"BORICA – BANKSERVICE" AD reported growth in its financial performance, announced the results from its activity for 2015 and elected a new CEO
On June 8, 2016 was held the General Meeting of Shareholders of "BORICA - BANKSERVICE" AD (BOBS). The annual reports on the activity of the company during the previous 2015 were accepted at the meeting and a new CEO as well as a new composition of the Board of Directors was elected.
The shareholders of BOBS have elected Mr. Miroslav Vichev as a new Chief Executive Officer of the company.
Mr. Vitchev is a former graduate of the English Language School and the Technical University in Sofia, where he graduated with excellent grades. His career goes through various positions in the IT sector. He started his career at the Bulgarian Postbank, reaching the post Head of Applied Systems. From 1996 to 2000 he served as a Manager and later Director at Management Consulting and IT of Deloitte & Touche. From 2000 to 2002 he worked as a Head of Consulting Department at Microsoft Bulgaria and in the same period he was a consultant to the BNB in relation to the RINGS system. His career continued with Biochim Trading Bank where he served as IT Director and took part in the renewal of the core banking system. From December 2003 he was a member of the Board of Directors and later CEO of DSK Bank, where he played a key role in the transformation of the traditional state institution into a modern market leader, full implementation of the banking system and construction of an independent card center. Meanwhile he was a member of the Supervisory Board of the “DSK Rodina” Pension Company, member of the Board of Directors of “The Cash Service Company AD” and a member of the Board of Directors of OTP Bank (Russia). Thanks to his experience and successful projects, Mr. Vitchev grew up in the OTP group to the level of Deputy of the CEO of OTP Bank (Hungary) and CIO of the banking group.
A new composition of the Board of Directors (BoD) was elected at the General Meeting of Shareholders. The new members are representatives of Postbank and First Investment Bank. Raiffeisenbank and Piraeus Bank are leaving the Board of Directors.
As of June 8, 2016 members of the Board of Directors are:
• Kalin Dimitrov Hristov – Bulgarian National Bank, Chairperson of the BoD
• Violina Marinova Spasova – DSK Bank, Deputy Chairperson of the BoD
• Levon Karekin Hampartzoumian – UniCredit Bulbank, member of the BoD
• Stilian Petkov Vatev – United Bulgarian Bank, member of the BoD
• Georgi Dimitrov Konstantinov – Central Cooperative Bank, member of the BoD
• Martin Mihaylov Zaimov – SG Expressbank, member of the BoD
• Petya Nikolova Dimitrova – Postbank, member of the BoD
• Vasil Hristov Hristov – First Investment Bank, member of the BoD
• Miroslav Stanimirov Vichev – BORICA – BANKSERVICE, member of the BoD
Bulgaria's economic development in 2015 continued with growth in every quarter. The growth in the economy was greater than expected and reached 2.9%. The higher levels of export, lower oil prices and the execution of big government projects led to significant growth of the economy in the country compared to previous years. These factors affect the payment services, which are strongly influenced by the economic conditions in the country. 2015 was marked by a high rate of all transactions in the operated by BOBS payment systems.
During 2015 the company focused on:
• maintaining a high level of information technology and information security;
• continuously developing and offering new and attractive systems and services to the clients;
• improving the management and control of the internal resources of the company;
• lowering the prices of certain activities and maintaining high quality of services in order to keep the clients’ trust;
• maintaining stable financial results;
The main focus in the company’s activity in 2015 was the establishment of a National card scheme – BCard. Since September 2015 started a pilot BCard certification with a participant in the scheme.
During 2015 BORICA – BANKSERVICE was awarded 3rd place in the annual awards of b2b Media in the category Business project of the year. The award was bestowed for the „BCard” project – a product of the “National card scheme”. The company was distinguished again with the “True Leaders” award by ICAP Bulgaria.
On March 15, 2015 was the 20th anniversary from the first card transaction in the BORICA system. It was carried out at an ATM in the United Bulgarian Bank, “Doverie” branch.
The previous year was characterized by improving macroeconomic conditions. The company reported very good performance in 2015. The total revenue from services for 2015 increased by 8.8% compared to 2014. The total revenue from the company’s activity amounted to BGN 35 996 thousand, which is an increase of 7.0% compared to the previous year. The total expenses in 2015 amounted to BGN 25 355 thousand and the growth compared to 2014 was 6.6%. The profit (before taxes) amounted to BGN 10 636 thousand. The revenues from the Investment program of the company amounted to BGN 6 130 thousand, which is 53.2% of the planned annual investments.
The main undertaking of “BORICA – BANKSERVICE“AD includes design, development and operation of national payment systems, aiming to provide the participants in them with the possibility to ensure high quality, reliable and diverse payment services to their clients.
At the end of the year the number of the participants in BISERA-6 was 29 with 315 bank branches. The total number of interbank payments for the year was 65 451 thousand, with 4 834 thousand more compared to 2014 or increase of 8.0%. The average value of a transfer in 2015 was BGN 1955.70 (BGN 1966.80 in 2014).
At the end of the year the number of participants in the BORICA system was 28 - 25 banks and 3 payment institutions. In 2015 were made 171 811 thousand transactions in the card payment system BORICA and 9.7% growth was reported compared to 2014. Тhe total value of the transferred amounts was BGN 18 845 mln. and 15.4 % growth was reported compared to the previous year.
The transactions made at an ATM were 77 008 thousand, equal to BGN 13 347 mln., which is an increase of 5.5% compared to the previous year. Payments of goods and services through POS terminals were 54 557 thousand, equal to BGN 3 504 mln., which is an increase of 17.4 % compared to the previous year.
In 2015 the tendency for increasing the relative share of POS transactions compared to ATM transactions remained the same again. The average ATM withdrawal was BGN 173.3 and the average amount of POS transaction was BGN 64.2.
The total revenue from transactions through the BORICA system was 15 967 thousand. Compared to 2014 the revenue growth from the BORICA system was 14.4 % and 105.3 % execution of the plan.The big revenue growth from transactions in the BORICA system is mainly due to the big growth of transactions with cards, issued abroad or local cards, at terminals abroad.
The results show that despite the negative environment, “BORICA – BANKSERVICE” AD reported good financial results. This was due to the higher growth of the economy by mid-year, which neutralized the decreased growth in the previous months, and the good discipline in terms of costs.
Key priorities in 2016 will be:
• Establishing a center for centralized monitoring of all card transactions in the banking system within the country;
• Updating the technological platform of the BORICA system;
• Operating a web portal for disputed payments; issuing cards with the BCard logo and preparation of the terminals for accepting BCard transactions;
• Design and start of the construction and assembly works for the construction of a data center in Plovdiv;
• Implementation of an integrated system for business process management in the company;
• Maintenance and continuous improvement of the information security.
