Svyaznoy Bank is a universal nationwide bank established in 2010 on the basis of Promtorgbank. The Bank's flagship product has been universal Svyaznoy Bank card, combining the functions of credit, debit and bonus cards. It allows the holders to withdraw their own funds in roubles in any bank's ATMs on a commission-free basis, to get 10 per cent interest per annum on the balance of their own funds on the card, to accumulate bonus scores under the Svyaznoy Club programme (up to 20 per cent of the purchase cost), and to utilize credit limit.

Experian tools enable the bank to create a strategic system of retail risk management, necessary for exercising control, automating and streamlining the risk management process at each stage of customer management - from processing applications for credit card limit to building and managing customer relations and, if necessary, collecting delinquency.

The cooperation agreement between Experian and Svyaznoy Bank provides for several stages of company product implementation:
• Since July 2010, Svyaznoy Bank has been using Experian's New Business Strategy Management (NBSM) system to process loan applications.
• In December 2010, Experian's Tallyman collections management software system was put into operation to manage the bank's portfolio of delinquent accounts.
• In 2011 the bank plans to commission other Experian systems - Probe SM customer management strategy system and Hunter fraud detection technology

Andrey Kozlyar, Director of Retail Risk Management at Svyaznoy Bank, comments: "Experian solutions help to significantly cut operating costs and enhance the quality of the bank loan portfolio. The systems allow the bank to more flexibly approach the process of risk analysis at every stage of customer relationship. This includes both assessing new customers and managing the existing database. As a result, customers get a higher level of service, and the bank is ablle to control its operating costs and to efficiently manage its portfolio".

Daniel Zelenski, Russia & CIS Country Manager, Experian, comments: "Experian solutions are based on a complex approach to credit cycle management and will allow Svyaznoy Bank to gain maximum performance at each stage of working with borrowers. Strategic management of retail risks will ensure their preservation at the optimum level and will foster improvement of the loan portfolio in general."

The agreement with Svyaznoy Bank is an important landmark in Experian's operations in Russia. Since its entry into the Russian market in 2002, the company has dramatically expanded its customer base currently comprising over 30 Russia and CIS financial leaders, including Sberbank of Russia, VTB 24, Alfa Bank, etc. All over the world, Experian offers businesses of all scales, specializing in various industries, attested solutions and consulting services for customer acquisition, customer management, collections and fraud prevention.

Zelenski added: "Experian products result from many decades of our experience of working with the world's leading financial institutions. In Russia, we offer our know-how and expertise, so that Russian banking institutions could have access to cutting-edge analytical solutions and credit bureau services that our customers enjoy in other countries. The region of Russia and the CIS remains a key developing market for Experian."