KARACHI  - The quality portfolio built by the experienced team of Silkbank Ltd. is reflected by the interest shown by leading consumer banking players, namely HBL and Bank Alfalah, in acquiring its consumer accounts portfolio. The Silkbank Board of Directors has requested the State Bank of Pakistan to grant permission to both HBL and Bank Alfalah to conduct due diligence of the Silkbank Consumer Accounts portfolio prior to its possible acquisition by either of these banking entities.
The potential sale of its portfolio will allow Silkbank to strengthen its Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), rebuild profitability and enhance value for all stakeholders. Silkbank’s focus on individual customers is reflected by the fact that the bank, despite difficult circumstances, has retained its market share and is one of the leading personal loans and credit card issuers in the market.
Since the outbreak of COVID 19 and the manner in which the country’s economy has been impacted as a result of the pandemic, Silkbank’s investment in technology has helped its customers conduct business from the ease of their homes without risking their safety. The bank is one of the top three banks in terms of credit card repayment volumes via digital channels.
Over 37% of the total payments on the bank’s credit cards were made through digital channels in March 2021. Apart from this, customers were facilitated to shop online as the bank upgraded its e-commerce platform to Visa VCAS 2.0, thus improving the online shopping experience with enhanced security. This was further supplemented by the extensive customer awareness/education drive and attractive product offerings which resulted in a major shift in spending from POS to Online.
This makes Silkbank one of the most digitally-focused banks overall, with a digital transactional mix of 42%.