Message from the General Manager

Your bank is your own asset and it has always prioritised the interests of the nation.

Deeply appreciated by the Turkish Cypriots, the product of a cooperative tradition that is almost a century old, Kıbrıs Türk Kooperatif Merkez Bankası (Cyprus Turkish Central Cooperative Bank), which has always prioritised the interests of the nation, is proud to be celebrating its 56’th year in banking.

Koopbank, established on the 9th of September 1959 as a single branch with assets of 587,394 Cyprus pounds, has become the largest financial institution of the country by employing the correct strategies and management policies. Working in the light of the principles, the values and the codes of conduct of the cooperative system, our bank currently accounts for 22.63% of the banking sector's financial balance sheet, with assets of 247 million TL and deposits of more than 3 billion TL.

The background to this success is a well-rooted cooperative tradition and an established institutional culture. Thanks to its strong structure, KoopBank has in the past been able to resist economic and financial crises both regional and worldwide. The nation has brought KoopBank to its present position by entrusting it with their savings, labour and dreams, confident in the strength of its structure.

Our bank continues to provide services countrywide with 200 member cooperatives and 20 branches. It also provides services to the public in almost all residential areas.

This cooperative network across the country continues to provide the very best in banking services to every section of the community in all economic sectors. Kooperatif Central Bank now aims to satisfy a customer that has risen to 120,000. In view of the size of the population, this number is a very good indicator of the trust the country has placed in us.

Our bank has had to deal with and adapt to competition from foreign banks since its establishment and continues to compete successfully in today's globalised financial world. In parallel, the bank has continued to invest in the development of its technological infrastructure and of the quality and range of its services. Our bank has also extended its ATM network accross the island and with the cooperation of the Cooperatives to ATM network, the service network became widened. The functions of our main out-of-branch service channels—our call centre and Internet and mobile banking services—have been enriched with the aim of providing even greater customer satisfaction.

The implementation of our OptimumCard facility, which incorporates shopping with spread payments, delayed instalments, cash advances, points and air miles, continues, with great success. OptimumCard’s worldwide acceptability and brand recognition has been achieved. We continue to work for and invest in our credit card’s prestigious status. Our bank has been serving to our customers with Koop24 debit card for many years, and today has moved further with the Visa Electron debit card by Koop24 which can be used all over the world together by gaining an international brand identity. With this innovation, our customers now has the opportunity to use their cards to withdraw money from all ATMs and do shopping easily all over the world with their own account. The opportunity to use our services is also provided to the members of the Cooperatives by the collaboration between Koopbank and Cooperatives.

One of our bank’s main tasks is to support agriculture and animal husbandry. Offering a comprehensive and efficient service, our bank is the main provider of loans to the agricultural and animal husbandry sectors. Within this context, we see the protection of Koop Süt, one of our shareholdings, as a historical responsibility, and in fullfilment of this responsibility the transfer of the management of Koop Süt to the cooperatives has been achieved. We are proud of having kept the promise we made to the public.

The shares of Şeker Sigorta Cyprus Ltd, one of our partners, have been bought back from the American group Liberty Mutual. KoopBank's sole ownership of Şeker Sigorta means that one of Turkish Cypriots’ net assets has been strengthened and protected.

Since its establishment, KoopBank has been aware of its social responsibility. It continues to help those areas it has traditionally supported, such as education, health and sporting activities, and has extended assistance to other areas in need of it. In accordance with our ethical value policy, we do not publicise these projects but rather reserve the right to keep them as confidential data. The basketball teams linked to Koopspor continue to perform successfully both in the league and in tournaments. Their championship successes have aroused admiration.

The respect our bank has gained in its 56 years is due to our personnnel’s selfless work. At Cyprus Turkish Cooperative Central Bank, together with all our personnel, we continue to work to retain the confidence entrusted in us and to continually improve the quality of our services.

Yours respectfully,

Kemal Ataman
General Manager