This year, the She's Next, Empowered by Visa initiative was held for the first time with the support of Birbank Biznes. Why did you decide to join the programme?
She's Next project is being held for the third time this year. The first two times, it was purely Visa's initiative. For the third project, we joined this initiative as Birbank Biznes. Even before this project, as Kapital Bank and Birbank Biznes, we participated in various initiatives to support the businesses of women entrepreneurs. For some of them, we even performed as organisers. For instance, on March 8, we launched a fair for women entrepreneurs, where they had an opportunity to present their products, make sales, gain networking opportunities, and learn more about banking products. The fair was a significant initiative, both socially and economically.
What innovations and changes did Birbank Biznes bring to the global She's Next project?
This time, there were a couple of important changes in the project. Previously, the focus of the project was on micro-clients – newly launched or small-scale business owners. This time, however, we also attracted women entrepreneurs who are engaged in both small and medium-sized businesses.
Furthermore, we organised both online and offline training. The crucial part is that women could attend offline training virtually as well. This way, we tried not to limit women within any kind of frame, therefore, we made participation as accessible as possible. We also introduced special She's Next business card on which our Birbank Biznes team worked. We wanted this card to make the business of women entrepreneurs more flexible and faster, providing them with additional benefits such as bonus opportunities, special offers, etc. This card is different in both functionality and design.
What other support does Kapital Bank and Birbank Biznes provide to small and medium-sized businesses in the country?
Well, before, if an entrepreneur wanted to open an account at a bank or make any transaction, he or she had to come to the branch, having to wait in lines, sign the documents, or send a representative. The process was very traditional and done physically on paper. As Birbank Biznes, we have digitised all these processes. We have created a single platform for both micro, small, and medium-sized businesses, as well as large corporate clients - the Bir Bank Biznes platform.
Now, one can open an account online without having to visit any banks. Credit applications are also done in the same way. For example, customers in the small and medium business category can receive a loan within a few minutes. It takes about 10 minutes, and the funds are transferred directly to their account. Card orders, their management, monitoring of current accounts, local and international payments, and tax transfers – all this is done online through the platform.
What are the most common problems entrepreneurs face, and how do your solutions and products meet their needs?
The financing was a problem. Entrepreneurs had a hard time applying for loans, having to go through long and complicated application procedures. Now we have an instant credit option, which allows you to get a credit of up to 3,000 manat in just 10 minutes. This significantly reduces the difficulties.
Most of the problems have already been solved or are in the process of being solved. All teams are in constant communication with the client, so at whatever stage the problem is, we try to identify and eliminate it.
What is the process of creating and implementing products for small and medium-sized businesses?
The process is structured like this: we identify the problem and then discuss it with the team. Then comes the planning phase: the design is prepared, technical adjustments are made, and finally, the product is delivered to the customer. Of course, the work does not end here. We keep in touch, collect feedback, and listen to calls to the customer care department. Sometimes the delivered product does not serve any purpose; in this case, we intervene immediately. Our main goal is to fully understand the real problem that entrepreneurs face and provide them with a practical and functional solution.
What trends are there in the small and medium-business digital banking? What innovations should we expect from Birbank Biznes?
One of the main trends in the world today is to offer effective solutions to the lack of time. As Kapital Bank and BirBank, we are closely following these trends and trying to implement them in our products and services. Our goal is for people to be more informed and be able to do their jobs more conveniently and flexibly.
Specifically, since the end of last year, we have started implementing AI-based services. For instance, we want the bank to think for the customer and offer appropriate options beforehand. This could be a credit, a card, or services such as factoring and guarantees. For example, a woman entrepreneur who is just starting doesn’t know which tariffs to choose or what payments to expect in the future. Based on this information, the AI-based system provides her with a complete analysis – possible costs, foreign transactions, etc.
Another key direction is to transform the bank into a complete ecosystem, so it has not only a banking function but also other services such as accounting, insurance, integrated services, etc. Thus, we have two main priorities: the integration of AI into products and services and the formation of the bank as an ecosystem.
What does it mean for you personally to support women's entrepreneurship? What impressed you the most about the implementation of the programme in Azerbaijan?
This reminded me of my story. Although I am not a big business owner, as a product owner, I am like a small CEO in my field. Income, expenses, marketing, product development – it's all my responsibility. For example, I am the owner of a card product in a bank, which is actually a kind of business. The first person to guide and support me in this field was my leader, Ms.Rustamova. She supported me in my first steps and showed me the way to develop. Now we provide the same support to other women. When talking to them, we see that they have hesitations; sometimes, they just need to be more informed.
