Rapid growth, quality development: Fast Bank’s 4 upcoming development milestones.

The 4 Pillars of Development

The banking sector continues to evolve rapidly, shaping new rules and expectations. Digitalization, growing competition, and changes in customer behavior are prompting financial institutions to rethink their approaches and build more flexible, long-term strategies. In this context, Fast Bank is an active and dynamic market player, focusing not only on growth but also on value-creating solutions. Today, we are speaking with Armine Ter-Hovsepyan, Chief Development Officer of Fast Bank.

- Ms. Ter-Hovsepyan, what stage of development is Fast Bank currently at, and what are your main strategic priorities?

• First of all, I would like to emphasize that at Fast Bank, we build our strategy around fundamental, value-creating ideas. Today, Fast Bank is at one of its important stages of development, and alongside our strategy of progressive growth and scaling, the qualitative perspective of development is of particular importance to us at this stage.

Therefore, our strategy for the coming years is based on four so-called pillars or guidelines on which the entire strategy is built.

First and foremost, as I have already mentioned, is our policy of scaling and rapid growth - entering new markets and attracting new customer segments.

The second key priority is ensuring a comprehensive and best-in-class customer experience and excellence in service quality.

Next are initiatives aimed at improving overall efficiency, both in terms of business efficiency and operational efficiency.

And last, but no less important, is establishing a new benchmark for corporate governance, corporate culture, and quality in general.

For me, it is particularly important that all these ideas ultimately serve one purpose: providing our customers with increasingly better and more prosperous experiences and services every day.

- What principles does Fast Bank follow when shaping its customer service culture?

• For us, service quality is not merely a standard; it is, essentially, part of our working culture. We believe that the customer experience - the experience customers have when interacting with the Bank, the impression and emotions they receive - is one of the key competitive advantages today, because competing solely through products and services is no longer sufficient.

We firmly believe that it is precisely the emotion and impression a customer experiences when interacting with us, through any channel - whether in branches or through remote processes and various tools - that will make them want to return to us again and again.

- How is Fast Bank’s development strategy reflected in its marketing approaches and brand development?

• We strive not to be simply “average good,” but to be the best and to stand out - sometimes to be bold and different. One of the most important principles of our marketing strategy is to be close to people and to communicate with them in a clear and simple way.

Another distinctive principle of our brand is corporate social responsibility. We believe that contributing to the life of society and strengthening and developing social well-being also contributes to a more positive and appropriate perception of the brand. Therefore, we have a large number of initiatives in this area, particularly in education, sports, and culture.

It is worth noting that last year, initiatives worth AMD 600 million were implemented in these areas.

- Ms. Ter-Hovsepyan, how does an idea become a real project at Fast Bank, and how do you ensure its effective implementation?

• Today, many of us, and many organizations, generate ideas that are no less important and can become sources of major change. However, not all of these ideas succeed, precisely because during the complex implementation process, the core idea can get lost and the desired result may never be fully achieved.

In addition to having the necessary potential, technical capabilities, and human resources, it is very important to have a system and structure based on mutual understanding. In other words, IT partners need to better understand and grasp what the business wants, while business partners, in turn, need to be able to envision what kind of work and technical solutions are required to implement a particular project or request.

And I can assure you that as a result of this mutual understanding and synergy, projects can indeed achieve success.

To summarize, I believe that when launching any project - whether small or a mega-project for an organization - it is essential to have clear answers to several fundamental questions: What are we doing? Why are we doing it? How are we going to do it? And when will we see the result?

- What is the biggest challenge from a development perspective today?

• Today, simply keeping pace with the times is unfortunately no longer enough; we need to stay ahead of the times and relevant trends. Everyone is moving quickly, competition is intense, particularly in the banking system, and therefore the speed of both thinking and project implementation is one of the key challenges that leads to success.

Another challenge I would like to highlight, which has become particularly important in recent times, is more global and widespread: disinformation. Information sources are diverse, the types of information and interpretations of the truth are numerous, and sometimes, both within a company and globally, it is very important to understand whether there is a common perception of a particular issue or whether different perceptions exist.

- In your opinion, what makes an effective leader, and does gender have any role in this?

• In general, I believe that leadership is not determined by gender, but rather by knowledge, skills, and, most importantly, by the results that a particular employee or manager is able to deliver for the company.

At the same time, as a woman and a mother of two young children, I understand very well how difficult it can sometimes be to balance everyday responsibilities with excellence at work. Based on my personal experience, I can say that women very often, or almost always, develop a particular ability or skill that allows them to work and think in several directions simultaneously. In this respect, I would say that this can give women an advantage.

I would also like to emphasize that the organization and the culture in which an employee works are extremely important in this regard. And I can assure you that Fast Bank provides an environment where people can develop. Here, knowledge and results are highly valued.

Fast Bank continues to expand the range of its services, offering fast, convenient, and secure 24/7 financial solutions in Yerevan and in all regions of Armenia.

The Bank is regulated by the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia.