEB also works with sectoral and regional exporters’ associations, chambers of commerce and industry, organized industrial zone directorates and similar organizations to provide practical foreign trade training and seminars on foreign trade issues that are designed to meet the particular needs of firms in different parts of the country.
BPO (Bank Payment Obligation)
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) issued international rules of a new trade finance solution in April 2013 considering the fact that more than 70% of world trade is realized as a running account and the shares of the letter of credit had fallen below 12%. This method, designed to facilitate running account trade and to combine the speed of running account payment method with the security of letter of credit, is called a BPO.
In Turkey, nearly 75% of whose exports are conducted through running accounts, concerns about collection risk have been driving a search for solutions to better manage it.
Keeping a close watch on this process, TEB began exploring the BPO option itself in 2013. Holding a series of seminars through which it provided customers with information about this new settlement solution while simultaneously completing the infrastructure required by it in 2014, the Bank carried out its first BPO transactions in the last two months of the year.
As one of only two banks in Turkey with the ability to offer its customers this newest and most sophisticated payment solution, TEB’s introduction of BPO makes it the 16th bank in the world to do so and the 5th in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
In 2016, foreign supplies of importer customers continued to be carried out by TEB. Also, BPO transactions that include funding for the importing party were carried out for the first time in the world by TEB.
Employing an experienced team of foreign trade specialists, TEB will continue to keep its customers supplied with the most up-to-date foreign trade finance and risk management products and services in the future as well.
TEB Cash Management continued to develop innovative customer-focused products and services.
TEB was again granted for the third time in 2016, the “Turkey Domestic Cash Management Bank of the Year” award by Asian Banking & Finance, a magazine that conducts one of the most prestigious international awards programs for retail financial services. TEB received this award based on the opinions of judges from four of the world’s top international consultancies: KPMG, Deloitte Consulting and Ernst & Young Advisory.
TEB has also been handed two awards in cash management in one of the most prestigious award organizations of UK, Best Business Awards. “TEB Virtual Account”, the new automated collection solution and “TEB Cash Management Academy”, the only organization of its kind in cash management in Turkey were considered worthy of these awards. As well as being the private integrator of “e-Billing” and “e-Archive” TEB, began to offer its customers two new financial services: payment of e-Billings through internet banking and integration of export e-Invoices into the system.
Additionally, TEB also developed a service where customers can pay the customs duty by SMS and presented this service to its customers in 2016.
Cash management services and solutions for multinationals
TEB also develops international cash management solutions working in partnership with BNP Paribas. In 2016 TEB supplied BNP Paribas’s global customers with many specially-designed products and solutions allowing them to achieve greater efficiency and control in the conduct of national and international payment and collection processes related to their existing or planned operations in Turkey.
TEB will continue to supply multinational customers who need to employ a single global solution for operations that may be scattered all over the world with products and services that are fully integrated into BNP Paribas’s global cash management system.
TEB Multinationals Desk
As the first bank in Turkey to set up a Multinationals Desk back in 2006, TEB understands such firms very well. The bank distinguishes itself through service competencies that address multinationals’ unique needs.
Calling upon the resources of its own extensive network of domestic branches in Turkey as well as those of BNP Paribas’s 188 thousand employees, 23 million customers, more than 7 thousand branches and 99 trade centers all located in 75 countries, TEB provides multinationals as well as Turkish firms with international operations with advantages and convenience in keeping with BNP Paribas’s “One Bank for Corporates” slogan.
Through the Multinationals Desk of its corporate banking division with its specialized personnel in the headquarters and corporate branches, TEB seeks to be the main bank with which all multinationals with operations in Turkey prefer to work as almost 1,300 multinationals from 45 countries already does.
Cross selling and strong synergy
The Cross Selling Culture that TEB creates involves offering different products from a single point to the Bank's corporate customers. TEB’s Cross-Selling activities offer customer specific innovative and creative products and services while making use of the Bank’s other business lines, the Bank’s subsidiaries and the competitive strength of its French partner BNP Paribas.
TEB offers the following primarily to its customers who need investment banking products and services, by taking advantage of strong international network of BNP Paribas;
Continuing its contributions to the Turkish economy along with its strong partner BNP Paribas, TEB engaged in new projects in Renewable Energy and facilitated EUR 140 million funding for the Turkish Grain Board.
TEB will also continue creating resources for value added investment projects unwaveringly in the coming period.
In accordance with the operational areas of TEB's customers and TEB’s local and international product variety, cross selling, business development and synergic activities are carried out in the areas of;
with the Bank’s other business lines in addition to the synergy developed with BNP Paribas.
Cross selling activities also come to the forefront with TEB’s affiliates and group companies that are leaders in their sectors:
Enhancing the “consultant banking” approach to SME’s
TEB, which started its SME Banking activities in 2005, continues to provide various solutions through its products and services in accordance with customer segments on topics such as growth and competitiveness, which are the most challenging areas SMEs face. The Bank also continues to enhance its “consultant banking” approach every year.
Differentiating its services in the SME Banking area for customers of Business, Agriculture and Women’s Banking, TEB’s activities continued to focus on the need for information, education and access to networks and experience support pertaining to management of financial resources and non-financial topics, which are among the problems that SME customers have encountered.
In 2016, TEB’s lending to the SME market increased above sectoral averages in terms both of the number of placements and of their total volume.
Communication campaigns conducted throughout the year focused on addressing TEB customers’ cash needs on terms favorable to them.
TEB SME Banking continued to extend funding support to SME’s in 2016 and total volume of credit grew parallel to the sector. The non-performing loans ratio however is below the sector average which is an indication of TEB’s success in controlling its assets. TEB continued its leading role in the agriculture loans and its dominance in gold loans.
Supporting the growth efforts of SMEs: Cooperation with Credit Guarantee Fund (CGF)
Micro-enterprises operating in certain areas could benefit from CGF support more easily and access to financial support more rapidly through the micro loans to micro SMEs project carried out by CGF and TEB. The CGF Equity Credit Collateral is aiming to support SME’s that have limited access to funding and ease the effective functioning of the credit market. Moreover, the scope of Treasury backed surety was extended with the renewed CGF loan to SME’s, Manufacturer SME’s, Women Entrepreneurs, Shipbuilding Industry and Travel Agency SME’s. This simplified access to financing for SMEs.
“Foreign Trade Drive” for SME’s
TEB has been working towards the development of the SME’s aiming to give them an edge in the competition as their “consultant bank” for ten years. In 2016, TEB initiated a “Foreign Trade Drive” to help the growth of SME’s engaged in foreign trade. Foreign trade development program is also intended to increase the export potential of Turkey and contribute to the realization of 2023 targets. In this scope TEB introduced new and innovative services specially designed for SME’s. The latest of these services is www.tebledisticaret.com (foreign trade with TEB), a platform designed to provide 360 degrees accurate, up to date and refined information to companies who are already active in foreign trade as well as those who have the potential to engage in foreign trade. Through “tebledisticaret”, SME’s are able to find the information they need to access new markets in one source and with the specially designed “TEB Foreign Trade Development Program” they will have access to training and consultancy on how to make use of this information.
SME’s will discover new markets with “tebledisticaret.com”
Containing information of over 1,500 firms, more than 20,000 suppliers in 160 countries, www.tebledisticaret.com is an online platform that acts as a guide to SME’s that would like to expand their horizons through foreign trade. The platform also contains over 10,000 sectoral reports. Users can access detailed information about the general profile, geographic location, state of the economy, cultural differences etc. of the markets that they are interested through tebledisticaret.com. Additionally, for some countries there is exporter/importer information for products that are subject to international trade as well as the opportunity to check out on country or sector basis the trade fairs where they can find new clients.
Tebledisticaret.com is notable for containing all sorts of relevant information pertaining to export and import procedures including but not limited to special government incentives, customs and local taxes, transportation options, relevant paperwork for foreign trade destinations.
“TEB Foreign Trade Development Program” has the answer to how to make use of this information.
“TEB Foreign Trade Development Program” is a dedicated development and education program where companies can get the training and consultancy services they need for their foreign trade activities.
This program is intended to guide the companies through the vast amount of information provided on the tebledisticaret.com platform. Companies who are new in foreign trade or simply want to increase their foreign trade volumes are trained on how to develop strategies for growth in foreign trade and on how to realize their action plans.
In addition to the information they acquire during the training, the companies who attend the program are also presented printed material to guide them to apply the growth and development programs in their companies. This program extends the horizons of the companies in foreign trade through 4 different modules that analyze the growth management, risk minimization in foreign trade, market research and foreign trade activities of the companies. The program expands through a 6 month period. The first program started on 19 October 2016 and participants finished 3 modules by the end of the year.
The bank is guiding the companies that wish to grow on foreign trade so that the companies who attend the program gain the competency to execute their foreign trade activities with the information and vision they acquire. With this new service, TEB is aiming to strengthen the positioning of the Turkish companies in international markets and be there for them at every step of the way.
Structural support for SMEs’ developmental efforts
The TEB SME Banking Group seeks to support SMEs’ efforts by standing beside them with its innovative products and services at every stage of their growth and development. In 2016 the Group successfully continued its operations by introducing new products and services and making them accessible to an even broader customer audience.
The TEB SME Academy
The TEB SME Academy has been organized annually since 2005. During these events, TEB comes together with SMEs in the province where the meetings are held and shares information that will carry small and medium-sized enterprises into the future.
The Bank organized the 100th TEB SME Academy in Kocaeli, the birthplace of TEB, with over 600 SME’s attending. Besides Kocaeli, TEB SME Academies took place in Northern Cyprus, Yozgat and Afyonkarahisar in 2016. The Bank provided information required by SMEs on subjects ranging from information on provinces to global competition. SMEs were informed and gained greater awareness about strategic management, growth and foreign trade in the workshops carried out after the academy. Bye the end of 2016, approximately 25,000 business person have attended the 105 TEB SME academies organized all over Turkey.
TEB SME Consultants
In an ever globalizing competitive world, SME’s need to access critical visionary information more and more every day. Today companies need information on managerial and organizational issues such as how to discover new markets for their products, which technological developments are trending, what kind of a managerial strategy and organizational structure they should adapt and which qualities should their employees’ possess.
Today, it is extremely important to provide guidance to SME’s on the best utilization of the funding they receive as much as providing the funding for the growth and development of SME’s. Within the framework of Consultant Banking approach, TEB provides training to customer representatives who are constantly in contact with customers on the issues of production management, marketing activities, foreign trade, reorganization and management of human resources. TEB provides TEB SME consultancy services which are special training programs to analyze customers.
These training programs consist of segment-based training sessions such as SME Consulting, Business Guides and Agricultural Experts. In addition, customer representatives, who were trained on SME Consulting, offer more comprehensive services in accordance with the requirements by receiving additional training in the fields of Domestic Marketing and Sales, Overseas Sales and Marketing, Production Management and Financial Management.
As of 2016 year-end, 56 people have completed the TEB SME Guidance Program and 12 more personnel finished the TEB SME Specialist Program and helped customers on issues like marketing, sales, manufacturing and financing. Over 600 customer representatives are consulting our customers on the subjects they require, primarily business management.
TEB SME TV
TEB SME TV continued to be a trustworthy online information/news source in 2016 with programs dedicated to the business and career development of the business world in general and SMEs in particular. TEB SME TV reached 1,500,000 monthly viewings which included a total of 9,500 news items in 2016.
TEB SME TV thematic channels were introduced to offer viewers richer content around the same topic and these channels attracted more attention in the last couple of years since they came on air. These channels offer content that corresponds to the specific needs of viewer groups such as: “Technological Solutions” a channel for SMEs seeking to improve their business efficiency by taking advantage of technological developments, “Women Manager Screen” a business development guide for women bosses, “Personal and Career Development Guide” a channel for those professionals aiming for lifelong development in their business and personal life.
In the “Women Manager Screen” a wide range of news and information ranging from business start-up processes to tips to help working women enjoy a good life are featured. In the “Personal and Career Development Guide” channel, a comprehensive range of news items with rich content, including items related to personal development, motivation, sales and marketing, leadership and team management, stress management and the art of negotiation are offered to the channel’s audiences, i.e. professionals and SMEs namely. TEB SME TV channels are the most preferred section of TEB SME TV with approximately 4 minutes of viewing in the 448 contents featured as of December 2016.
Communication with added value created through social media
Customers can access to specific information they need through www.tebkobitv.com and follow the daily news and developments through social media channels Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Linkedin which TEB SME Banking utilizes.
Active communication with customers carried on in 2016 on segmented platforms through @tebkobi, @teblekadin and @teblegirisim accounts. The communication that is segmented and carried out according to the different needs and requirements of the SMEs, women bosses and entrepreneurs segments aims at enhancing the business practices of the targeted audience, to raise their awareness in business life and hopefully contribute to the overall awareness of the audiences through sectoral and economic up to date relevant content.
As of December 2016, @tebkobi account on Facebook has 45,039 likes, @teblekadin account has 44,010 and @teblegirisim account has 50,403 likes whereas on Twitter, @tebkobi has 15,165 followers, @teblekadin has 20,841 and @teblegirisim has 8,532 followers.
With its TEB Boss Card, TEB provides the opportunity through an alternative distribution channel to meet the basic loan needs of shopkeepers and small enterprises with a single card. TEB customers can access their full limits in commercial loans which are paid in instalments, seasonal credit, the overdraft account and company credit card over a single card with the TEB Boss Card and can meet their commercial loan needs with terms of up to 36 months from TEB ATMs and the TEB Corporate Internet branch on a 24/7 basis. Bills, cheques, payment of social security contributions and payments to the HGS (bridge and road tolls) can be paid with the overdraft account linked to the Boss card without needing to go to the branches.
For SMEs operating in the tourism sector, a seasonal credit is introduced with Boss Card where customers can pay back in May through October, in line with their cash flows. The TEB Boss Card company credit card feature allows users to pay for purchases confidently and securely both in Turkey and abroad. The Boss Card also offers a 5% discount on fuel purchases made from contracted Total fuel stations, while special bonus and discount campaigns are offered for restaurants, cinema and theatre tickets. In addition, the Card also provides a 50% discount for parking in contracted airport car parks and free airport lounge access in contracted airport terminals.
While businesses can take advantage of banking products and services with the TEB Business Expense Packages, they also have the opportunity to keep track of the expenses that they should pay in a planned manner. Customers may also inform the Bank about issues related to daily banking transactions by sending SMS text messages and/or e-mail with the Practical Messenger product, therefore allowing them to follow up such issues comfortably.
In addition to the financial solutions offered to the customers, guidance services are also designed to help them use the funding to grow their businesses. Within the scope of the TEB Microbusiness Guidance Program, business owner are educated on how to grow their businesses and how to manage their risks through the analysis and roadmaps prepared by the micro business experts. In 2016, within the scope of the TEB SME Consultants Program, 31 customer relations managers completed the training for this consultancy service and qualified as” TEB Micro Business Guides”.
Sector leader in gold credit
Steadily increasing the value that it generates for customers all over the country through its expertise, accessibility and efficiency and contributing to the sector with its innovative products and services, TEB is successfully conducting its efforts to be the leading bank, the Bank whose name first comes to mind-in the gold banking business line.
TEB, which has been responding to the short and long term needs of the jewelry industry for 20 years, became one of the most important players in the sector at the end of 2016. According to BRSA data, the Bank maintained its leadership position in the sector with a market share of 38.8%.
TEB Gold Banking offered a solution to the payment and maturity problems in purchases of gold for both wholesale and retail jewelers with the “Milyem Card” product it developed. TEB Gold Banking offers a comprehensive service with a range of products including current/time Gold Deposit Accounts, the Silver Deposit Account, the Drop Gold Account and the Type B Gold Fund and the New Golden Age for individual and corporate customers wishing to make savings. The New Golden Age account brought gold defined as “under the mattress savings” into the economy through 37 jewelers in 20 provinces.
TEB maintains its close relationship with the jewelry industry by participating in gold and jewelry trade fairs held throughout the country as the main sponsor and supporter. TEB continued to sponsor the JEWEX Fair which has become a tradition now. TEB also supported the “Istanbul Jeweler Show” which is the 5th biggest fair on watches and jewelry worldwide and in 2016 hosted over 1250 domestic and foreign jewelers ranging from East Europe to Russia, from Middle East to North Africa and Turkic Republics of Central Asia. In 2016, over 45,000 visitors were hosted through these fairs.
Working with 500 municipalities and their agencies
Set up to develop and offer specialized banking products and services that address the unique needs of local governments, TEB Public Sector Banking continued to be one of the leading players in this business line in 2016. Through its public sector banking approach, TEB makes it easier for local governments to locate the financing they need and also helps them complete their large-scale investment projects faster and more efficiently. TEB also provides a number of cash management solutions, such as Turkey’s first online and real-time collection service, which makes it possible for people to pay municipal taxes, fees, etc. more quickly and conveniently.
TEB continues to be a consultant bank in the field of Public Banking. The bank shows programs about local government on TEB SME TV with public law specialists. TEB creates solutions for local governments in budget management and similar issues where there is a lack of knowledge, through the TEB SME Academy Public Meetings organized especially for local governments. In this respect TEB sponsored “Local Governments Finance Summit” that was organized by Marmara Municipalities Association for the first time. The Summit addressed critical issues like easier access to financing for local governments and creation of alternative funding sources.
Continued growth for Agricultural Banking in 2016.
Within the scope of its “consultant bank” mission, TEB Agricultural Banking continues to extend resources to support agricultural input finance as well as financing of investment projects for agricultural producers of all sizes and producer organizations (associations, cooperatives and chambers).
The first “Seed Branches” had been opened in 2014 which provide specialized services for the agricultural sector and the openings continued in 2016. In this context, 8 new Seed Branches were opened in the boroughs of Geyve (Sakarya), Emirdağ (Afyonkarahisar), Kula (Manisa), Vezirköprü (Samsun), Çubuk (Ankara), Develi (Kayseri), Menderes (İzmir) and Yeşilhisar (Kayseri), making the total number of seed branches 21 by the end of the year.
Based on the success of the TEB SME Consultants project and its benefits to customers, it was decided to create a similar program compatible with the particular dynamics and needs of the agricultural sector. The result was the TEB Agricultural Specialists Program. Within the scope of this program, 17 new TEB Agricultural Specialists completed the program during 2016. In total, 48 TEB Agricultural Specialists began providing consultancy services required outside banking products by the companies operating in the agricultural sector. The goal of the TEB Agricultural Specialists Program is to help producers transform themselves into agricultural enterprises.
TEB Agriculture meetings which were organized in İzmir and Konya under the TEB SME Academy continued in 2016. TEB had a new approach to these meetings, until then they were organized in cities whereas in 2016 Malkara, Tekirdağ was organized at a borough.
Having these meetings at the borough level enables meeting the exact requirements of the local producers, more focus on the local issues and coming up with solutions to the local problems. Over 100 producers attended the meeting in Malkara where a platform was established where the borough’s specific problems in agriculture were addressed and possible solutions were discussed.
The meeting in Malkara also witnessed a first, the TEB agriculture specialists who play a great role in the transformation of agriculture producers into agriculture enterprises personally delivered the educational programs, analyzed the problems of agriculture in Malkara and shared information on how to set out a long term planning and development scheme. Within the scope of the educational program, collaboration was made with the agriculture chambers of the area and Trakya Development Agency and the problems of the agriculture sector in the area was discussed with all the stakeholders and an action plan was determined.
Having already introduced “TEB Harman Kart” (TEB Harvest Card), a specialized credit card product that comes with advantageous payment terms that can be very useful when farmers procure essential inputs, TEB worked with a number of farmers’ associations and expanded its merchant partner network in order to enhance the card’s usefulness. In the “Field Days” activities organized in collaboration with Massey Ferguson, TEB came together with the farmers and shared information about products and services in 15 locations including Konya, İzmir, Manisa, Adana and Gaziantep.
Within the context of subsidizing agricultural investment, TEB granted the loan letter of intent for IPARD backed investments, which are disbursed by the TKDK (Agriculture and Rural Development Support Agency). TEB is one of the pioneering banks in this field.
Financial and non-financial products were promoted through the participation of 18 national and international agricultural fairs in 2016, thus reinforcing relationships with stakeholders in the agricultural sector.
Continuing to support entrepreneurs in Turkey
Within the scope of enterprise banking established by the TEB SME Banking Group, the Bank continued to support entrepreneurs in a more comprehensive and effective manner through a range of financial products and services offered to SMEs in 2016. Through the trainings and education programs organized 18,848 entrepreneurs received 536 (2,803 hours) of training service and 3,850 entrepreneurs were provided with 4,950 hours of consultancy services.
Implementing a very comprehensive program to support entrepreneurs in Turkey, TEB SME Banking was involved in the announcement of the world’s most comprehensive Enterprise Index (Global Enterprise Monitor-GEM) under the leadership of KOSGEB. Index studies continued in 2016 as well. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor -GEM is an academic research study that was started by the Babson College and London Business School in 1997 to investigate the importance of enterprise in the economic growth process. The examination of economic development and growth has traditionally focused on large enterprises. The GEM research study has raised the recognition of enterprise by highlighting the importance of new and small businesses. According to 2015 GEM study, in the last ten years, the ratio of individuals who started a new business increased by 100% among the adult population.
It is observed that entrepreneurs have started to care about the use of limited resources, operate on the motivation of need and work to an approach of taking advantage of opportunities in today's conditions. Strengthening enterprise, the importance of which is gradually growing in the economy, also contributes to economic growth and prosperity.
In 2016, a total of 157 entrepreneurs received the training programs of TEB Enterprise House for a total of 2,136 hours. These entrepreneurs made over TL 83 million worth of sales in the first half of 2016 and this figure reached TL 140 million by the end of the year.
TEB is one of the 17 implementing companies of TÜBİTAK BiGG
TEB continued its collaboration with TÜBİTAK as a first phase Implementing Company in the TÜBİTAK 1512 TeknoStartup Capital Support Program in 2016 as well. The implementation of the entrepreneur selection and training program where TÜBİTAK donates TL 150,000 continued and in 2016, 15 entrepreneurs earned the right to receive TL 2,250,000 in donations.
Supporting exports through TEA (Turkish Exporters Assembly) - TEB Enterprise House
The TEA-TEB Enterprise House is an entrepreneurial training and business development center, which was established to support entrepreneurs with the potential to export and/or projects/products that have the opportunity of expanding internationally. The TEA-TEB Enterprise House model that was established for the first time in Istanbul in 2013 started to expand in the different regions of Turkey with the support of TEA from 2015 onwards.
TEA-TEB Enterprise House that was implemented to reach to entrepreneurs with technological and high value-added projects were initially opened in Istanbul, Izmir, Gaziantep and Denizli. In 2016 more houses were opened in Bursa, Mersin, Konya and Edirne and there are 9 TEB-TEA Enterprise Houses operating throughout Turkey. In 2016 by the end of December, 157 entrepreneurs were supported and 461 entrepreneurs received free of charge services like mentoring, network and investor meetings.
Custom made solutions to entrepreneurs with different requirements
In the TEA-TEB Enterprise Houses, a 5 level structure made up of Let’s UP, Step UP, Start UP, Level UP and Grow UP programs are implemented under the Tekno Set UP program in order to meet the needs of entrepreneurs and enterprises of various sizes. This enables the introduction of custom made solutions to the different problems of enterprises at the different levels of development.
In Let’s UP program, university students who choose entrepreneurship as a career are provided with a training program where they are introduced to the basic concepts of entrepreneurship whereas in Step UP program entrepreneurs who have received donations within the TÜBİTAK BİGG program are trained. Start UP provides entrepreneurs who have already set up their businesses the experience, managerial consulting, custom made training programs and access to investors that they need to grow their businesses. Level UP program is designed for startup businesses who have reached TL 500,000 - TL 5 million annual turnover to educate them to open up to new markets and change or develop their products according to the dynamics of those markets. Grow UP, on the other hand, is for companies with TL 5 million annual turnover and already in the stage of growth who need Strategic Management Consultancy to change their business models and develop strategies against the dynamics of their operating environment to maintain company continuity.
Strengthening the presence of women in the business life is very important in terms of the added value to the economy and the growth that is achieved with this added value. According to McKinsey Global Institute 2015 Gender Equality Report, if gender equality was attained, the global growth figures would go up by USD 12 trillion by the year 2025 and this is a striking number which indicates the importance of the issue.
Worldwide, 40% of the workforce is made up of women and 28% of the businesses are run by women. In Turkey, the share of women in the workforce is 30.8% and 14% of micro businesses and 18% of SME’s are run by women (EBRD Women Entrepreneurs and Their Relationship with Banks Study 2013).
Women have high economic potential and supporting them will contribute to the nation’s economy and eventually the world economy. This is the starting point for TEB’s vision of addressing the issues women face in the business world with an integrated service concept and TEB continued this effort in 2016. TEB carried out work to provide financial and non-financial support for women for sustainable economic growth and unleash the hidden economic potential of women with the visions of “The Women’s Consultant Bank” and “the Bank that most women want to work with” and focused its work in 4 main headings.
Strong access to finance through international sources
SME’s with women bosses need easy access to funding in order to be able to compete globally and ensure survival with consistent growth. Women face problems in access to funding, especially in finding collateral and acquiring loans so much so that they sometimes give up at the very beginning. Solving this problem will set up the stage for women where they can take part in the economy not only as consumers but as producers as well.
To this end, TEB introduced credit without material collateral and special financing packages. TEB is intermediating EUR 50 million funding through the “Consultancy and Financial Support for Enterprises Run by Women” program that is hosted by European Union and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Ministry of Labor and Social Security and Turkish Labor Agency. The program is aiming to support women and the businesses run by women as well as entrepreneurship by women. This EUR 50 million funding is given out to women banking customers in the micro business and agriculture segment in the form of loans without material collateral up to TL 75,000 and to women banking customers in the SME segment in the form of loans without material collateral up to TL 125,000. Within this collaboration program that started in 2015, over TL 205 million funding has been handed out to more than 5,200 customers by the end of 2016.
Additionally, Women bosses are granted loans up to TL 100,000, backed 85% by Credit Guarantee Fund surety with maturities ranging from 6 months to 5 years. If they qualify for it, women bosses are given up to two years no payment period.
Another funding alternative that is offered to women bosses is making use of their gold in the form of ornaments or bullion. Women can transfer these gold into pure gold through the jewelry shops that have an agreement with TEB and use that gold depo deposits as collateral against commercial instalment loans of up to TL 30,000 with up to 24 months maturity of which the first 3 months may be with no payment.
Special cost and product packages are developed for women that enable utilization of certain banking transactions for free or with a reduced cost.
Access to information through different routes
According to the Global Economic Paper issued by Goldman Sachs, increasing the education of women by 1 % boosts the GDP of that country by 3.37% and in education ‘access to knowledge’ has a key role. TEB is creating intricate solutions to provide the information women need to grow their businesses.
TEB Women Academy which brings women bosses together with inspiring women of the business world is a special program that offers women bosses training programs to develop their leadership talents and business management skills through workshops. In 2016, TEB collaborated with TOBB (The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey) Women Entrepreneurs Board in order to reach more women bosses and in some cities amendments were made to the workshops to better meet the needs of that specific region. The “investment workshop” added to the TEB Women Academy organized in Bursa in November was an example of these special programs and during the workshop, the investment opportunities to businesses run by women and the relationship between women bosses and investors were discussed. In the education program in this city, cooperation with Arya Women Platform enabled the evaluation of the opportunities in this area with the women bosses of the city. In 2016, over 16 Women Academies were organized in 12 cities and over 2,000 individuals attended those programs.
In keeping with the aim of presenting information to women bosses through different modes of communication, @teblekadin Facebook page is actively utilized as well as the TEB SME TV. In the TEB SME TV Women Bosses Screen approximately 170 videos were uploaded and in these videos a wide range of content varying from finance management to developing leadership skills along with inspiring success stories were featured. In the Women Bosses Screen, issues like social roles of the women bosses, overcoming the barriers in business life, maintaining the balance between work and home are tackled with useful tips in short videos. Especially the profiles of inspiring women who have built their businesses and went through difficulties while growing it and the success they achieved are useful in conveying the message “you can do it too” to women bosses. TEB SME TV was popular with viewing time averages of almost 4 minutes.
TEB Women Academy which is about physically getting together with women bosses in various cities and giving trainings have been carried on to @teblekadin Facebook page in order to reach a greater number of women bosses. Women with TEB on Air live streamings featured trainings on various subjects such as cash management, growing through internet, increasing the profitability of your establishment or penetrating the consumer market through neuromarketing every Thursday for 20 minute periods. A number of women with different profiles like Ayşe Aslan, Ebru Üzümcü, Ayşe Şule Bilgiç and Evrim Aras became guest lecturers on the @teblekadin Facebook page. By the end of 2016, there were 19 live streamings with educational contents that reached 1.2 million people in over 92,000 viewings.
Mentoring Support
Research show that women display an increase in their self-worth, awareness and use of skills when they receive mentoring. TEB structured a special support program within the scope of the Women Banking activities in order to address this one of the most important requirements of women bosses. Women in business from different sectors are able to make use of this mentoring program that came alive as a result of the agreement signed with the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women located in the United Kingdom.
Cherie Blair Foundation for Women which is active in 80 countries worldwide is reaching out to women in Turkey for the first time through this mentoring program enabled by TEB. The foundation has provided mentoring services to 1,800 women in 80 countries in a 5 year period and now with its cooperation with TEB, women bosses in Turkey are meeting with women with successful careers in technology, communication, human resources and finance from various countries and gathering information on critical issues like preparing a business plan, HR strategies, financial systems, product development, new markets and customer acquisition. Women bosses participating in this program receive mentoring in the form of 45 minutes long online meetings through channels like Skype, Google Hangout etc. with the mentors they are matched with for one year. The number of customers participating to the program is 24 by the end of 2016.
Along with the funding provided by EBRD, TEB customers are also able to receive mentoring support from successful business women within the scope of EBRD’s mentoring program. EBRD is also organizing educational seminars in various cities in order to inform the women bosses in Anatolia. TEB is attending these programs and meeting with women bosses and delivering detailed information regarding the program.
Access to Markets
Accessing new markets is one of the major problems for any enterprise. New territories to reach new customers are one of the most important dynamics that affect the growth process of the companies. Research shows that women bosses have a harder time in comparison to men dealing with socio cultural norms and creating means to access new markets. This difficulty is costing women bosses a lot of lost opportunities.
TEB became a member of “WEConnect International” that operates in Turkey in order to increase the presence of women bosses in the economy and help them access new markets. WEConnect is a worldwide organization that supports companies that are at least 51% owned by women through trainings and consultancy services in order to prepare them to work with companies that are considered big on a regional or global basis and thus include them in the supply chain. TEB, who strives to see women take part in the economy not just as consumers but as producers also, targets to make the companies with women leaders a part of the supply chain and carry women entrepreneurs to higher places in the competition with its WEConnect membership. The bank intermediated 30 of its customers to become a part of the global supply chain and helped those customers’ access new markets. In order to enable women’s participation in the supply chain, TEB is including WEConnect member firms in TEB’s supplier pool.
All this integrated service cycle generated a lot of attention in the national and international media with the “Women Bosses in a Growing Economy” ad campaign. Especially the advertisement and PR in the digital channels have been very fruitful and the ad has been viewed 3,096,803 times in digital channels. The advertising film in which TEB announces that the Bank is guarantor for the women bosses got a lot of attention in Twitter and it has been chosen as the ‘Exemplary Project’ of 2016 as it has been a new advertising model used in finance for the first time. The ad campaign was successful in attracting the attention of its target audience, during the campaign the ratio of women who tweeted using the #kadinpatronlar hashtag was 56% despite the fact that 59% of active twitter users are male and 41% are female.
After the advertising campaign in 2016, TEB concentrated in its communication with the women bosses and sponsored special events that carried themes like the role of women in the society and leadership of women. “Digital Heels” event that took place on November 2016 stands out as an event that brings together women who are active in business and life in general and who are opinion leaders in the digital world. Within the scope of the support given to this project, the inspiring stories, problems and points made by these women who have an idea, a project or a stand were streamlined live on TEB SME TV, Facebook and Periscope so that they could be heard by the masses. During the event day, the live broadcast through Facebook reached an audience of 32,000 and the Periscope to over 9,000. In social media posts of the “teblekadin” account attracted the most attention and the hashtag “dijitaltopuklar2016” made the trending topics list as one of the most followed account.
The experience and know-how acquired in all segments has set an example all around the world
A great acceleration has been gained with the support given in every segment served, from entrepreneurs to women bosses, from micro businesses to SMEs, to help them overcome some of the obstacles they face in business life, to be able to compete globally and attain a consistent growth and the experiences that TEB gained has set an example to the banking sector on various platforms. TEB maintained its distinctive standing in international arena with its successful products and services in 2016 as well.
Following the recognition, TEB gained as one of the best 3 banks in the world in “Nonfinancial services for SME’s” by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in 2011, TEB started to share and transfer its experience and know how collected in SME’s to banks in various countries all over the world. These efforts continued in 2016 and TEB had the opportunity to share its success story with the finance sector of Brazil, USA, Indonesia, Jordan, Colombia and Malaysia and presented its know-how to the banks in developing countries such as Nigeria, Pakistan and Peru.
This experience also enabled TEB to attend meetings organized by European Financial Management Association (EFMA), one of the most important institutions of Banking and finance in the European Union. After hosting the EFMA meeting in Turkey the previous year, TEB had the chance to attend “SME Summit” in Berlin on March 2016 and share its experience with the banks and other financial institutions.
The worldwide success also opened the gates to membership in the international institutions that lead the economic and social life. Following the 2014 GBA (Global Banking Alliance for Women) membership, TEB has been invited to Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) and became the first bank member of this organization from Turkey. GBA’s members are banks and financial institutions that offer banking services for women and it is the greatest organization of its kind in the world. As a member, TEB earned a competency that constitute an example in 2016 with its Women Banking activities specially designed for women bosses. GBA organized a special study tour for TEB to present this experience to other banks in countries all over the world and in April 2016 in a 2 day organization TEB shared its know-how with banks from South Africa, Ireland, Nigeria and USA.
GBA has brought together 4 institutions that it deems as specialists in increasing the competency of women in the economy under the label “GBA All Star Academy” and TEB has been one of the institutions that presented its specialization on the subject with the rest of the world. At the “All Star Academy” that took place in Lahey on 13-16 June TEB, along with the other 3 banks that possess the best practices in the women banking in the world, discussed how to develop women banking practices with the upper management of the banks from various countries sharing its knowledge and practices and extended its support.
With all these organizations, TEB’s positioning in the GBA meetings has improved very much in 2016 and TEB’s successful Women Banking service model has been presented as a case study, making a model for the whole world. This case study has also been presented in the GBA Summit organized in September 2016 at Washington DC with the participation of 80 institutions from 45 countries.
Our Awards
In 2016, the services rendered and the consultant bank approach and especially the advertising campaign for TEB Women Banking, has brought many merit and communication awards to TEB.
For the advertising ad that underlines the power of women in business life and economy, TEB Women Banking was handed in the Stevie Awards the Gold award in the Best New Product/Service - Customer Service category and a silver Stevie in the Marketing Campaign of the year category, while in PR News the Twitter and Digital Marketing Campaign Honorary Award was given to TEB. TEB Women Banking was also chosen the National Champion in the European National Awards with its women boss’s consultant bank approach which includes the information, training and mentoring provided for women bosses. In the Global Banking Awards organized by one of the most prestigious institutions in financial services and banking, Bank Administration Institute, Innovation in Societal and Community Impact in Banking Award was handed to TEB. TEB also became a finalist in the Financial World Innovation Awards.
For its “Consultant Bank of SME’s” approach that encompasses the different requirements of all the segments of SMEs from women banking to entrepreneurs, TEB SME Banking has been chosen as the Best Bank in Social Responsibility in Central and Eastern Europe in 2016 Euromoney Excellency Awards.
Business Development
In 2016, within the scope of the collaborations in the Bill Payment Systems area, TEB signed contracts with 20 Payment Companies and finished the integration processes. This acquired over 6,000 bill collection points as customers to the Bank and gave the branches cross selling opportunities. A new payment channel has been introduced with a specially designed and developed technological infrastructure for each of the billing companies that TEB is currently working with and the relationships have been reinforced. Creating synergy among different business lines was a priority in this project.
TEB has developed projects to be implemented in 2017 that involves cooperation with Electronic Money Institutions.
Collaborations with companies in electronics, white goods, transportation and technology, especially in the area of e-commerce, has been sought and work has been carried out in the credit and card products to ease the processes for the final consumer simultaneously across different sectors.
Customer Experience
TEB is constantly tuned in to the demands of its customers with the aim of fulfilling its vision of “becoming the most recommended bank” and The Bank is carrying out activities with a design oriented approach in order to improve the “TEB experience” of its customers.
The following developments were included within the scope of the work carried out in 2016.
Bancassurance
TEB provides a wide range of insurance and private pension products and services through:
At the end of December 2016, the sector had recorded 33.5%* growth in bancassurance life insurance premium production on a YoY basis, whereas TEB had achieved 0.9% growth. In the non-life insurance branch, bancassurance premium production grew by 19.9%*, while TEB achieved a 14.6% rate of growth.
TEB bancassurance continued to provide services from both TEB branches and alternative distribution channels in 2016 to meet its customers’ needs for insurance and individual pension products. During 2016, projects were carried out for customers to purchase products and services not only from the branches, but also from alternative distribution channels. Policy purchasing and monitoring through customer interaction center and internet banking is made available. Activities to diversify products sold through these channels will continue.
In addition to insurance products, together with Individual Pension System regulations, communication and marketing campaigns were carried out to inform existing and potential customers of government funding practices and to help them take advantage of them.
In compliance with the new legal regulations, TEB is constantly striving to further develop and improve its business processes in order to provide the best insurance and individual pension services to its customers. In line with this objective, the comprehensive projects launched in 2014 will be continued in 2017 as well.
* Taken from sales channel based monthly sector premium production report issued by Insurance Association of Turkey.
The TEB Family Academy
As part of its responsible banking approach, TEB established TEB Family Academy in 2012 in order to enhance financial literacy and raise an awareness of saving in the society. With free trainings to public and private sector employees, TEB Family Academy provided more than 225,000 individuals financial literacy trainings by the end of 2016.
In order to reach more people through different platforms, cooperation with the General Directorate of Lifelong Education, which is an affiliation of the Republic of Turkey Ministry of National Education, for the “I can manage my budget” project, which aims to provide free financial literacy training to 5 million people in 3 years. Besides, in 2016 another protocol was signed with the Directorate General for Vocational and Technical Education, again an affiliation of the Republic of Turkey Ministry of National Education, 1.2 million high school students will be educated with financial content embedded in their banking and accountancy classes.
In the last few years, 11 million elementary school pupils benefited from financial literacy through arts and music courses in the compulsory curriculum through the “Social and Financial Education through Art” project implemented by TEB, the Republic of Turkey Ministry of National Education and UNICEF. A total of 30,000 children came to watch “The Wind’s Piggy Bank”, the first play staged by the TEB Children’s Theatre, which was established as part of the TEB Family Academy with the aim of raising awareness of savings and accumulation among children. The play was shown to children free of charge during the Turkey tour.
With 4 prizes won in 2016, TEB Family Academy has been awarded 9 prizes since its establishment in 2012.
In 2016, the following awards were handed:
Saving Opportunities for Everyone
TEB offered the “Ingenious Account” product which it has developed as an alternative savings account in a bid to change Turkey’s savings habits. There were approximately 400,000 “Ingenious Accounts” by the end of 2016. Approximately 17,000 young people took advantage of Ingenious Young Account that enables opening saving accounts at attractive rates for as little as TL 100.
In 2016, TEB Housing Account and TEB Dowry Account that benefits from state contribution has been offered to customers who wanted to save money in order to buy a house or get married.
Damla Fund, on the other hand, has been introduced for customers who wanted to save regularly in small amounts.
Approximately 40,000 customers made use of the “Opportunity Account” which is a savings account offered to upper-level customers that allows them to switch between TL, USD, EUR and GBP currencies, or to convert their savings into gold.
TEB Star Banking
TEB Star Banking products and services are designed for medium- and upper-segment customers and are provided by personal customer representatives and through the TEB Customer Interaction Center and the segment’s own website.
BNP Paribas, one of the world’s most powerful banks and TEB’s global partner, brings together Customer Journey middle-upper segment group customers in Turkey, France, Italy, Belgium and Luxembourg under a single roof with BNPP Priority. TEB Star aims to meet all of its customers’ banking needs thoroughly and with the highest priority and allow customers perform domestic and international banking transactions through BNP Paribas’s widespread global network for their use as a member of BNPP Priority.
TEB Star Banking, which has expanded its service network rapidly throughout Turkey, increased its number of customers by 19.88% and its volume by 40% when compared to the end of 2015.
The main activities carried out in this segment in 2016 can be summed up as follows:
Retail segment and loans
TEB stepped up its customer-focused activities in 2016 with a focus on specific customer needs in each segment and determining the service models and finally increasing the quality of service. In this respect, work aiming at identifying the segment strategies from end to end and determining the value offers in order to increase the interaction of the customers with the Bank and enable them to receive better banking services, has been speeded up.
Developing a communication program to inform the customers about the service channels and the financial products and services available to them from the moment they become acquainted with the Bank to the moment they leave, is a priority for the Bank.
Improvement studies where the customers and their needs are in the focus has been initiated by taking into account the work on processes, customer feedback and NPS results.
With the awareness that financial products and services are always with the customers, TEB is targeting to develop programs that will increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, present the right products at the right time with specially designed campaigns to meet the personal requirements of the customers and thus, display the qualities of responsible banking.
TEB speeded up the development of non-branch channels to meet the cash requirements of their customers in a timely manner. While it is possible to apply for consumer loans through SMS, mobile, internet, internet branch and call center; loan disbursements have become available through PTT branches, internet branch or mobile channels on a 24/7 basis. Approximately 40% of loan disbursements without collateral go through digital channels. TEB will continue to develop its non-branch channels in 2017.
In 2016, the infrastructure remodeling of all the branch and alternative channels for retail loans have been completed and improvements have been observed not only in the timing but also in the quality of the services rendered.
In housing and auto loans, it is important to meet the needs of the customers at the very location that these transactions take place. In this respect, efforts have been undertaken to reinforce relationships with the auto dealers and real estate agencies. Along with better performance measurement and actions to increase collaboration, TEB maintains its specialty and know-how in purchase oriented loans in 2016.
Active sales channels
TEB Sales Management maintains its leadership in the sector with the use of superior technology as well as by providing a variety of products and services for sales undertaken through the tablet platform with the field team of 290 staff throughout Turkey. In 2016, 10% of total loans were disbursed through PTT.
The objective of TEB Active Sales Channels team is to bring all banking services to customers by selling multiple products.
Mass customer acquisition and performance management
TEB put customers receiving salaries paid through the Bank at the foundation of its growth in retail banking and 46% of its newly acquired customers were obtained from this channel in 2016. TEB placed priority on university payments in 2015 and in 2016 expanded its portfolio of universities and offered facility for university salary or tuition fee payments for 18 universities. Thanks to the online infrastructure developed for school payment, during registration mobile sales teams collect tuition fee payments with tablets and the university registers those payments simultaneously.
Customer Interaction Center
As the display window of institutions, interaction centers, with the synergy they produce in the companies and the contribution they make to profitability, will be positioned more strategically in the future and play a more than ever critical role for the companies. In a digitizing world, interaction centers cannot possibly continue to exist in their current states therefore their changes in the areas of culture, technology, behavior and principles will invariably continue in search for a better place.
2016 was a successful year for the TEB Customer Interaction Center in terms of business results and human focus.
In 2016, TEB Customer Interaction Center:
Customer Interaction Center that successfully represents TEB in Call Center sector with its business model, technological investments and human resources:
TEB Customer Interaction Center is collaborating with business lines in the Bank on methodologies such as multi talent management, motivation trainings, answering branch calls, education materials prepared with mind maps and search engines for easy access to information along with configuration of voice technologies with an emphasis on efficiency and customer orientation and creating synergies with BNP Paribas on issues like sales culture, voice technologies, proactive channels, efficient human resource management.
In addition to these collaborations, the Center has been a pioneer for the Turkey Bank Call Centers with its strong technical infrastructure and sharing the audio technologies that has been developed in the last couple of years as exemplary practices within the BNP Paribas Group.
The practices that stood out in 2016 include;
Additionally, work on Credit Line, Smart Messaging Platform, Chatbot, Agricultural Product Specialization, Web Chat & Bot are continuing.
Exceptional Approaches for the Future
TEB has been offering private banking services under the name of Asset Management since 1989 and was the first bank to provide private banking and asset management services in a real sense in the sector. TEB Private Banking, aims to provide products and services that make a difference to customers by combining TEB and BNP Paribas’ global knowledge and experiences with its innovative approach.
TEB Private Banking develops solutions that are tailor-made and that will add value to assets by identifying customer needs and expectations through 13 Private Banking Centers and 11 in-branch service points throughout Turkey.
The TEB Private Banking Academy
The TEB Private Banking Academy was one of the innovations launched in 2015 aimed at increasing sales and relationship management competencies, as well as the technical competencies of customer representatives; the Academy continued its trainings in 2016.
The Academy was set up with contributions from the TEB Education Department and in collaboration with Bilgi University, with the courses consisting of 14 days of training and 4 modules. Customer representatives go through extensive training under the headings of strategic thinking, networking, influencing and persuasion skills which will also contribute especially to personal development and they renew their knowledge of investment products, loans, insurance, taxation and law. Successful customer representatives receive a certificate from Bilgi University.
Private Banking Angel Investment Platform
TEB’s approach of acting as a consultant bank is its guiding principle in the TEB Private Banking products and services that it designs and offers. TEB Private Banking regards it as its mission not just to provide its customers with traditional products and services but also to proactively acquaint them with alternative and different ways of putting their assets to work. In this context, the TEB Private Angel Investment Platform implemented in 2013 offers a new investment opportunity to customers seeking investments for their assets in areas outside traditional financial instruments. The Bank continues to contribute towards bringing Turkey’s entrepreneurs in the economy together by directing capital to promising projects.
TEB Private Banking is mediating for investors to purchase Individual Participation Investors (IPI) license through the Angel Investment Platform channel and following up the investment processes by submitting documents and information pertaining to the investments made through the channel to the Republic of Turkey Prime Ministry Undersecretariat of Treasury.
TEB Private Banking Investors Club
The TEB Private Banking Investors Club was created under the guidance of TEB Private Banking, which brings together business customers from various sectors who themselves are devoted angel investors. The Club aims to offer an international experience to its members by including Silicon Valley investors into its body. The TEB Private Investors Club, which aims to bring mutual benefit by sharing enterprise opportunities with its members, is an international investment network. The most important feature of the Club, which distinguishes itself from other angel networks and investment clubs, is that it is a venture company. In such a company, investments are undertaken either in companies which a member has decided to invest in or has already invested in.
The Club is built on its members’ trust in each other and has adopted the mission of contributing beyond finance in the entrepreneurial ecosystem with its members who make a new investment every month.
TEB Fintech Future Four
In 2016, TEB Fintech Future Four, a brand new support program for start-ups that has ideas or projects in finance technology has been introduced. The program aims at facilitating the development and manufacturing of technologies in Turkey that will change, shape and make a difference in the banking and finance world. TEB’s involvement in this process within this program comprises of providing the funding for the start-up’s to develop their ideas and offer guidance in the commercialization stage. Ultimately, it is TEB’s target to see the entrepreneurs be successful on a global scale with their own companies.
TEB accepted applications on the subjects of Know Your Customer/Information Security, Roboadvisory, Virtual Customer Relationship Management, Real Time Marketing, New Generation Payment/Contracted Company Technologies, Loyalty/Gaming through the dates 20 September-20 November 2016 and will be choosing 4 ideas among those applications to develop along with its know-how, research, experience and capabilities in 2017.
TEB Private iPad App
The TEB Private Banking iPad app, the first in the private banking sector in Turkey, was commissioned in 2011 by TEB and was subsequently developed to provide a service from a different channel by reaching its customers in digital media and to create value.
TEB Private Network Mobile Application
The TEB Private Network, a social network application, was created to offer TEB Private Banking customers the opportunity to share important information between each other by creating a closed network among them through TEB Private Banking. It was also set up to provide special offers and opportunities for the users.
Through the TEB Private Banking Network, users share their interests and likes and have the opportunity to communicate with each other.
TEB Private Digital Museum.
TEB Private Banking keeps pace with the evolving and changing world with its new projects and supports the effects of digital transformation on human life with innovative ideas.
The TEB Private Digital Museum (www.tebozelmuze.com), is Turkey's first digital museum platform. It aims to present the stories of the less known art objects to all the art lovers as told by the collectors and to support art collection in Turkey.
It was designed as a project where collectors can meet art lovers. From the point of view that each collection has its own story, the collections are immortalized in the TEB Private Digital Museum. The Museum was designed to act like an educational platform as well.
Consultancy services with TEB Private
TEB Private Banking Investment Consultants assign investment products analyzing the risk profiles and asset breakdowns of each customer and in accordance with their risk preference, financial state and long term investment plans.
“Your assets have a story to tell. Come, let’s write that story together…”
In line with its “Your assets have a story to tell. Come, let’s write that story together…” vision, TEB Private Banking seeks to stand by its customers not only when dealing with their financial needs but also in all aspects of their life. In this context, the Bank supports many events in the fields of art, sports and others. TEB Private Banking customers participate in photographic exhibitions, concerts and sporting events, of which TEB is the sponsor, as special guests.
TEB Private credit cards
TEB Private Banking customers qualify both for the TEB Private Platinum Card and for the TEB Private World Elite Card, a comprehensive and exclusive card offered in the MasterCard system. Customers may benefit from free lounge access in airports in various parts of the world with the Priority Pass Card that is complimentary for holders of the TEB Private World Elite Card. The TEB Private World Elite Card is still one of the most special cards in the sector with a 10% expense reimbursement in domestic and international restaurants and hotels.
Card marketing product and portfolio management
TEB continued to make a difference in the sector with its customer-oriented, innovative products in 2016 as in previous years. With over 40 different products the Bank aims to ease the lives of its customers and keeps adding features to its products.
TEB’s market share in total credit card numbers went up to 3.06% from 3.03% last year with the additional 1.8 million cards. The total transaction volume on the 300,000 Merchant Card products of Agriculture, Micro Business, SME, Jewelry and Entrepreneur Card segments adds up to TL 6.3 billion annually.
Thanks to the infrastructure TEB owns, the Bank is able to serve customers almost 100% with no disruption all over the world.
The important developments and novelties in the card products segment in 2016 are as follows:
Member business sales, marketing and product development
At the end of 2016, TEB POS was offering services at approximately 112,000 points providing Bonus advantages of installment and points in 50,324 of the POS terminals and register POS (PRD-Payment Recorder Device) services in 37,662 of the POS terminals. The PRD POS market share is above 4%.
TEB POS supported 12 cash register POS brands such as Beko, Ingenico, Profilo, Vera, Hugin, Panaroma, Mikrosaray and Informatik brands. TEB became one of the banks that offered the most alternatives to businesses within its consultant bank approach and led the sector through campaigns which include opportunities intended for end users and device variety.
The TEB POS works with 5 different payment system providers; Visa, MasterCard, Amex, Union Pay and TROY by following trends in payment systems. This way, the businesses can accept the cards of the major payments systems with just one deal and one device.
In 2016, infrastructure investments have been made to POS product and POS systems have been renewed from end to end. The new POS system is 60% faster than the old one enabling the Bank to respond more rapidly and provide a much higher quality member business service to customer who demand it.
The quality of the services provided to businesses are regularly measured by NPS and improvements are made constantly.
At the end of 2016, TEB’s total POS sales volume amounted to TL 17.4 billion.
Digital Banking Experience carried forward with CEPTETEB
The CEPTETEB Digital Banking Platform, which was launched in March 2015 offering non-financial benefits as well as financial services, expanded its customer base and continued to improve the digital banking experiences of its customers in 2016. CEPTETEB offers a customer experience that is built on ease and speed, i.e. users can apply to join anytime, anywhere through the “CEPTETEB Customer Relationship Managers”. As of year-end CEPTETEB has reached a total of 350,000 customers and a deposit volume of TL 3.3 billion, becoming one of the fastest growing digital banks of Turkey.
CEPTETEB continued its collaboration with IDO, TEV, Yemeksepeti, Markafoni, Workinton and Hotels.com offering opportunities and benefits to customers. Thanks to its high performance, CEPTETEB broke even earlier than planned and success story of its first year of operations have been published on Facebook, Google and Gartner as case studies.
The average age of CEPTETEB customers is 32 and 55% are university or graduate degree holders, a customer segment whose behavior is shaped by technology and digitization. CEPTETEB has all the attributes of new generation banking this customer segment demands, both in terms of the product range and the functionality. Its clean cut design, simple menu structure and practical use enable customers to easily do their banking transactions. Also, users do not have to be TEB customers to make use of the advantageous products that are specially offered through digital platforms.
CEPTETEB is providing its customers distinctive products and services abroad as well. Customers can withdraw cash without any fees at 50,000 ATMs in 6 continents, use their credit cards to withdraw cash from their accounts and switch those accounts from CEPTETEB Control Panel in an instant.
82% of TEB customers are using digital channels
In 2016, 82% of TEB’s customers used digital banking channels, with customers making increasing use of this channel. In 2016, the Bank’s internet user base exceeded 900,000, the number of customers actively using the mobile banking application reached 660,000. With these accomplishments, the share of digital banking in TEB’s total banking transactions stands at 87%. In 2016, 73% of cash deposited, 89% of cash withdrawals, 80% of credit card payments, 87% of bill payments and 96% of fund transfers are done through TEB’s digital banking channels.
In 2016, the number of TEB ATMs stood at 1,708 throughout Turkey and 68 million transactions were carried out at ATMs.
TEB continued to reduce operating costs and its income-expenditure ratio by transferring the branch transactions made during 2016 to digital channels.
Stepping up its investment in mobile technology
TEB continued to invest in mobile technologies in 2016. In this respect, new features have been added to CEPTETEB Mobile Application increasing the number of transactions available through mobile and improving the customer experience. The added features include joining credit card campaigns through the application, stock transactions and investments and for corporate client’s foreign exchange transactions and company credit card transactions. The credit card and application processes are totally digitalized and finalized with no need to physically go to the branch, thus improvement is attained in the processes and the customer experience.
Considering the mobile banking as strategically important, TEB initiated CEPTETEB Mobile Wallet functions such as contactless payment and TAV Passport Fast Track at contracted airports Customers who downloaded the CEPTETEB application to their smartphones began making payments with mobile phones without the need for a physical credit card. In addition, CEPTETEB customers are able to pass through rapid transition units at TAV airports and toll gates at IDO turnstiles at ferry ports with the QR Code produced from their CEPTETEB Mobile Wallet.
Customers are granted a safe passage to e-Devlet (e-State) through the e-Devlet feature in internet banking and a number of applications were introduced for different customer segments. TEB Private Network Application is a closed social network that enables information sharing among the TEB Private Banking customers. TEB Star Banking application on the other hand, was available for TEB Star banking customers at Google Play Store and App Store by September 2016. This application allows TEB Star Banking customers to make use of the special opportunities available for them, make reservations, apply for TEB Star Priority Credit Card, find the closest ATM/Branch, search market data and rapid access to CEPTETEB mobile banking app.
Addition of CEPTETEB official account to the “find” section of instant messaging application BiP, enables BiP users to search for market data and closest ATM by boot, access to application screens for a loan, credit card and be a customer through the CEPTETEB account.
As the users started to search and check their financial data more often, Finance Coach, a personal finance management tool has been added to CEPTETEB internet Branch, allowing customers to check their financial budgets online. Using this feature, customers can control their income and expenses on a monthly basis, examine their spending categories, see how much other profiles similar to them make and spend each month. They can also determine a monthly budget target, get notifications when they are close to or over their budget so that they can take action, specify a target for future and configure how much they need to save to reach that target with the help of Finance Coach.
A total of 15 awards
TEB’s digital banking channels won 15 awards in prestigious competitions both at home and abroad in 2016.
The “How to make the ends meet” project, which has been prepared for the CEPTETEB Consumer Loan, has won the Silver Award at the 28th Crystal Apple Awards, Microsites/ Service Category and Success Award at the 11th MediaCat Felis Awards, Microsite category.
TEB in Social media
TEB communicates directly with its customers through social media especially Facebook page with almost 1 million members and 92% response rate. TEB is also the first company in Turkey to use the live streaming feature on Facebook.
CEPTETEB digital banking platform is serving its digital customers 7/24 on social media with 100% response rate and 12 minutes response time.
TEB, one of the first banks in Turkey to develop an “Asset and Liability Management” approach, has adopted a management style based on cautious, sound and long-term strategies with its competent and experienced staff and the transfer of know-how from the BNP Paribas Group. The Asset-Liability Management and Treasury Group, which have been working since 2005 manages interest, liquidity and structural foreign exchange risks with the aim of protecting the Bank’s sustainable profit.
In 2016, the Group continued to support the subsidiaries within the boundaries dictated by the legislation to help them work efficiently in their respective fields.
Notable improvement in the Liquidity Ratios
In a year when economic and political risks emerged one after the other, The Asset-Liability Management and Treasury Group significantly outperformed thanks to the proactive hedge strategies it utilized in interest rate management and contributed to the profitability of the Bank in 2016. There has been notable improvement in the liquidity ratios due to the actions taken towards diversifying the funding sources and lengthening the maturity to ensure a sound and stable liquidity.
Specialization in Derivative Instruments
The Asset-Liability Management and Treasury Group plays a critical role in the decision making processes through the accurate modelling of interest rate and liquidity risks and measurement of actualizations with its competent, analytical and specialist personnel. The modelling and measurement processes are even faster in 2016, thanks to the investments made in the information technologies.
The Group is monitoring the local and international markets closely to foresee the possible price fluctuations and to mitigate the structural interest, FX and liquidity risks these fluctuations may cause in the balance sheet of the Bank. The specialty that is required to be able to eliminate those risks is another strength of the Asset-Liability Management and Treasury Group. On the other hand the Group is in close communication with all the business lines to ensure the balance sheet is realized with the right costs and competitive prices. Periodical meetings and visits are scheduled to establish an efficient relationship with the branch network.
Diversity in Funding
The Asset-Liability Management and Treasury Group aimed at creating a strong and stable liquidity for the Bank by transforming the main source of funding for the Bank, likewise deposits into a less concentrated structure. To this end, the right pricing strategies were determined in coordination with each business line and these efforts yielded successful results in the second half of the year. In line with the Bank’s belief in virtual banking, the Group kept supporting the pricing through the CEPTETEB channel. In accordance with its purpose of diversifying funding sources, Group also initiated work towards cash flow based funding product that is meant for long term funding from international markets.
Continued synergetic collaboration with BNP Paribas
Information flow between BNP Paribas and TEB Asset-Liability Management and Treasury for the tailoring of BNP Paribas’ know how in modelling analyses to the requirements of Turkey continued in 2016. Competitive pricing of export credits and credits to corporate companies have been enabled by the cost efficient funding provided by BNP Paribas.
TEB Corporate and Investment Banking was set up in 2011 in order to offer the Bank’s clients a new range of products and innovative solutions.
The main purpose of Corporate Investment Banking Group is to match the needs of the clients with custom made international solutions in a fast and effective manner. To this end, BNP Paribas’ competency in global products are presented to the clients and opportunities in international scale arise.
The Group continued to create client-oriented additional synergies in Financial Markets, Large Corporate Groups, Large Corporate Groups Finance and Corporate Finance.
2016 has been a year when TEB has been able to continue the acceleration it has gained the year before despite the ongoing competition and toughening market conditions. In almost every borrowing and international market transaction realized by the targeted clients, BNP Paribas’ wide range of products and geographical network has been efficiently utilized. Providing consulting services to companies that target strategic opportunities at home or abroad, TEB also offers loans and capital market transactions as supportive services.
In 2016, there has been significant growth in the capital market transactions without compromising risk management principles. Especially in foreign exchange and interest derivatives, new solutions to protect clients from risks have been developed and presented to the clients. Large Corporate Groups Department which was established the previous year to meet the requirements of Large Corporate clients, increased its market share by offering various structured products and funding alternatives to the pioneering companies in Turkey by making use of the BNP Paribas’ worldwide network. Corporate Finance Department served as consultant in big infrastructure projects in 2016, intermediated strategic investments and helped private capital funds in Turkey with their business ideas thanks to the rich client portfolio of TEB.
A Structure that meets all the requirements of Investment Banking
The Corporate Investment Banking Group, which combines TEB’s power in the local market with BNP Paribas’ expertise and experience in capital markets, its structured finance and consulting, has a structure that can respond to all needs in these areas as a stand-alone entity.
The Corporate Investment Banking is integrated into TEB’s client portfolio and BNP Paribas’ product range. This allows the Group to benefit from both the growing network of clients within TEB and the strong product specialists at BNP Paribas.
TEB will also continue to provide to its clients treasury, structured debt and capital market solutions as well as investment opportunities in the coming period.
An innovative approach in Securities Services
Since 2007, TEB Securities Services has been providing local custody and settlement services that BNP Paribas originally inaugurated in Turkey back in the 1990s under TEB brand.
TEB Securities Services serves its clients with its team of specialists at TEB Head Office. The department offers local custody and settlement services to its domestic and foreign clients in cooperation with BNP Paribas Securities Services, which is Europe’s largest custodian bank. With its innovative and meticulous approach, the department creates solutions for post-trade needs pertaining to capital market instruments, which may arise subsequent to the investment decisions of financial institutions, institutional investors and issuers.
TEB Securities Services provides;
Headlines of 2016
In 2016, TEB Securities Services continued its success of previous years, by taking on new clients and effectively managing the increased transaction volumes of its existing ones.
In parallel with other changes brought about by the new Capital Market Law enacted at the end of 2012, individual and collective portfolio custody services that will be presented to portfolio management companies were structured such that they could be provided to non-group companies.
A more competitive Capital Market Instruments Service Department
TEB remained the choice of clients seeking more than a custodian bank post-trade services aimed at capital market instruments thanks to its global perspective, pioneering and client-focused approach in 2016.
All the developments in capital markets and banking sector brought about by regulatory institutions such as Borsa Istanbul, Takasbank and Merkezi Kayıt Kuruluşu (Central Registry Agency) are followed closely from legal, technological and operational aspects. Our teams have promptly responded to any change that may have an impact on the securities services business with investments in new products and technology.
TEB’s Securities Services stood out from the competition in 2016 with investments aimed at achieving operational excellence and with priority given to helping its clients expand their businesses.
TEB sees market developments as opportunities of new cooperation areas with its clients. The objective of the department is to implement innovative solutions that will contribute to the development of the business line as well as the market by taking the lead in post-trade services.
TEB Capital Market Instruments Services department is in close communication with market regulators and authorities. In 2016, a representative from the department has been appointed as a member to the Banks Profession Committee of Turkish Capital Markets Association.
In 2017, Takasbank is going to be the central counterparty in Borsa Istanbul Stock Market and Borsa Istanbul Futures and Options Market platform operating system will be transferred to the BISTECH Platform that has been developed with Nasdaq OMX. The expansion of central counterparty model, which is already in effect for listed derivatives the stock market will boost the confidence of especially foreign investors in the Turkish Capital Markets and contribute to the growth and development of the market. Additionally, the platform change in BIST Futures and Options market will enable structural changes in the operation of the market that foreign institutional investors have been demanding for years. In 2016, TEB Securities Services has been focusing on efforts to increase the efficiency that will come about as a result of these two important changes in the market.
Collaborations in 2016
TEB Securities Services is part of BNP Paribas CIB and acts as the Turkey arm of BNP Paribas Securities. It works in close proximity to BNP Paribas entities that are also its custody clients with a consultant’s approach on information about the Turkish market and new capital market products.
The department works in strong collaboration with other TEB affiliates active in capital markets. In particular, the services related to Borsa Istanbul Futures and Options Market offered in partnership with TEB Investment has brought success in recent years. This has enabled TEB Investment to keep its place as one of the brokers with highest business volumes on Borsa Istanbul in 2016.
New products developed in 2016
The most important product which the Capital Market Instruments Services department worked on, in 2016 was the asset and fund services developed for Portfolio Management Companies. TEB has adapted this service shaped by the New Capital Market communique to meet the demands of its clients by taking the opportunity to offer it to third party portfolio management companies as well as Group companies.
In 2016, TEB Fintech Future Four, a brand new support program for start-ups that has ideas or projects in finance technology has been introduced. The program aims at facilitating the development and manufacturing of technologies in Turkey that will change, shape and make a difference in the banking and finance world.
Applications have been submitted through 20 September-20 November 2016 for the program and TEB’s involvement in this process comprises of providing the funding for the start-up’s to develop their ideas and offer guidance in the commercialization stage. Ultimately, it is TEB’s target to see the entrepreneurs be successful on a global scale with their own companies. TEB accepted applications on the subjects of Know Your Client/Information Security, Roboadvisory, Virtual Client Relationship Management, Real Time Marketing, New Generation Payment/Contracted Company Technologies, Loyalty/Gaming and will be choosing 4 ideas among those applications to develop along with its know-how, research, experience and capabilities in 2017.
The TEB Private Network, a social network application, was created to offer TEB Private Banking clients the opportunity to share important information between each other by creating a closed network among them through TEB Private Banking. It was also set up to provide special offers and opportunities for the users.
Through the TEB Private Banking Network, users share their interests and likes and have the opportunity to communicate with each other.
Virtual Account, the new product developed by TEB, is a collection management solution that enables automated identification of the ultimate sender of TL or foreign currency payments and automated integration of electronic account transactions with the EPR system.
TEB also developed a service that allows clients pay customs duty via SMS in 2016. Clients are able to pay their Customs Duty that is levied on following foreign trade transactions with just one SMS and the system works round the clock.
Containing information of over 1,500 companies, more than 20,000 suppliers in 160 countries, tebledisticaret.com is an online platform that acts as a guide to companies that would like to expand their horizons through foreign trade. The platform also contains over 10,000 sectoral reports. Users can access detailed information about the general profile, geographic location, state of the economy, cultural differences etc. of the markets that they are interested through tebledisticaret.com.
Tebledisticaret.com is notable for containing all sorts of relevant information pertaining to export and import procedures including but not limited to special government incentives, customs and local taxes, transportation options, relevant paperwork for foreign trade destinations.
“TEB Foreign Trade Development Program” is a dedicated development and education program where companies can get the training and consultancy services they need for their foreign trade activities.
This program is intended to guide the companies through the vast amount of information provided on the tebledisticaret.com platform. Companies who are new in foreign trade or simply want to increase their foreign trade volumes are trained on how to develop strategies for growth in foreign trade and on how to realize their action plans.
In addition to the information they acquire during the training, the companies who attend the program are also presented printed material to guide them to apply the growth and development programs in their companies. This program extends the horizons of SME’s in foreign trade through 4 different modules that analyze the growth management, risk minimization in foreign trade, market research and foreign trade activities of the companies.
The Bank is guiding the companies that wish to grow on foreign trade so that the companies who attend the program gain the competency to execute their foreign trade activities with the information and vision they acquire. With this new service, TEB is aiming to strengthen the positioning of the Turkish companies in international markets and be there for them at every step of the way.