Victoriabank took its first steps in December 1989, in the Republic of Moldova. It received the name Victoriabank, as a symbol of the "fight for victory" or, in other words, the ambition to grow. For 30 years, Victoriabank has been galloping, a gallop symbolized also by the horse that was part of the bank's logo until December 2019 and confirmed by the bank's ranking among the top three largest banking institutions in the Republic of Moldova. Since 2018, Victoriabank has entered a completely new stage: BT became a shareholder and thus the strategic partnership began, in the neighboring country, with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Since 2019, Victoriabank has a new brand identity, which suggests even better the desire to mark new victories. Let's find out its story!

"I was immediately captivated by the idea of founding a bank”

In 1989, around this time, Victor Turcan, the President of the Board of Directors, founder and shareholder of Victoriabank, received a proposal from Mrs. Galina Proidisvet – then, coordinator of the Chisinau branch of Promostroibank, and currently, shareholder of Victoriabank - to found a commercial bank, the first in the Republic of Moldova. „I was immediately captivated by the idea of founding a bank. I did not have any money saved up, but I understood that it was something new and promising. We started discussing ideas and doing the calculations. At that time, in the Republic of Moldova, there was no commercial bank, and the first institutions of this kind had just appeared in Moscow and Leningrad, the current Saint Petersburg” – Turcan told us, emotionally connected to Victoriabank.

If at present the minimum capital required to establish a bank is over 385 million rubles, back then it was 5 million rubles, so discussions and meetings with potential investors from the area began. The first to believe in the idea and want to invest was the Valeology Association, contributing 1 million rubles. By December of the same year, investors joined the idea, so 9.1 million rubles were raised, almost double the minimum required. This was … the first victory.

Victoriabank and its first steps

With enthusiasm, confidence and the necessary capital, Victoriabank was founded on December 22, 1989 by the State Cooperative Association "Valeologia", "Moldghiprostroi", "Moldghiproprom", "Moldghiintiz", "Aschim", "Moldgaz", Chisinau City Hall and Chisinau Glass Factory – now, the largest factory in the glass industry in Moldova, established in 1970.

At the same time, the name of the bank was also established. The first proposal was Valeologia – originating from the Valeologia Association, which believed from the start in the idea of the success of establishing the bank. Regarding the establishment of the name Victoriabank, Valeriu Turcan recalls: „Although we were thinking about Valeology, the team from the State Bank of Moscow suggested that we find another name. It was exactly the period when all kinds of cooperatives appeared with names like "avantul," "succesul," "diamantul." But a bank had to have a solid name. That is how we thought of VICTORIA,”.The colors of the Victoriabank brand are blue and red, which express the idea of trust, success, and pride.

Another important step was the registration of Victoriabank at the State Bank of the USSR, on February 22, 1990. This was followed by the opening of the first branch, in the town of Balti, the second largest city in the Republic of Moldova, based on the population – now approximately 140,000.

The story continued with the first banking operation at Victoriabank, which took place on April 12, 1990, the first clients being cooperatives from the area. „At that time we had rented an apartment on Alexei Sciusev street in Chisinau. To save money, we brought everything possible from home: tables, chairs, phones. The computer, back then a Robotron, was rented and, because we didn't have a guard, before leaving for home, we would unwrap the computer every time and put it in the safe. We didn't even have an alarm system, outside there was only a light bulb, just for formality. We were 5 people in the team and each of us fought so that, through the first results, we would earn the trust of the founders and clients. We worked hard”. – Turcan remembers. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development became a shareholder of Victoriabank in 1995, opening a new chapter for the bank.

Victoriabank … first

Victoriabank has marked many firsts throughout its history, offering clients, with each of them, the opportunity to be the first to benefit from banking services, products, and facilities. Some of these are:

• The first banking institution in the Republic of Moldova, information that is also part of its visual identity, being part of the logo: “The first bank in Moldova” (1989).
• The first bank in the Republic of Moldova to obtain financing from an international financial institution, from EBRD, in the amount of 4 million dollars to support local SMEs (1995).
• Issued the first cards from the Republic of Moldova (1997).
• The first POS in the Republic of Moldova was of Victoriabank and was installed at the Dacia Hotel in Chisinau (1997).
• The first ATM in the Republic of Moldova also belongs to Victoriabank (1998).
• The first bank in the Republic of Moldova to implement the eCommerce program for online stores (2004).
• The first Visa Premium card (2004), Visa Platinum (2011) and the first Visa Infinite card (2011) in the Republic of Moldova.
• VictoriaPay, the first contactless payment service with the phone in the Republic of Moldova (2017).
• The possibility to pay contactless with the smartwatch (2019).
  
  

The story of Victoriabank, a new chapter beginning in 2018

The year 2018 brought a fresh air to Victoriabank, since through Banca Transilvania it becomes, alongside EBRD, a shareholder. Practically, BT aimed to replicate its business model at Victoriabank, with the help of the teams from the two banks. Banca Transilvania made the announcement in January 2018, through an press release.“One year after this step, Victoriabank enjoys everything it has brought new for its clients and team: from the reorganization of business lines, the launch of products and services, to the periodic meetings of the BT – Victoriabank team, for which the Cluj – Bucharest – Chisinau flights have been part of the usual schedule for some time now” – Bogdan Plesuvescu, Chairman of the Management Committee, Victoriabank, told us. BT and Victoriabank talked about the first fruits of their collaboration in January 2018, and details can be consulted here.

In 2019, a series of BT projects and brands were launched at Victoriabank, such as: Victoriabank Club, personal and professional development program for entrepreneurs; Victoriabank Forest, in the locality Budesti, where an area of 3 hectares was forested; The Unlimited Package for SMEs; Victoriabank Friday, online banking shopping campaign; STAR shopping card etc.

This is the story so far of Victoriabank, which today means almost 270,000 clients, 100 branches in over 30 localities in the Republic of Moldova, as well as a team of almost 1,100 people.

For Victoriabank, every victory means one step closer to the customers of today and those who will come.