Competition in the St Petersburg banking market is heating up, with local banks starting to feel the pressure from the international majors that have been pouring substantial amounts of capital into the city. French bank Société Générale, Austrian bank Raiffeisen and US bank Citibank are some of the global players that are making an aggressive pitch for the corporate, as well as the fast-growing consumer market.
The foreign majors are bringing unheard of muscle to the St Petersburg market in a way that has signalled a wake-up call for the local banks. “Russian banks will have to make more loan capital available to their customers and offer them more attractive deals,” says a government official. “Citibank has the resources and ability to grant a loan in two to three hours. A customer seeking a loan at one of our banks might have to wait two or three days for his money. Our banks also lack experience in credit scoring and they cannot absorb the sort of losses that wouldn’t ruffle a feather at Citi or Raiffeisen, for example.
