our social and
relational capital

One indispensable component of our corporate culture is our focus on customer experience. This is the reason we undertake efforts geared towards internal awareness on this matter. The Experience Bulletin Project we initiated last year is part of these efforts. On the occasion of the Customer Experience Day we have celebrated for the first time this year, we offered presents to customers and raise awareness by tapping into video-shooting to make sure the best experience stories are lasting. In addition to these efforts, we deliver Customer Experience Courses to our colleagues to instill a better comprehension of the experience ecosystem and take tangible steps toward cementing its place within the Bank's strategy. Within this scope, we delivered 10 courses to 150 people charged with project development in their relevant departments which lasted 30 hours. We underscored the importance of seeing and understanding the institution from the customers' perspective.

At VakıfBank, we continue to improve and expand journey maps which we now run routinely to provide impeccable customer experiences. As we include head office units, branches, and most importantly our customers in the entire process, these journey maps are aimed at helping us reach impeccable experience designs at all contact points. We identify all pain points with these journey maps. With the projects we planned and implemented as a result of a detailed examination of pain points, we revise our operations in a manner to result in positive customer experiences. We conduct customer interviews and field research to analyze the processes from the beginning to the end of a journey map and the data derived from such processes. As a result of the journey maps we design with a focus on offering personalized experiences, we carry out projects that improve the experience of both the user and the customer.

We expanded the scope of our Remote Customer Acquisition project we deployed for retail customers in 2021. This year, we initiated a similar process whereby real person customers with commercial activity can become customers without having to visit a branch. Our anticipation is to include legal entity customers in this practice in 2023, depending on the amendments to be introduced to the regulation. Pursuant to the same regulation, we also intend to include Turkish citizens living abroad to become customers remotely as part of the Yuvam Account.

To make sure that the experience of becoming a customer at the branch is more smooth, we have digitized relevant processes from end to end. We have established a structure where the process of "becoming a customer", which is normally quite cumbersome for the employees and customers at branches and causes severe paper consumption, can be carried out digitally and completed in five minutes. Thanks to the fact that all contracts and forms except a one-page document could be digitally approved and transactions finalized swiftly on VakıfBank Mobile, we attained customer and employee satisfaction ratios of 95% and saved 70 pages of paper per customer. In addition, with the approval process being handled on VakıfBank Mobile, we completed over 200,000 customers' mobile banking activation at the customer definition stage as of August 2022.

Driven by the motivation we derive from being a carbon-neutral Bank and our sustainable banking vision, we continue to eliminate the use of paper in the Bank's processes. We designed new workflows for our customers and branch staff, allowing us to cut the use of paper and attain remarkable improvements in transaction times. In 2022, we have prevented 17 million pieces of paper from being consumed.

Another plan we have for 2023 as an example of digital and impeccable experiences is to identify people and update customers' data/documents remotely. We examined the journeys that required customers to visit branches due to missing information/documents and prevented their access to mobile banking and identified pain points & rooms for improvement. At the end of this process, we have designed a structure under which customers can complete missing information/documents via remote identification, and handle their mobile banking activation. Once the project is rolled out, customers will be able to complete missing documents/data via the mobile banking channel without having to visit a branch.

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.

As part of the customer experience journey, we analyzed the top reasons for call center engagement and transactions initiated but not completed on various channels. “Smart Customer Communication Center” was the project we kicked off within this scope thanks to which we reach out to customers in parallel with the reasons for their call, showing them how closely we know them and making sure they feel special.

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. We have responded to 92% of incoming submissions.

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 68 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 Türkiye.

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. It is thanks to the sustainability perspective embedded in our DNA since day one of our founding backed by our culture as a foundation that we consider the social and ecological implications in every step we take and every product and service we develop.

We have been taking a leading role in the sector on energy efficiency and climate, financial inclusion, and 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, and 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 the investments we make, we prioritize value creation for our society.

Education

Believing that the dream of a single child will create changes in society and the world, VakıfBank supports children to look at the future much more hopefully by producing projects that support their dreams as a force that is there for them.

In collaboration with the Ministry of National Education, we have touched the lives of 35 thousand of gifted children under the umbrella of the Science and Arts Training Centers (BİLSEM) that enable children to unlock their potential since 2017. We have taken a role in 54 mechatronics, mind games, and AI workshops, in addition to undertaking the construction of over 170 IT laboratories. This way, we will continue to reach children via BİLSEM centers in the future, as well. Thanks to the new MoU we signed with the Ministry of National Education at the end of 2022, we will keep providing future generations with innovative technologies at 15 new workshops. We plan to reach 69 workshops while celebrating our 69th year in 2023.

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 criteria such as reliable sources, measurable researches, strong and accurate language use.

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 help many national and international authors from varying disciplines reach wider audiences. We have released over 190 books in four years, backed by our aim to grow Türkiye's cultural heritage and offer qualified, valuable works of art to our readers. Boasting a diverse selection, we seek to be a publisher of books to be read and cherished for years.

Sports

VakıfBank Sports Club, the longest-running social benefit project conducted by VakıfBank, is the most successful club in Türkiye that shows what a Turkish woman can achieve internationally today and makes a significant contribution to the development of Turkish sport.

VakıfBank Sports Club, with its volleyball schools and youth development investments, introduces young girls to sports and makes the club's success “sustainable” for 36 years. Over the past six years, we have been there for more than three thousand girls through our sports schools. Owing to VakıfBank Volleyball School we opened in Bosnia Herzegovina's Sarajevo in December 2018, we have become the first club to have opened a volleyball school in Europe. We have raised over 100 players for Turkish sports to date. We will continue attaining many other accomplishments thanks to the players and sportspeople we have raised from our volleyball schools and youth development teams.

Our VakıfBank Women's Volleyball Team holds the title of “Türkiye's most trophy-winning team in the international arena” with 4 FIVB Club World Championships, 5 CEV Champions League Championships, 1 Top Teams Cup Championship, and 1 Challenge Cup Championship. In addition, it received the title of “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.

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.

Working in collaboration with suppliers, we have placed sustainability at the heart of our processes related to our practices and products. At VakıfBank, we choose local suppliers who constitute one of the main pillars of our economy in our procurement efforts and ensure continuity for our operations.

In 2022, we raised the number of suppliers by 44% to 1,374. As 97% of our suppliers are local, payments we have made to them represent approximately 100% of our total supplier payments. In a period marked by rapid technology advancements, we have focused more on the utilization of digital applications. By using the e-procurement system, we enabled our suppliers to access the tender remotely and 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