We are focused on making life easier with our innovative mindset in a digital world

Esteemed Business Partners and Colleagues, 

2019 was a time of recovery in which traces of the volatile year of 2018 were erased. Thanks to the measures taken and the improvements in current account balance, exchange rates remained largely stable throughout the year. Tight fiscal policies adopted in the first half of the year helped balance inflation in a gradual manner, while domestic demand continued to recover in the rest of the year. In the light of these developments, we entered 2020 with a more optimistic growth projection of 5 percent.

Looking at the global economy, the key developments of 2019 were the trade talks between the US and China, as well as the Brexit. The increasing tension brought about due to trade wars hampered global growth.

Aktif Bank, on the other hand, maintained its course of robust growth by combining its innovative and digital mindset with its disciplined and proactive approach. The Bank outperformed the sector in terms of growth in 2019, and recorded TRY 341.7 million in net profit. Business models shaped by a digital approach, which is indispensable in today’s world, set Aktif Bank apart from its competitors, and the Bank closed the year with significant achievements as a result of its solutions designed to make life easier. 

The Bank displayed a successful teamwork with its subsidiaries, strengthening existing companies and adding new ones to its roster in 2019. 

Reaching its users through over 5 million Passolig cards and the Passolig mobile app, which has been downloaded to 5.1 million devices to date, Aktif Bank expanded the functionality of Passo in 2019 with the addition of QR payments and 24/7 money transfers in line with its digital approach. Furthermore, Aktif Bank partnered with Zorlu Performance Arts Center (Zorlu PSM) to enter the events industry and began selling Zorlu PSM event tickets through PASSO.

Meanwhile, N Kolay mobile application launched N Kolay Bond in Turkey, introducing consumers with the concept of digital savings.

Aktif Bank’s ambitious entrepreneurship crossed boundaries as the Bank partnered with SECOM, Japan’s leading security and lifestyle technologies provider. This investment marked Aktif Bank’s entrance into the security services sector and the establishment of Secom Aktif Güvenlik Çözümleri. 

Aktif Bank’s contributions to the national economy were crowned with its export investments as the Bank accomplished an important achievement by increasing its trade volume with Africa from USD 300 million in 2018 to USD 450 million in 2019.

In 2019, Aktif Bank continued to place sustainability at the heart of its operations in line with the values of the Çalık Group, and continued to make life easier in a digitalizing world, thanks to its focus on innovation. 

Within this framework, we aim to take our digitalization investments above and beyond the norms of the sector and further enhance our efficiency through a proactive approach to our business.

I would like to express my gratitude to our colleagues, business partners and stakeholders for their contributions to our accomplishments.

Sincerely, 

Ahmet Çalık