Austrian group Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) is planning to open its first Raiffeisen Bank branches in Slovakia next month and increase their number to 10 by the end of the year. According to RBI representatives, the bank's activities will be directed exclusively toward retail banking, as their ambition is to become “a family bank”.
"After 20 years of business activities in Slovakia, we're for the first time opening a branch under our Raiffeisen Bank brand. Our aim is to attract new groups of clients in this way," said Karl Sevelda, vice-chair of the RBI board of directors. The new chain will become the third in Slovakia within the RBI group - joining (the third strongest player on the Slovak banking market) Tatra Banka, operating here since 1991 and ZUNO, which arrived at the end of 2010 and specialises in internet banking. Raiffeisen will be the first bank in Slovakia to use a franchise model, which it views as an opportunity to accelerate its expansion while keeping operating costs at the lowest level possible.
(Source: TASR)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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