our social and
relational capital

Within the scope of our customer and quality-oriented growth strategy, we completed the installation of the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System in 2017. In this context, by first aligning the banking processes of the Head Office departments and all branches with the ISO 9001 Quality Management System, we have certified all our locations, including our branches and regions, with ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System as of 2019. In addition, as a result of the external audits carried out in 2021, we maintained the continuity of the certification.

We also continued our efforts to minimize the time spent at the branch to enhance customer experience and loyalty and to offer relevant products as an offer based on customer preferences and trends.

We continue our customer-focused efforts by taking into account customer preferences, product and channel usage, and communication preferences through the analytical models we have completed. In addition, we actively use analytical models that indicate our customers’ product trends and churn probabilities. Based on the results of these analytical models, we offer our customers useful campaigns to increase the satisfaction of the customers who have high product trends and to hold on to our customers who may churn.

We are at the final phase of our model work that estimates the behavior segmentation and product trends of our customers. With the support of these efforts in 2022, we aim to diversify the products and services our customers use from our Bank, and we plan to develop models that can predict the long-term value the customers can add to our Bank.

We define the Customer Journey as the entirety of all the contact points where the customer has interacted with our Bank. What customers want to know about our products, their feelings about the use of the product, and the interaction that puts pressure on the moment of decision-making all form the main stops of our customers’ journey within VakıfBank. So, we began to build the roadmap design process by observing every single step our customer has taken in this direction and every path our customer has passed through. In this context, we have carried out an end-to-end review of the processes of Personal Loan Application and Extension, Time Deposit Account Transactions, Creating Real Customers, and Updating Customer Information which comprise the majority of branch transactions. We identified the mapped pain points that relate to the processes and made improvements. We are currently working on customer interviews and process design for journey map works. We also keep a close eye on our customers’ recommendations and complaints and provide key input in journey map works with Net Promoter Score (NPS) measurements. In the upcoming period, we aim to analyze every contact point at the bank step by step, starting at points with high transaction frequency.

Along with the entry into effect of the “Regulation on Remote Identification Methods Used by Banks and Establishment of Contractual Relations in Electronic Environment” in 2021, it has become possible for real persons to become Bank customers by remote identification without going to branches. As of May 2021, natural persons may become VakıfBank customers very easily and quickly by verifying their TR ID cards with NFC-supported phones and making a video call with a Call Center representative through our mobile banking application. In addition, we provide video calls with customer representatives who speak sign language for people with disabilities and enable people who do not have a chip TR ID card/NFC supported phone to complete their transactions via couriers directed to their addresses. As a result of the Remote Customer Acquisition Project, we acquired 74,000 individual customers in 2021. As part of this, we offered various campaigns and offers to our customers in 2021. In an increasingly digitalized world, we are planning to continue operations, especially for digital customers in 2022 by making additions to our product range in light of the trends and changes in customer behavior. With the Remote Customer Acquisition application launched in May, we won the gold award in the “Innovative Customer Interaction Experience” category at the Payment Systems Magazine (PSM) Awards.

In the near future, it will be possible for Natural Persons Engaged in Commercial Activities to become customers through remote identification. We also aim to build in the coming period a structure that will enable customers who lack contracts/documents to complete their missing documents through VakıfBank Mobile via the remote identification method.

We have continued to promote our products and services to customers during this period. By introducing Sky Limit, defined for specific professions and income groups, to our customers, we have increased the volume of our Bank’s credits, credit ATMs, and credit cards. We regularly launched campaigns aimed at customers who do not use mobile banking to direct them toward using VakıfBank Mobile.

By taking into account the increasing need for resources in the banking sector, we continue to deliver ‘Special Deposit Campaigns’ to the target audiences identified via data analytics, at interest rates determined on an audience basis, through channels suitable for the customer.

With Real-Time Campaign Management, we have increased our diversity of transactions. This way, we can offer our customers the service they are interested in when they need it through any channel they prefer.

As the result of all of our analytical work, we were chosen as the best CRM team at the Hammers Awards, an event that is held throughout Turkey to recognize and reward the most successful team that has identified the customer’s needs to provide efficiency in customer relations and highlighted the brand by using the necessary technologies in this direction.

With the Paperless Banking project initiated with the awareness that “reducing the carbon emission rate will be the most valuable gift we will leave to future generations” within the framework of our Sustainable Banking vision, we design processes that help complete transactions quickly and simply by incorporating the human factor into the process and using technological means, rather than through mere digitalization. As a result, we save on both paper consumption and operational costs. With the Paperless Banking project, which gained momentum in 2021 with our efforts in this context, we prevented the consumption of over 12 million printouts. In addition to lowering the carbon emission rate and contributing to our bank’s sustainability strategy by reducing paper consumption, we also reduced transaction times of our domestic and international customers and contributed to the digital channel migration of our customers through a digital experience. In the upcoming period, we aim to use the digital approval setup for new customer acceptance transactions at our branches. We aim that by implementing this structure, which will allow our new customers to receive contract approvals via VakıfBank Mobile, we will be able to reduce the consumption of paper while also ensuring that our new customers’ mobile channel activity is maintained.

The loyalty of our customers, as well as the continuity of that loyalty, is the most crucial component that allows our bank to be open to ongoing innovation and self-development. We ensure this continuity with the satisfaction of our customers. In this direction; based on the lack of a system where branch customers can express their opinions directly, as a result of our user-friendly screen design efforts, we started to present surveys and perform Customer Recommendation Score (MTS) measurements via the SMS channel. With the system that we built, the biggest innovation that was offered to customers was the ability to reflect their instant experience to our Bank as soon as after performing their transactions. With the survey conducted following the Personal Loan Usage, Time Deposit Account Opening, Bill Collection, and Credit Card Debt Payment transactions, we measure the performance of the process and the personnel as well as the advisability of the transaction. In the years to come, we seek to employ a platform that spans all channels and contact points to better manage the survey process, as well as to present instant measurements on a screen that all of our Bank’s users can access.

We make customer calls by providing the integration of the survey structure into the Call Center channel so that we can extend the area we measured. Therefore, we use the built-in structure for onboarding studies and root-cause analysis. We also have the ISO 18295-1 Customer Communication Centers Standard Certificate, which is accepted as an international standard by the European Union (EU) for our Call Center and customer contact centers and is one of the industry’s most necessary certificates.

We prepare an Experience Bulletin with different content every month and share it within the bank, to convey what exactly Customer Experience, which is considered one of the most important concepts of recent times, means and which processes it covers, and to emphasize the importance of customer satisfaction and loyalty for our Bank. By addressing issues such as the scope of Customer Experience, the importance of the emotional bond established with the customer, the customer’s voice being heard within the institution, and examples of successful experiences from our country and around the world, we contribute to the creation of in-house Customer Experience awareness.

We try to establish effective communication through every channel by diversifying our communication channels with our customers. Our customers can reach us and convey their observations through the Call Center, internet banking and mobile banking, branches, mail, corporate website, social media accounts, official institutions, and web-based complaint sites regarding our Bank’s products and services.

Moreover, we manage suggestions, complaints, requests, and objections submitted through BAT, BRSA, CIMER, and other official institutions through our banking application. This year, compared to last year, we have reduced the number of applications submitted to our Bank by 27.5%. We responded to 98% of the incoming applications.

We work to resolve any suggestions, complaints, and requests from our customers as soon as possible and accept that every customer who gives feedback within our Customer Satisfaction Policy framework is “right.” We consider every issue communicated to us as an opportunity to improve ourselves. We ensure that the necessary actions are taken to detect applications that cause customer dissatisfaction, providing feedback and improvement/development needs regarding these applications.

In order to establish strong, lasting, and transparent relationships with our customers, we prepare monthly, quarterly and annual reports and share them within our Bank. We organize meetings with broad participation every three months and take the necessary decisions and actions for our development areas. Additionally, we attach importance to the highest level of monitoring of the issue with the presentations we make to the Audit Committee and the Board of Directors.

You can access our Bank’s Customer Satisfaction Policy on our website at https://www.vakifbank.com.tr/customer-satisfaction-policy.aspx?pageID=3996

For 67 years, as VakıfBank, we have had a mindset that aims to always stand by all the segments of society; to reach anyone in need in all circumstances, and to support and produce solutions according to the needs from childhood to retirement, in every period of life, anywhere in Turkey.

As a bank that has not only focused on the economic results of its activities since its foundation, but has always taken into account its impact on society and nature, we consider sustainable banking as a fundamental element of our strategy. For this reason, we show regard to the social, ecological, and governance consequences of each step we take. We believe that adding continuous value to our customers, employees, shareholders, and community by creating not only financial but also social and intellectual capital are one of our most critical duties. We have been taking a pioneering role in the sector on energy efficiency and climate, financial inclusion, supporting production and employment by following the guidance of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We continue to support our country with our deep-rooted history, competent team to build the banking of the future from today, strong technological infrastructure, intellectual, social, and financial strength.

We classify our activities in the field of corporate social responsibility, which we consider one of the main pillars of sustainable banking, under three main headings: ‘education’, ‘culture’, and ‘sports’. With the long-term support we provide and investments we make, we give society the message, “I am Here For You.” With the awareness of being always there for the athletes selected as the best in the world over and over again, the female stars of tomorrow trained from the youth setup, our special children the education of whom we place utmost care, and, book-friends who consider that reading always comes first, and our cultural world that will become even richer with books, we are implementing many social benefit projects to leave a mark in the future. In addition to our subsidies and affiliations, we also regard the people whose lives we touch with our Sports Club and our Cultural Publications and investments in education as part of our large family. With this powerful family, we are working hard to build even better days for our country.

Education

We believe that the dream of a single child will change society and the world. We create projects that support their dreams as a force standing next to our children and help them look at tomorrow with much more hope.

- Since 2017, in cooperation with the T.R. Ministry of National Education (MEB), we have undertaken the construction of 54 mechatronics, mind games, and artificial intelligence workshops as well as over 170 IT laboratories at the Science and Art Education Centers Institution (BILSEM) which we supported. We discover the individual talents of our 20 thousand special talented children who are trained in the workshops that we support and help them use their talents at the highest level. We continue our work to support the development of children, who are Turkey’s future.

Culture

In 2018, we started our activities in culture publishing with VakıfBank Culture Publications (VBKY). We act with the principle of “ Ve Benzersiz Kitap/And Unique Book” within the body of VBKY, and we offer books in categories such as literature, history, economics, philosophy, intersections, art, people, and society to our readers within the framework of reliable sources, measurable researches, strong and accurate language use criteria. We are trying to be the publisher of books that will be read and stored for years with VBKY, which represents the cultural vision of VakıfBank, the heir to centuries-old foundation culture. We have the goal of enriching and spreading our cultural and artistic life first at the national and then at the universal level, preserving and developing the assets and values that we are entrusted with and passing them on to future generations. We continue to enrich our publishing pool with the books that enlighten society and open up horizons in line with our publishing policy. As of the end of 2021, we have offered more than 120 books to our readers. You can visit our website (www.vbky.com.tr) to review the books published by VBKY.

Sports

We believe that sports are one of the components of a society that shape its way of life and create its social capital. VakıfBank Sports Club, the longest-running social benefit project conducted by VakıfBank, is the most successful sports club in Turkey that shows what a Turkish woman can achieve internationally today and makes a significant contribution to the development of Turkish sports.

We introduce our little girls to sports with the volleyball schools of VakıfBank Sports Club and make the club’s success “sustainable” for 35 years. Over the past six years, we have been there for more than three thousand girls through our sports schools. Athletes that we groom through volleyball schools and the youth setup score many successes, both on our team and the national team. We care about these achievements as they are an inspiration for our girls to explore the power in them and to realize their dreams.

Our VakıfBank Women’s Volleyball Team holds the title of “Turkey’s most trophy-winning team in the international arena” with 4 FIVB Club World Championships, 4 CEV Champions League Championships, and 1 Top Teams Cup Championship, and 1 Challenge Cup Championship. In addition, our team received the title of the “Volleyball team that won the most official matches in a row” with its 73-match winning streak between October 23, 2012, and January 22, 2014, and the title of the “Team that won the most FIVB Club World Championships” with its championships in the Club World Championship, and it managed to enter the Guinness World Records twice.

You can visit the Club site (www.vakifbanksporkulubu.com) to discover the VakıfBank Sports Club, a source of pride for our bank and country.

We evaluate our suppliers’ economic and managerial competencies and expect them to comply with BRSA regulations and our policies based on agreements and contracts. We take care to ensure that all companies employed in the procurement of support services provide the quality cost balance best. We pay attention to some criteria in corporate, environmental, and social areas. In this context, we have published our Supplier Selection and Compliance Policy, which determines the issues that our suppliers should comply with in terms of legal compliance, human rights, continuity of service, anti-bribery and corruption, confidentiality, and sustainability on our website.

Moreover, every year, we conduct on-site audits by visiting companies within the scope of the Regulation on Procurement of Support Services by Banks through internal audit teams and financial analysis teams.

In 2021, our number of suppliers reached 952. We made 99% of our total supplier payments to suppliers, 97% of which were local. We focused on the use of digital applications to minimize contact due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Hence, we aimed to keep the loss of workforce at a minimum level. By using the E-Procurement System, we enabled our suppliers to access the tender remotely and to bid.

You can access our Bank’s Supplier Selection and Compliance Policy on our website at https://www.vakifbank.com.tr/supplier-selection-and-compliance-policy.aspx?pageID=3997