Group Companies
Garanti Mortgage
The Housing Finance Department of Garanti Bank, which was established at the end of 2005 as the first of its kind in the banking sector, was incorporated as a separate entity, a subsidiary of the Bank, named Garanti Konut Finansmanı Danışmanlık Hizmetleri A.Ş. (Garanti Mortgage) in October 2007. The company continues achieving its aim of promoting and enhancing Garanti Bank's expertise in this field,further strengthening its position as a market leader.
Activities in 2008
After the enactment of the Mortgage Law in March 2007, new housing finance products, including the Variable Rate Mortgage was launched for the first time in Turkey by Garanti, to meet different consumer needs. Such product developments continued in 2008, reaching a total of 24 products at year-end, assisting Garanti's continuing market leadership with a share of 13.4%.
The housing loans portfolio of the Bank increased considerably, from YTL 4.166 billion at the beginning of 2008 to YTL 5.020 billion at the end of the year. The share of housing loans within the consumer loans portfolio remained at around 50%, excluding credit cards.
In April 2008, Garanti launched Turkey's first mortgage call center, 444 EVİM (444 MY HOME). With a "mortgage expert" team of 20, 444 EVİM assists consumers with all questions regarding mortgages, as well as accepting mortgage applications via phone and contacting potential mortgage customers obtained via CRM analysis and leads from third parties. With a daily average of 400 inbound and 250 outbound calls and an average answering time of 10 seconds only, Garanti is receiving a significant number of applications via the call center. In early 2009, the Bank will initiate its webchat and video-phone services for mortgages.
2008 has been a very successful year in terms of new product development; products such as the Mortgage Basket, Buy Now Pay Later Mortgage, No Fee Mortgage, Mortgage for Foreign Nationals, Mortgage with Payment Postponing Option, among other products, have been launched during the year. Also, in order to reach different consumer groups, several major campaigns have been launched in 2008 (i.e. campaign for Turkish Armed Forces). In 2009, 8 new products are expected to be launched in order to continue meeting different consumer needs, and, campaigns will be continued directed at different groups and segments in order to reach larger consumer groups.
Future Outlook
In 2009, Garanti will continue to prioritize similar values as in 2008. The practice of providing the largest product range to consumers will continue with new product development, while the focus on developing new businesses and distribution channels for the market will be maintained. In addition, focus on "Garanti the Mortgage Expert" brand will continue to improve both the brand name and customer awareness. Expanding and increasing the number of developer financing projects and improving relations with real estate agencies by focusing on field teams will continue to be among top priorities in 2009. Accordingly, the market share and profitability will be increased by supporting such channels and services.