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Sberbank changes the bank for an ecosystem

“Sberbank is turning into a full-fledged technology company,” said the president and chairman of the bank’s board, German Gref, during the presentation of new elements and capabilities of the banking ecosystem. Almost everything will change, starting with the logo and the name of the company, which will now be called simply “Sberbank”, and ending with bank branches. They will have new ATMs that understand voice commands and recognize the client by biometrics, as well as checkpoints for receiving parcels, cafes and children’s corners.

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However, the main attention during the presentation was paid to technological innovations, among which the Salyut family of virtual assistants, the SberPortal smart display and the SberBox set-top box stand out.

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Three characters are included in “Salute” – Sber, Athena and Joy. Their basic functions are similar to those of virtual assistants from other companies: they can register a user in a clinic or beauty salon (moreover, if the desired visit time is not available, the assistant will think of requesting a backup option). But in addition to this, Salyut has integrated access to the bank and other services of Sberbank. Assistant skills can also be expanded using the SmartApps platform – it is promised that any user without programming skills will be able to do this. Each assistant from the “Salute” family is distinguished by its “character” and “temperament”, so that the user can choose the most “close in spirit” or change the choice at any time.

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The assistants will be available on iOS and Android mobile devices in Sberbank applications, as well as in a number of Sberbranded devices. In particular, in the SberBox set-top box, which gives access to TV channels and a film library.

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Here, the virtual assistant, for example, can recognize items of clothing displayed on the screen (say, the clothes of a movie hero) and other goods and, at the user’s request, order their purchase and delivery. Among other things, the console also offers games that can be controlled from a smartphone, as well as music in the SberSvuk service and other content. SberBox will appear on sale in the near future, the announced price of the set-top box is 3490 rubles.

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Another new device from Sber is the SberPortal multimedia smart display. It was presented as “the first Russian smart screen with a smart speaker and wide-angle camera”, which features a 10-inch Full HD screen and speaker from Harman Kardon. SberPortal can be controlled both by voice and by touching the screen, as well as gestures in front of the camera, which can also be used for video calls. SberPortal will be available at the end of 2020, its price has not yet been announced.

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A special emphasis during the presentation was made on services for entrepreneurs: SberBusiness, SberSovetnik, SberResheniya. These services, in particular, will be able to evaluate business ideas with a forecast for five years, select employees, check counterparties, provide accounting services and provide legal support. The bank’s ecosystem will also include the Smart Market platform, where various companies, including small businesses, will be able to create new functions (“skills”) for Salyut virtual assistants. Among the developing services were the parcel delivery service “SberLogistika” and the educational platform for children “SberClass”, which is already operating in 65 regions of Russia.

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For most experts, the announcement of the transformation of Sberbank and its technical innovations did not come as a surprise. Sberbank has long been transformed into a full-fledged technology company. However, the same can be said about many other banks that are developing remote services and mobile service delivery channels, – says Olga Ulyanova, vice president and senior loan officer of the Moscow branch of Moody’s Investors Service. “Sber’s peculiarity is its strategic focus on creating an ecosystem, that is, uniting a wide range of banking and, importantly, non-banking services under a single brand.”

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In her opinion, Sberbank has advanced the farthest in Russia in this direction, but Tinkoff Bank, VTB, Raiffeisenbank, Alfa-Bank and a number of others follow with a small margin. Sberbank has been transforming for a long time, and the market is responding to this by increasing competition for customers, accelerating the introduction of innovations and active partnerships of banks with technology companies: for example, Tinkoff Bank with Yandex or Gazprombank with Megafon, Ulyanova notes. “Ultimately, the market must come to the conclusion that each client will be able to purchase any or almost any service, both financial and non-financial, through a single mobile application of his bank.”

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The transformation process of Sber has been going on for many years, so the news about the launch of new services, along with rebranding, does not have the potential for a sharp impact on the market, says Alina Rozentsvet, General Director of the National Rating Agency. “I’m conservative on ecosystems,” she says. – Willingness to take entrepreneurial risks in areas far from banking is a rather risky path. It will be a big surprise for me if the regulator in Russia or global regulators actively encourage the development of banks in this direction. “

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