At work with Boris Dyakonov

20/05/2019Interview

Boris Dyakonov’s talent and entrepreneurial spirit have seen him taking a rich variety of banking industry positions in the past 21 years before founding the Tochka bank for entrepreneurs. He told Efma’s Boris Plantier about his life and work.

 

Tell me a little about your background.

My career has had quite a few twists. I have been a nurse assistant, a Methodist pastor, a programmer and a systems administrator. For the last 20 years and more I’ve been working on internet banking solutions for SMEs and individuals.

In 1998 I joined Severnaya Kazna bank, where I worked as an internet technologies engineer before heading the information system support department and then the innovative technologies department. In 2002 I was invited by Sergei Lapshin to become a co-owner of UralContactBank, which he had founded, and which later became Bank24.ru. I took several executive positions at the bank and helped to coordinate projects including modernization of the bank’s information system, creating its own card processing and the launch of the entrepreneur-oriented intra-bank startup Knopka.

After the bank closed I was appointed senior vice president of the Khanty-Mansiysk bank Otkrytie. I brought 350 Bank24.ru employees with me and started to create Tochka, a service for small businesses which we launched in 2015. By 2017, Tochka led the Markswebb Rank & Report banking rating in three categories: Bank for self-employed entrepreneurs without employees, Bank for trade and service companies, and Bank for companies engaged in foreign trade activities.

Want to keep reading?

Create a web account to get access to more insights

Related news & insights

Digital Reinvention
01/05/2025Article

Financial Innovation Spotlight – April 2025 edition

Here are five standout projects that grabbed our attention, from AXA in France, Maybank in Malaysia, Westpac in Australia, Assurant...

Digital Reinvention
01/05/2025News

UOB and Accenture team up to transform banking with GenAI

This collaboration—the first of its kind between Accenture and a Singapore-based bank—aims to transform the customer experience and drive innovation...

SME Banking
30/04/2025Interview

Unveiling the future of agribanking: Bange Bank Cameroun

A subsidiary of Bange SA, Bange Bank Cameroun has played a key role in the country’s social and economic development...

SME Banking
30/04/2025News

Wirex unveils new banking platform tailored for Web3 and crypto businesses

The platform delivers a full suite of financial tools to help these businesses manage their operations securely and efficiently in...

ESG
30/04/2025News

Danske Bank strengthens ESG support for business customers

Danske Bank has announced a new partnership with sustainability software provider Position Green to enhance its ESG (Environmental, Social, and...

Insurance
28/04/2025Interview

At work with Moniruzzaman Khan

Moniruzzaman Khan is Executive Director & Head of Digital Business at Green Delta Insurance. He tells Boris Plantier from Qorus...

SME Banking
22/04/2025News

TBC Uzbekistan expands digital banking with new SME lending product

TBC Uzbekistan, the region's leading digital banking ecosystem, is expanding its services with the launch of a new lending product...

21/04/2025Interview

At work with João Dias

João Dias, Transformation Director at Novobanco, will speak at the Reinvent Forum Vienna 2025 (13–15 May 2025) to present the...