Banks in Eastern Europe have gained a foothold in recent years. Some of them offer unique innovations, as well as, various choices regarding money management. Even though there are a lot of banks which indeed provide a high-quality service, as well as, a customer-oriented environment in this article, we will talk about the top 5 Eastern European banks, coming from Moldova, Russia, and Georgia

Alfa-bank

Alfa-Bank is the largest private bank in the Russian Federation, one of the five largest banks in Russia in terms of assets according to Forbes. It is also the fifth bank in Russia in terms of assets (the first among private banks). It has about 800 branches and offices in more than 100 cities in Russia. The main office is located in Moscow.

In 2019, Alfa-Bank’s mobile banking application rose to third place in the Best Daily Bank rating and took first place in the Best Digital Office rating.

Phygital (from physical and digital) is Alfa-Bank’s concept combining digital and physical experience. The bank management has repeatedly stated that it does not plan to abandon branches and switch completely to digital format. At the same time, the offices plan to significantly modify, using biometrics, geolocation, and other digital technologies. 

TBC Bank

TBC is the leading bank in Georgia; its main office is located in Tbilisi. It is widely known for offering wide opportunities and financial services to people. At the same time, TBC has one of the best mobile banking systems in the world.

For the first time in history, Global Finance, a global financial publication has named TBC Mobile Banking the best mobile banking bank in the world.

The award was given to the bank in 2019 for its continuous development of the best digital capabilities and the latest technologies. At the same time, the bank is one of the few entities, offering trading with stocks and gives citizens in the country insight on how to trade on the stock exchange for Georgians as well as access to other financial instruments. 

Sberbank

Sberbank of Russia is one of the major banks in Russia and at the same time the largest transnational and universal bank of the Russian Federation Central and Eastern Europe. According to the results of 2019, Sberbank has 96.2 million active private clients and 2.6 million active corporate clients.

The Government of Russia actually controls the banks, which owns 52.3% of ordinary shares, the rest of those are in public circulation. It provides a vast variety of services. In order to transform Sberbank into a technology company, the share of non-banking services, including online e-commerce stores, telecoms, insurance, medicine, and more, is starting to grow. In 2018, the value of the Sberbank brand amounted to 670.4 billion rubles (the most expensive brand in Russia).

In 2019, Forbes analyzed the ratings of agencies and compiled a list of the 100 most reliable banks in Russia, in which Sberbank took fourth place. Furthermore, As of 2018, more than 180 thousand investors in Russia used the brokerage services of Sberbank.

Moldova Agroindbank

Moldova Agroindbank (MAIB) began its activity on May 8, 1991, as a joint-stock company as a result of the reorganization of an institution from the Soviet Agroprombank. Moldova Agroindbank today is the country's biggest commercial bank in terms of total assets and total equity and is considered as one of the well-managed and profitable banks. 

Moldova Agroindbank has one of the largest domestic networks, comprising 66 branches and 115 agencies throughout the country, covering all major demographic centers. Since 1994, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Moldova Agroindbank have been closely collaborating with medium and small enterprises and microcredit. 

Moldova Agroindbank is an innovative bank aimed at providing high-tech financial services for all categories of customers - individuals and legal entities operating in different areas of the national economy. The institution provides a wide range of services and banking products, ahead of the market thanks to its innovations. In 2016, it was recognized as the Best Bank of Moldova, according to Global Finance.

VTB Bank

VTB Bank (PJSC) is a Soviet and Russian universal commercial bank with state participation. Financial conglomerate. 60.9% of the bank's ordinary shares are owned by the state, the remaining 39% are in free float; taking into account preferred shares, 92% of the group’s share capital is under state control. The second-largest bank in Russia and the first in terms of authorized capital [3]. The main office of the bank is located in Moscow, the bank is registered in St. Petersburg. On January 1, 2018, it acquired the VTB24 subsidiary bank. It has a subsidiary or associated banks in Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, and Cyprus.

The market capitalization of the bank as of March 2020 is $ 4.6 billion [4]. The bank's customers as of 2019 are 13.9 million people and more than 500 thousand legal entities [5] [6]. As of 2020, the bank has issued backbone enterprises more than 1 trillion rubles. loans [7].

VTB Bank was named the “Bank of 2018 in Russia” according to The Banker magazine. For the first time, VTB Bank won the contest of The Banker magazine, the jury of which noted VTB’s best practices in providing banking services in Russia [52].

VTB Bank provides sponsorship and charity support in the field of sports, culture, as well as in the social sphere.