9 Dec 2022 19:35

Cetelem bank renamed Drive Click bank, remains part of Sber Group

MOSCOW. Dec 9 (Interfax) - Cetelem bank, which is fully owned by Sber , has changed its name to Drive Click, according to data in the Russian companies register.

"The name change of Cetelem bank was planned long ago," a Sberbank spokesperson told Interfax.

Cetelem bank has owned the Drive Click trademarks since 2019.

"The new name, Drive Click bank, reflects more accurately the principle of work on which the bank's auto lending is built: a simple, technological process in one click," the spokesperson said.

The name change does not mean the bank will change hands: it remains part of Sber Group, the parent bank said.

Cetelem, like a number of other Sberbank subsidiaries, was sanctioned by the United States in April 2022.

Sber bought shares in Cetelem in 2012. Under a joint venture agreement with BNP Paribas Personal Finance, Sberbank (as the group was then called) could buy the partner's stake and consolidate 100% in Cetelem at a certain stage of the business's development.

In 2021, Cetelem bank ranked 39th by total assets in the Interfax-100 ranking compiled by Interfax-CEA.