April 21, 2006, Moscow. - DeltaBank reports that the number of its Visa Electron Instant credit cards issued to private individuals has exceeded 300,000.
The bank started to issue Visa Electron Instant credit cards in September 2002 and gave out 100,000 by June 2004. This event was noted by a special certificate of the Visa International payment association.
The next milestone was passed in less than a year; the bank issued the 200,000th card in March 2005. Therefore, around 100,000 people become DeltaBank instant credit card holders per year on average.
DeltaBank President Richard Gaskin said, "This is undoubtedly a very important landmark in the implementation of the bank's long-term strategy aimed at further wide-scale promotion of DeltaBank's primary credit products in the Russian consumer finance market. Visa Electron Instant is just that kind of product. Customers can obtain these cards in 200 points of sale or DeltaBank offices in various regions of the country. Bank card holders have access to a revolving credit line and may use the cards anywhere in the world to pay for purchases and withdrawing cash at Visa International ATMs."
Richard Gaskin also noted that, "DeltaBank's ad campaign which launched recently to promote instant credit cards has already proven the high popularity of this credit product. Besides that, at the present time, as an addition to the cards the bank offers customers to insure credit payment in case of temporary loss of ability or other contingencies. Statistics show that every second card holder applies for this service which indicates growing responsibility of our customers for their financial obligations."
"Visa Electron Instant credit card is a product that enables people to experience the convenience and benefits of using a credit card," says Olivier Hughes, head of Visa International representative office in Russia. "Consumers have the opportunity to obtain the card when and where they feel the need for it. At the same time, Visa Electron Instant helps DeltaBank build strategically correct relations with customers, get to know them better and offer them higher class Visa products in the future as well as other bank products that meet the specific needs of the clients. The rapid development of this project and stable growth in the number of issued Visa Electron Instant credit cards indicates the success of this endeavor and confirms the efficiency of the approach chosen by the bank to developing the credit card business."
Founded in 1997, DeltaBank provides a variety of consumer finance products through branches and 149 imbedded points of sale in established retail outlets, such as IKEA, Ramstore and other major retailers. DeltaBank is a leading issuer of Visa Cards in the Russian market, with over 290,000 credit cards issued. In addition to bank cards, DeltaBank also provides personal loans and sales finance. The bank has representative offices in Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Krasnodar, Nizhniy Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-Don, Chelyabinsk, Samara and St. Petersburg. As of November 2004, the bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of GE Consumer Finance, a business of General Electric, Co
GE Consumer Finance is a leading provider of credit services in 41 countries, with assets of $117 billion. GE Consumer Finance meets the needs of over 100 million customers worldwide with products including private label credit cards and promotional retail finance to the world's leading retailers and manufacturers, personal loans, auto financing, corporate cards for commercial customers, and mortgages. GE Consumer Finance is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, USA.
Mikhail Loskutov,
DeltaBank, Moscow
Tel: +7 495 258 0400
[email protected]
Kirill Golubkov,
Global Works, Moscow
Tel: +7 495 143 0308
[email protected]
Corporate Communications
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