A Russian neobank called TalkBank has neither physical branches, nor call centers, nor even a mobile app. Its principle consists in offering “a bank in messengers,” i.e. Telegram, Facebook, WhatsApp or Viber.
“Digital financial assistance” is provided by a smart bot that “understands banking commands in natural language.” Thus customers will be able to better plan their budget and savings, while a cash back system will allow them to “gain up to 40%” on purchases.
On the B2B side, TalkBank has developed a ‘bank-as-a-service’ offer for businesses: “Our banking IT platform provides a partner with the opportunity to implement any financial services for their clients using our IT technologies,” the startup claims.
This variety of B2B services includes chat bots, remote identification, co-branded bank cards, recurring payments, loyalty programs and much more.
Eyeing foreign markets
Founded in 2016, TalkBank has just raised 218 million rubles ($3 million at the current exchange rate) from the MTS venture fund, the Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF or FRII in Russian), and such individual investors as Pavel Goltsblat, Yan Krustkaln and Sergey Dashkov through his Cyprus-registered vehicle JointJourney.
Talk Bank and MTS are currently developing a joint product, which will “allow MTS Bank to make a breakthrough in the market of banking services.”
The fresh funding will be used to strengthen the team, infrastructure, expand the company’s market presence in Russia and launch a pilot project in Europe.
“We closely followed the way the team built the business, seeing that it chose the right and effective strategy with a B2B focus. Now the company is a rare example of a profitable business with a stable economy among Russian neobanks. Another argument in favor of investing is the technological nature of the platform, which allows you to solve many tasks in an automated mode and easily and quickly connect related services. Today, the company has all the opportunities to become a major player in the Russian market, as well as the chances to become successful in the international market,” believes Maxim Shteigervald, Investment Director at the IIDF.
The IIDF already invested in TalkBank at an earlier stage in 2017.
Sources: TalkBank, IIDF, ICT Moscow
