Filatov Ilya Valentinovich

Filatov Ilya Valentinovich

Filatov Ilya Valentinovich

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 Filatov
Ilya Filatov

Ilya Filatov: Education and skills development

Ilya Valentinovich Filatov was born in the summer of 1976 in the capital region. After graduating from school, he decided to study economics, which was very much in demand at the time. In the late 1990s, he graduated from a college in the capital, majoring in management and economics.

Later, when Ilya Filatov was already holding a senior executive position, he continued his management training at the Higher School of International Business. At that time, it was one of the most reputable business schools in the country, which fully met global educational standards, allowing its students to earn MBA degrees.

Filatov Ilya: First banking experience

Ilya Filatov began his professional career in one of the national banks, taking up a position of a leading economist. Founded in 1990, Elbim Bank sought to invest in cutting-edge technologies. The bank also made an effort to fill a niche in the traveler’s cheque market and was involved in foreign exchange operations, with an up-and-coming specialist handling the accounting in the latter field.

After gaining his first banking experience, Filatov for some time worked in a similar position at another small commercial bank. Later, he was invited to oversee the payment cards division at Commercial Bank Platina, which at the time was actively developing highly promising online banking. Filatov Ilya Valentinovich worked in this position for more than four years, gaining relevant experience that proved to be instrumental in his further development as a fintech expert and pioneer.

Filatov Ilya Valentinovich at Uralsib

In 2005, Ilya Valentinovich Filatov received a major career boost when he was invited to become a deputy chairman of a financial organization that was later reorganized into Uralsib Bank, one of the most renowned credit institutions in the country. The top executive remained in this job until 2014. Over the course of nine years, he spearheaded the development of the financial institution's lending business, reducing application processing time and expanding the range of services and products. One of Uralsib’s innovative ideas was to create a business community, where clients could take part in workshops and meetings, obtain new financial and economic knowledge as well as get introduced to potential partners and contractors.

Filatov also spearheaded efforts to foster innovation in banking, becoming a champion of non-cash and contactless transactions. To achieve this vision, the bank entered into partnership agreements with entire enterprises, providing them with both payroll card products and specialized equipment which enabled employees to use cards on the company premises.

Ilya Filatov. Development of contactless payment systems

Large banks want to focus on satisfying the needs of corporate clients, facilitating transactions between enterprises and various organizations. Uralsib Bank executives, including Filatov, were quick to recognize the untapped potential of contactless payment systems in the consumer sector, leading the effort to create the bank’s own acquiring platform. The latter is designed to facilitate non-cash transactions from private clients to the accounts of commercial organizations, public catering businesses, gas stations, and other similar entities selling retail products and services. As a result, the bank acts as an intermediary and is paid a fee for each transaction. In 2013, Uralsib emerged as one of the main providers of acquiring services for business entities, with about 25% of banks and 10% of trade organizations relying on Uralsib in this regard.

Filatov Ilya believes that this expansion would not have been possible without forging ties with international payment systems. At the time, the bank had the strongest relationship with MasterCard.

The financial expert believed that banking services could be greatly improved by relying on the potential offered by plastic cards; that’s why he also worked to consistently expand credit card programs. The key idea was to create additional incentives to persuade clients to use plastic cards in their daily lives. To achieve this goal, Uralsib signed partnership agreements with various organizations and created bonus programs.

Filatov Ilya Valentinovich: Groundbreaking technologies and early experience in an IT entity

In 2014, Filatov Ilya left his job at Uralsib and became the head of a banking department at one of the country’s largest telecoms and IT companies. Two years later, he joined the Board of Directors. 

Ilya Filatov, whose career has been tied to introducing innovations in the industry, believes that retail market expansion is the most promising strategy in terms of developing a tech-savvy financial sector. Improving customer experience and introducing new financial services and technologies lie at the heart of this approach.

According to Filatov Ilya Valentinovich, the IT Group should give priority to innovative financial technologies to promote its development. For example, services associated with traditional bank cards are now intertwined with many areas in which mobile operators operate. This symbiosis rewards the versatile structure with a strong competitive advantage. Among other things, this synergy hinges on the integration with payments for mobile and Internet services, efforts to make it easier to pay for the company’s media services as well as microlending. In this vein, in 2016, the financial expert almost tripled the volume of consumer loans issued. Losses across the entire scope of the bank’s credit products were also reduced nearly three-fold.

Ilya Filatov and digital financial revolution

Filatov Ilya Valentinovich believes that digital technologies are increasingly becoming an integral part of everyday life, which in turn enhances bank clients’ trust in them. This allows the bank to respond to customer demand by leveraging hi-tech innovations. In order to reduce the financial operational costs within the multi-faceted company, to facilitate the exchange of payment information within the ecosystem of apps and services as well as to boost the appeal of the IT Group’s products, the company’s banking department launched its own acquiring system. 

Ilya Filatov is also involved in the integration of cutting-edge security technologies into the financial institution's framework. In 2017, the company introduced a groundbreaking R-Vision system to boost information security inside the company’s infrastructure. The digital system also enhances the ability of the technological framework to withstand cyber threats. In 2018, this endeavor earned an award for the successful implementation of a banking cybersecurity project.

Ilya Filatov
Ilya Filatov

The same year, the credit organization won the IT-LEADER award, an indicator showing that the bank’s digital transformation turned out to be quite effective. Meanwhile, various systems within the financial organization's IT framework became part of the Group’s cloud service. The bank also won a competition to become the main payment operator of the state services portal in the capital.

Ilya Filatov: virtual money

Filatov also spearheaded the integration of a fully digital credit bank card, which emerged as an original product on the national market. A credit card in the form of a unique code (token) is connected to the client’s smartphone, with all funds and account operations being carried out through the bank’s mobile app. With many smartphones having a built-in NFC chip, the digital card could easily be integrated into various payment services and used in specialized banking terminals. The card itself is also issued online via a smartphone. The system also uses mobile data, information on the customer's roaming activities, mobile service bills, etc. to assess the amount of credit that can be extended to the customer as well as to determine his solvency.

Ilya Filatov, whose career has seen many innovative banking solutions, won acclaim in the professional community; in 2019, he was recognized as the best leader in the retail sector. Two years later, fintech services he helped develop and integrate, won awards for financial innovation. One of those services was a smart bank or a mobile app that not only combined several financial products but also allowed users to tap into their accounts at different credit institutions. The virtual office provides access to traditional banking products and allows you to purchase insurance plans, check your balance and transaction history in other banks.

Ilya Filatov. Fintech startups

Filatov Ilya Valentinovich believes that it is crucial to invest in promising IT startups. Such investments are highly risky, but if they prove to be successful, investors can reap substantial rewards. For example, under the leadership of Filatov Ilya, the major credit institution contributed financially to the development of a personal budget app. The relevant deal was signed in 2020, with the investment value exceeding 120 million rubles ($1.4 million). The investments allowed the bank to buy a stake in a development company, participate in the creation of an operations-ready product, and – if the project is successful – integrate the app into its own fintech ecosystem.

The app helps users analyze their income and expenses as well as restructure their personal budgets. It also allows them to adjust bank card spending limits and provides tips on how to properly organize their personal budget based on all the data available. The developer company intends to use the accumulated revenues to modernize, enhance and advertise its products as well as to expand its client base.

Filatov Ilya Valentinovich: sports interests of a top executive

Ilya Filatov has been an avid sports enthusiast since his childhood, with his main interests being swimming, athletics, and football. Filatov Ilya is a Candidate Master of Sports in swimming and often takes part in various mini-football competitions. 

The top executive also takes part in public running events. Those activities are often charity-related. For instance, the “Running Hearts” event helps raise funds to support children with special needs.