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Fintech
August/September 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 13
Robots to collect debts for Russia's VTB bank
Russia's second-largest VTB Bank will start using robots to collect overdue debt, according to the deputy head of VTB Anatoly Pechatnikov as cited by Vedomosti daily.
VTB has currently announced a number of digitally- driven initiatives, including a possible alliance with Chinese AliBaba group, trying to catch up with market leader Sberbank that adopted an ambitious digital strategy and keeps a stable rollout of high- tech and AI products and services.
Pechatnikov argued that tests of the automated debt collection at early stages of overdue loans have showed better performance and lower costs than
Russian online payment system QIWI posted strong second quarter IFRS results
Russian online payment system QIWI posted strong second quarter IFRS results on August 16 featuring strong top-line growth, primarily driven by its core business (Payment Services) along with a good contribution from Tochka.
Meanwhile, new projects, including instalment card Sovest, Tochka and Rocketbank, continued to put significant pressure on margins. These devel- opments were also behind the notable upgrade
in the company’s 2018 revenue guidance, but the guidance for the bottom line was downgraded.
Adjusted net revenues soared 54% y/y to RUB4.51bn ($66.7mn) up 33% (excluding Tochka
that of human collectors, while not being suscepti- ble to stress and emotional wreckage of the job.
"[The robot] is programmed for simple dialogues warning the client of the overdue [loan] and getting a pledge to get a payment instalment," he explained.
Previously the head of VTB Andrei Kostin pledged to open a first teller-less branch of the bank in Moscow. Sberbank already used robot assistants in some of the branches of the capital, and uses the AI voice assistance service in the corporate clients' call centre.
Bank), a rise driven by strong growth in e-com- merce, up 56% y/y, boosted by higher betting-re- lated revenues during the World Cup, and money remittances (up 32%).
However, consolidated adjusted EBITDA remained under pressure from Sovest and Tochka Bank- related expenses as well as general expenses (including employee compensation), Sberbank CIB said in a note. Adjusted EBITDA missed the consensus estimate by 1% and rose 1% y/y to RUB1.39bn.
Sovest's net revenues stood at RUB58mn for the quarter (versus RUB3mn in the first quarter of