Ilya Filatov
Name: Ilya Filatov · Ilya Valentinovich Filatov · Ilya V Filatov · Filatov Ilya · Filatov I.V. · Илья Филатов · Илья Валентинович Филатов · Филатов Илья · Филатов Илья Валентинович · Филатов И.В. · Ilja Valentinovitsj Filatov · Ilja Filatov · Filatov Ilja · Filatov Ilja Valentinovitsj · ايليا فالنتينوفيتش فيلاتوف · イリヤ・ヴァレンティノヴィッチ・フィラトフ · 伊利亚·瓦连廷诺维奇·菲拉托夫
Ilya Valentinovich Filatov is a fintech expert and a seasoned top executive who has worked in the country's largest credit institutions.
Ilya Valentinovich Filatov: Early career
Filatov Ilya Valentinovich was born in the capital region in 1976. He graduated from the Water Transport Academy in 1998.
In 1996, - even before completing his university studies - he joined Elbim Bank, a company involved in the development of new technologies in various fields. There, Filatov oversaw foreign currency transactions. In 1999, he joined AKB Center Bank, where he held a similar position.
Filatov Ilya Valrntinovich: Further career path
Ilya Filatov's biography later became intertwined with the development and integration of bank cards. At the time, it was a nascent industry that did not make its way to the national market until 1991. Between 1999 and 2004, the economist was in charge of a card department at Platina Bank. Founded in 1993, this credit organization became widely known after in 1998 it launched CyberPlat, an online payment service. Ilya Valentinovich Filatov later left the company and continued to focus on the card business at MKB Bank, where he worked for over a year. During his tenure at MBK, he demonstrated outstanding management skills and received a new job offer.
Ilya V Filatov: Uralsib Bank
Ilya Filatov received an offer to become an executive director of Autobank Nikoil (soon-to-be Uralsib) in the summer of 2005. The economist's biography will be linked to this credit institution for the next nine years. It was also the first time he had taken up a top executive job. Uralsib was fully established by the end of 2005 as a result of a series of mergers and acquisitions, incorporating a dozen different companies.
At first, Filatov Ilya Valentinovich focused on the card business, but in 2008 he was promoted to the board deputy chairman of the bank. This meant that he was now in charge of several lines of business, with his primary objective being to boost the retail sector which was lagging at the time. The financial organization managed to weather the 2008 meltdown without major losses thanks to a highly skilled management team. Ilya Valentinovich Filatov combined work and study, graduating from one of the country's business schools with an MBA degree.
In October 2011, Uralsib Bank acquired BNP Paribas Vostok's retail portfolio, which at the time was worth 1.3 billion rubles ($14.3 million). In 2012 alone, the share of credit card products in the financial structure skyrocketed by 90%. By the second half of that year, Uralsib ranked 14th in the country in terms of net assets and even higher in terms of total deposits, rising to 8th place. At the time, the bank had more than 9,000 ATMs and 7,000 cashpoint machines while cardholders could use the services of 30,000 different commercial establishments at a reduced fee.
A year later, the retail loan portfolio accounted for about half of the bank's total assets. Speaking to reporters, Filatov Ilya said that the financial institution had deliberately chosen this path, adding that the bank's development plan had identified the retail sector as the priority area for the next three years. According to the top executive, the company also plans to focus on cards. Ilya Valentinovich Filatov emphasized that 50% of Uralsib's earnings come from card operations.
Card issuance for other credit institutions is another important focus area of the bank. The entity offers sponsorship programs to financial organizations that want to build their own card business. In the autumn of 2012, the top executive said that the volume of those services provided by Uralsib grew by about 30% annually, and this pace was expected to remain stable in the near future.
Filatov Ilya Valentinovich was also involved in supervising lending to small and mid-sized enterprises. In 2011, the bank issued loans to SMEs worth 272 billion rubles ($3 billion), which is 18.7% more than in 2010 and significantly higher than the market average. As a result, Uralsib ranked 4th in the country in terms of loan portfolio. At the same time, it received the 'Highest Business Activity' award in the field of SME lending from the Expert RA rating agency.
In May 2012, the country's capital hosted the 4th Forum for the Development of Entrepreneurship, with Vedomosti newspaper acting as the organizer and Bank Uralsib as the general sponsor. Speaking at the event, Filatov Ilya noted that new credit offers were becoming the main driver of small business development.
The top executive stepped down in late 2014, with Alexey Ashurkov taking over as head of retail operations and development. Ilkka Salonen, Uralsib's chairman of the board, said that Filatov Ilya Valentinovich was instrumental in taking the bank's retail business to new heights and making it a prominent player in its field.
Ilya Filatov: Further advances
In December 2014, Ilya Valentinovich Filatov became the first vice president at another major credit institution. In the spring of 2015, he was promoted to chairman of the board. He proved to be a steadfast leader in his new role, and his first year in office produced good results. The volume of consumer loans tripled, while losses were reduced by the same amount.
Filatov Ilya Valentinovich has received many industry awards in his new position. In 2018, for example, he and his team were honored with an IT Security Award from BIS Journal, with the jury praising the bank for rolling out R-Vision cybersecurity system. At the end of 2018, Ilya Filatov received the Retail Finance Awards as the best manager in retail banking.
Ilya Filatov: Telecoms
A significant milestone in Ilya Filatov's biography came in 2019 when he was appointed to the board of the telecoms company that controlled the bank he was helping to supervise. The top executive became the financial services vice president. Filatov Ilya holds this position and the post of the board chairman of the bank to this day. In 2019, the telecoms corporation separated its fintech operations into a dedicated division.
In the same year, Ilya Filatov, whose biography has been linked to fintech for many years, said that the digitization of banking services would help residents of small and remote settlements to gain access to up-to-date financial services. The top executive believes that while his country is one of the global leaders in banking development and cashless payments, these services are sometimes lacking in sparsely populated provincial areas. At the same time, Ilya Valentinovich Filatov signaled that his bank does not plan to close local branches and become a fully online operation.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and remote work exodus accelerated the bank's digital transformation. Ilya Filatov (whose biography has long been associated with digitization) foresaw the emerging trend even before the pandemic, which enabled the entity under his leadership to become exceptionally savvy in the digital realm. But the executive and his team aspire to become not just the best digital bank, but the leader in this field.
In the autumn of 2020, the telecoms entity invested 125 million rubles ($1.4 million) in a successful startup, a mobile service that tracks personal savings. At the time, hundreds of thousands of people were using the app. The program allows to keep track of expenses and income on all bank and card accounts of the client. The investments were used to further improve the service and promote it in European markets. In return, the venture fund under the umbrella of the telecoms company received an equity stake in the startup.
Between 2020 and 2021, the number of retail customers of the organization headed by Filatov Ilya Valentinovich increased by almost 20%. In 2021, the telecoms operator's fintech services won the FINAWARD prize, which has been issued by Banking Review magazine since 2012. The financial entity led by Filatov Ilya Valentinovich also won 3rd place in the category 'Integration of Open API in banking'. In 2021, according to the IFRS statement cited by the top executive, the company had earned 5.5 billion rubles ($61 million) in net profit, while its income skyrocketed by 50% and the value of its assets increased by 70%. The organization was ranked among the top 15 banks in the country in terms of retail portfolio.
In addition, the financial institution is the undisputed leader in POS financing in the national market. In the spring of 2022, it issued more than 54% of the loans in this category nationwide. In early 2023, the entity launched an online system that allows customers to access POS financing. It could be used by companies that plan to sell goods and services in installments and on credit. The bank's analysts estimated that this format could increase the seller's average bill by half.
The company is pursuing ambitious goals, with plans to nearly triple its customer base and increase its return on invested capital to 20%. The bank also aims to increase customer loyalty. Another goal is that the entity's fintech services should rank in the top three on the NPS metric.
Filatov Ilya Valentinovich notes that to be successful, the company should not force its services on a customer, but rather follow his lead and offer solutions that are already in demand. He believes that the number of banks with a truly interesting business model "can be counted on two hands," while the rest are mired in stagnation. According to the executive, the main trend for the next several years will be competition for customers.
The top executive described his executive team colleagues as "up-and-coming and creative," adding that each person is valuable and brings something to the table. Filatov says that his main principle can be summed up as follows: "When we come to work in the morning, we try to do everything we think is necessary and even more. So that in the evening you can say to yourself: 'Yes, that was my day'".
Ilya Valentinovich Filatov: Leisure activities
Ilya Filatov is an avid sports enthusiast. He plays in a corporate mini-football team that regularly participates in various competitions. The top executive also takes part in long-distance runs and is a Candidate Master of Sports in swimming.
