Yandex Bank

Performance indicators

2024: The share of Wildberries, Ozon and Yandex banks in the electronic payment market has grown to 40%

Financial institutions owned by major technology companies Wildberries, Ozon and Yandex have significantly increased their share in the electronic payment market in Russia. According to data announced in mid-October 2024, their combined share reached 40%, which is 20 times higher than three years ago. Read more here

2022

Annual loss of 607.9 million rubles

The net loss of Yandex Bank in 2022 reached 607.9 million rubles, an increase of almost three times compared to the monetary losses of a year ago (208 million rubles). Such data on international financial reporting standards (IFRS) were released in early May 2022.

Operating expenses of Yandex Bank in 2022 increased fivefold and amounted to 1.4 billion rubles. Yandex linked this growth with infrastructure and technology development, team expansion and marketing.

Net loss of Yandex Bank in 2022 reached 607.9 million rubles

Breaking even is certainly our strategic goal. At this stage of development, it is important for us to build a scalable business, and we are ready to invest in further growth, the company told Kommersant.

As experts interviewed by the publication explain, banks in the ecosystem of Marketplaces services are not key in terms of profitability. They act as a tool that should make the main services of the ecosystem more profitable and attractive, said Yegor Krivoshey, head of the blockchain and fintech laboratory at the Skolkovo School of Management.

The general director of Infoline Analytics Mikhail Burmistrov explained the unprofitability of Yandex banks and Russian marketplaces by the fact that they have not yet left the investment stage. In his opinion, in 2023 they will also not leave it.

But Yegor Krivoshey is confident that the business of financial areas in non-financial companies will only grow. Fintech services are represented not only by marketplaces, but also by telecom operators, retailers, he notes. Non-financial areas are created for the development of the main business. This could increase competition between such banks and classical financial institutions. And, in turn, lead to intervention by the regulator in the event of an active growth in the volume of non-financial companies.^[1]

Capital growth tripled - up to 4.2 billion rubles

By the end of 2022, Yandex Bank's equity reached 4.2 billion rubles, having tripled compared to the beginning of the same year (1.4 billion rubles). This became known on February 10, 2023.

As explained to Kommersant in Yandex, increasing capitalization is a standard procedure for the further development of the bank. At the same time, the company did not specify the sources of investment in capital, as well as the bank's financial result for 2022.

Yandex Bank's capital has grown over the year

The reason for the additional capitalization of Yandex Bank may be the growth of retail business, mainly installments for Yandex.Market customers, and related areas may be tried - lending and cash settlement services for marketplace suppliers, explained Ivan Uklein, director of bank ratings at Expert RA.

Most likely, Yandex Bank was capitalized by the shareholder, and not at the expense of profit, says Telegram Mikhail Shlemov, author of the My Investments channel. According to him, the main financial product in the ecosystem Yandex"" is an installment plan (Yandex Split service). This is a high-margin product that allows you to ensure good turnover due to a short portfolio duration. After a series of experiments, the company "found" good metrics for this product and began to scale it, added Shlemov.

As the chairman of the board of the National Payment Council Alma Obaeva told the publication, banks that work with marketplaces "are faced with the task of lending and servicing the entire chain": from the supply of goods to Russia to its sale to the consumer.

On December 22, 2022, Yandex Bank began accepting deposits from individuals in Russia. The bank opened its first deposit product in the direction of fintech under the name "First deposit."^[2]

2021

According to the Банки.ру portal, in January-November 2021, Yandex Bank's net loss in accordance with Russian accounting standards (RAS) amounted to 119.7 million rubles against 69.1 million rubles a year earlier (when the bank was also called Acropolis). The volume of assets during this time (net) increased from 1.36 billion to 1.97 billion rubles.

History

2024

Roskomnadzor ordered Yandex-Bank to store payment data and geolocation of users and share them with the authorities

On May 2, 2024, Roskomnadzor entered Yandex-Bank into the register of information dissemination organizers (ARI). This means that the named financial structure is obliged to store payment data and information about the geolocation of users and provide this information at the request of government agencies.

In accordance with the requirements in force for 2024, resources from the ARI registry must store information about users for six months. These are, in particular, passport data, addresses of residence and registration, information about accounts of other services and IP address. This information can be requested by law enforcement agencies carrying out operational-search activities or ensuring the security of the Russian Federation.

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As of May 2024, more than 400 resources were included in the ARI register, including over 25 different Yandex services. In addition to Yandex-Bank, these are Yandex.Afisha, Yandex.Health"," Yandex.OFD"," Yandex.Refueling"," Yandex.Drive"," Yandex.Delivery"" and others. Thus, security officials can request various information about millions of Russian users of various services. " In Yandex March 2024, the government expanded the set of data that members of the ARI list will have to store and provide at the request of government agencies. It includes "means of payment" and "electronic monitoring of geolocation." That is, the security forces will be able to track the location of citizens.

In addition, as noted by the Roskomsvoboda project (recognized as a foreign agent), several travel firms (Tours of Russia, Uni Trevels LLC, Pegasus Touristik LLC), the arms and hunting portal Armory Club, the administration of the Lebyazhensky urban settlement of the Lomonosov municipal district of the Leningrad Region and the infotainment site "I love Alushta."^[3]

Contribution to property from the shareholder for 4 billion rubles

In January 2024, Yandex Bank received a deposit of 4 billion rubles from its shareholder, Yandex.Market Lab. This was reported in the reports of Yandex LLC. Market Lab "according to RAS, which was published in early April 2024.

As explained to Frank Media in the press service of Yandex, we are talking about planned investments that are made against the background of the active development of the company's fintech direction.

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We invest a lot in infrastructure and technology development, team expansion, marketing and other areas for business growth. We have chosen a contribution to property as one of the standard financing methods that is actively used in the industry, Yandex said.

As noted by the rating agency ACRA, Yandex-Bank has repeatedly received support from the group in the form of an increase in capital. So, in 2023, the credit institution was provided with a contribution to property in the amount of 2 billion rubles, and in 2022 - 3 billion rubles.

ACRA assessed Yandex Bank's position on capital as strong, given the current high level of capital adequacy ratio, due, among other things, to the still low volume of risk-weighted assets (the fixed capital adequacy ratio was 45.5% as of November 1, 2023). The bank's ability to generate capital and operational efficiency are assessed neutrally by ACRA.

Yandex Bank is in the investment phase of development, so the agency during the analysis takes into account the bank's intention to break even in the medium term, the rating agency said.

They also added that Yandex's plans to increase its banking business will support Yandex Bank's ability to "absorb credit risks over the horizon of 12-18 months."^[4]

2023: Brokerage licence waiver

In March 2023, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation canceled Yandex Bank's license to carry out brokerage activities. "We refused the brokerage license, since we do not provide such services now and do not consider them a priority at this stage," the bank said.

2022

Appointment of Alexander Petrov to the post of head of Yandex Bank

On August 22, 2022, it became known about the change of chairman of the board of Yandex Bank. The place of Mikhail Gromov was taken by Alexander Petrov, before that he headed the bank's payment services service. Read more here.

Additional capitalization of the bank for 100 million rubles

On July 12, 2022, it became known about the additional capitalization of Yandex Bank by 100 million rubles. According to Interfax, citing data from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (USRUL), the authorized capital of the Yandex credit institution is now 310 million rubles.

The corresponding entry was made in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities on July 11, 2022. Yandex did not comment on the agency's request.

Yandex capitalized a subsidiary bank for 100 million rubles

Earlier in 2022, Yandex reported that since obtaining a banking license, it has focused on the formation of the necessary banking infrastructure, including payment solutions, processing and integration with international payment systems.

In addition, in 2022, Yandex began introducing processes required by regulatory authorities, including banking financial accounting, compliance, treasury, etc. She also started developing her own risk management and credit scoring solutions, based both on banking practice and on the basis of Yandex machine learning tools and anonymized data.

Yandex planned that in the second half of 2022 its bank would begin issuing retail loans. It was planned to issue products to those who are now limited in their receipt, for example, self-employed taxi drivers and couriers.

In particular, because their income, transactions are not always visible to large banks. And they are forced to use microfinance organizations, take, for example, loans at very high interest rates, - explained the former head of Yandex Tigran Khudaverdyan.[5]

2021

Mikhail Gromov - the new board of directors of the bank

On December 16, 2021, it became known about the appointment of Mikhail Gromov as chairman of the board of Yandex Bank. According to Interfax, citing data from the SPARK-Interfax system, the appointment took place on December 13. Read more here.

Capital increase for 3 months

As of November 1, 2021, the capital of Ozone Bank amounted to 0.78 billion rubles, which is twice as much as three months earlier. The Yandex Bank indicator during this time rose 1.6 times, to 1.64 billion rubles. On December 2, 2021, the Kommersant newspaper wrote about this with reference to the reports of the mentioned organizations. Read more here.

Acquisition by Yandex for 1.1 billion rubles and renaming to Yandex Bank

On April 29, 2021, Yandex announced the conclusion of an agreement on the purchase of Acropolis Bank. As a result of the transaction, Acropolis licenses, including universal banking, will be transferred to the company.

The availability of licenses will allow Yandex to develop the direction of financial services and launch new products for users and partners. What kind of services will be launched, Yandex has not yet said.

Yandex buys a small bank for 1.1 billion rubles for a banking license

It is noted that the main goal of this acquisition for Yandex is to obtain a banking license. The company does not plan to open bank branches under its own name and issue loans.

The transaction amount will be 1.1 billion rubles, of which 75 million is a premium to capital for the purchase. More than 85% of Acropolis's assets are accounted for by the portfolio of liquid securities and funds in accounts with the Bank of Russia.

The deal will be closed after approval by the Bank of Russia. Yandex filed a corresponding petition with the bank on April 28.^[6]

According to Interfax, citing the reports of the credit institution, Acropolis essentially does not conduct an active banking business. By the first half of the year, customers held only 287 million rubles in the bank, of which three quarters of the amount was accounted for by the 10 largest depositors. Earlier, the bank got rid of its office on Gruzinsky Val in Moscow - after selling the object to the new owner, Acropolis rented it. According to the results of the first quarter of 2021, the bank took 310th place in the Interfax-100 rating with assets worth 1.22 billion rubles.

Yandex, after the official completion of joint ventures with Sberbank, which, in particular, implied the transfer of Yandex.Money entirely to the bank, began to actively work on creating a fintech vertical.

In particular, Yandex was close to buying 100% of the Tinkoff group for $5.48 billion, but the parties could not agree  and stopped negotiations.

Managing Director of Yandex Tigran Khudaverdyan, in a conversation with RBC, reported that the company chooses strategies for the development of the fintech vertical: partnership, purchase or association, creating a product from scratch.

Earlier, Yandex registered 17 trademarks related to financial operations: YABank, YAKredit, YABirzha, YABrocker, YAVtreasure, YAKapital, YAStrakhovka, YASchet, YAPortfel, YASberezhenie, YapEvod, Yaeyav, Yaeyev

Later in September 2021, the bank was renamed Yandex Bank.

2020: Ahmet Palankoyev sells stake in bank to Evgeny Davydovich

In February 2020, it became known that the Ingush businessman Akhmet Palankoev left the capital of Acropolis Bank, selling his stake to the ex-head of Svyaznoy and Binbank banks, and at that time to the president of Svyaznoy Group of Companies Yevgeny Davydovich. He and other top managers of Svyaznoy previously joined the board of directors of Acropolis. According to Kommersant's interlocutors close to Svyaznoy Group of Companies, the group has no plans to resume retail banking business on the basis of Acropolis at the moment, while Kommersant's interlocutors expressed doubts that Mr. Davydovich bought the bank with his own funds (according to Kommersant, the transaction amount was 1 capital, at the beginning of the year the capital was about 1.1 billion rubles).

1994: Founding of Acropolis Bank

CB "Acropolis" (JSC) is a universal credit and financial institution providing the full range of banking services. Since 1994, the Bank has been operating in all sectors of the financial market, actively providing services to corporate and private clients, continuously improving and developing service technologies and expanding the product range.

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