Russia’s second-largest lender, VTB Bank, has launched an online car marketplace in partnership with dealership aggregator AutoILSA, RBC reported.
ILSA registers 871 official dealers in 71 Russian cities. Customers are able to book a car from ILSA and apply online for a loan, but still would still need to come to a VTB branch or a car showroom. But VTB says it plans to make the whole service purely online.
BCS Global Markets comments that other banks are also interested in such a service, with Sberbank and TCS Group aiming to launch a marketplace for new and used cars this year. Sovcombank (Russia’s 13th largest bank) already operates a similar marketplace.
“The new service may save some costs, decreasing the bank’s physical presence at dealerships, albeit we expect no significant impact in the short term,” BCS GM commented, seeing the news as neutral for VTB.
Last year, VTB said it aimed to bridge the digital development gap with Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank and tech giant wannabe are aiming to unite all services under Sber’s branded ecosystem.
VTB also said it intended to launch an open “super app” IT platform to unite financial and consumer services in 3Q20, planning to invest 2.5 billion rubles ($40 million).
