Sberpochta. A large network bank will soon appear on the basis of the Russian Post. The project is under development. The bank does not yet have a name, no staff of key employees, no branch system, and experts have already predicted for him the laurels of Sberbank. However, there is no doubt: President Putin personally asked to allocate funds from the budget for the creation of the “post bank”. Andrey Kazmin, ex-chief of Sberbank, will head the new enterprise
For the development of FSUE 1 Russian Post decided to allocate 200 billion rubles. 50 billion of the total amount is planned to be directed to the implementation of a banking project symbiotic with the post office. New Year's gifts for the post office did not end on the promise of serious financial support. The main one is a real opportunity for the first time in its history to become a profitable enterprise. Of course, not due to an increase in the volume of postal items or an increase in the prices of stamps, envelopes or parcels. The bet is made on the bank that will be created on the basis of mail. Andrey Kazmin, ex-head of Sberbank, will take over the management of the Russian Post. At the end of November, he ceded the position he had held for the past 11 years to German Gref. After that, he joined the competition for the post of head of the Russian post office and won an unconditional victory. Simultaneously with Kazmin, several other key employees left their posts in Sberbank. Among others is Kazmin's deputy Alla Aleshkina, who in the Russian Post system is likely to be in charge of the banking project.
According to a proven plan
In terms of the modernization of the Russian postal service, the main bet is being placed on the banking project. According to the plan, it is he, and not the post office itself, that will have to earn money for the entire Federal State Unitary Enterprise. This is also indicated by the choice of the candidacy of the new head of the enterprise, Kazmin. In addition to 11 years of leadership of Sberbank (the bank is in the Top-10 in terms of revenue, 2nd place after Gazprom in terms of capitalization), he has the positions of Deputy Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation and executive secretary of the government working group of the commission on financial and monetary issues. country policy.
Kazmin's successful experience as a crisis manager will also be in demand. When he became head of Sberbank in 1996, the company's net assets did not exceed $25 million, capitalization was $1.5 billion. Now the first indicator has increased almost 60 times, the second - 7 times. Such a recovery will definitely not hurt the Russian mail. According to the results of 2006, FSUE's net loss amounted to almost 6 billion rubles. True, the methods of the banker are unlikely to please the postal workers. If German Gref has promised employees of Sberbank an increase in wages, then postal workers are more likely to expect severance pay. At one time, in order to increase the profitability of the enterprise entrusted to him, Kazmin closed dozens of unprofitable branches of Sberbank.
under a postage stamp
The base for the postal bank will most likely be Sviaz-Bank, which has existed since 1991 and is one of the 30 largest Russian banks. So far, not all post offices have its representative offices - 4.5 thousand points in 20 regions. But the Russian Post itself, regardless of Sviaz-Bank, offers a whole range of financial services that form about 46% of its income.
What is the potential advantage of the postal bank over Sberbank? The majority of Russians, according to the old memory of the savings bank since the Soviet times, pay all utilities there, make money transfers, open accounts. The postal bank could win back customers from Sberbank by playing on the same principle of trust. The pattern of low loyalty to new Russian banks can be overcome thanks to the competent positioning of the brand apart from the Russian Post, which is well known to the population. Another advantage that could be exploited is the one-stop-shop principle. Or rather, one post from the division. Ideally, when a person comes to the post office, in addition to sending correspondence and parcels, subscribing to the press and receiving a pension, he should be able to access the Internet, use telephony services, send a money transfer, withdraw cash from an ATM, pay utility bills or even buy food.
The Post Office, with its more than forty thousand branches, is a ready-made infrastructure for rendering and banking services. But the opening of a banking office, even without the construction of new premises, will cost about $500,000, and a bank branch, $1 million. So the government's 50 billion rubles will not be enough. Although the start of the banking project itself is important: the game is clearly worth the candle.
Foreign experience shows that the symbiosis of the post office and the banking sector brings good results. The main thing is to correctly build a system of interaction. Thus, Deutsche Postbank, the largest retail bank in Germany, serves more than 14.65 million customers. Postbank services can be used in every third post office - there are more than 44 thousand of them throughout the country (Russian Post has only 40 thousand branches throughout the country). The success of the coexistence of post and bank proves another European example - the Dutch ING Postbank. Founded in 1881, one of the largest banks in the country serves 8 million customers. Another postal bank is about to become the largest commercial bank in the world. This should happen as a result of the privatization of Japan's postal system Japan Post Corp., which began in October 2007. Its savings system controls over $3 trillion.
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1 FSUE is a federal state unitary enterprise.
