MKB will abandon the development of retail business in favor of the corporate one – Kommersant

Moscow Credit Bank (MCB) is developing a strategy within which it will gradually phase out the retail business in favor of the corporate direction. About it Frank Media reported three people familiar with the internal processes in the bank. The strategy is to be presented in autumn.

According to the publication’s sources, the role of MKB’s retail business is gradually declining. Thus, sources point to the closure of bank branches, which began in 2022. By June 2023, the number of branches was reduced from 140 to 104. A bank representative explained this process by “search for the optimal number of offices.”

Sources also reported staff cuts in departments responsible for retail (including product specialists and developers). So, the bank was left by the head of the block of retail business Alexey Okhorzin. At the same time, the ICD told the publication that “the information about the dismissal of product specialists is not true.”

“We plan to develop both corporate and retail business. We have no plans to wind down the retail business, on the contrary, we are planning its phased development,” MKB told Frank Media.

The IBC strategy, calculated until 2023, assumed development according to a universal model. Retail lending was supposed to grow by 20–25% per year, and corporate lending by 10–12%. The number of active customers was planned to grow from less than 1 million in 2020 to 3 million in 2023. Sources are not aware of the reasons for the change in strategy.