Savings Bank Group Austria

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Savings Bank Group Austria
legal form	Corporate group
Seat	Austria , Vienna
Branch	Savings banks / banks
Website	www.sparkasse.at

The Austrian savings bank group , the amalgamation of the savings banks of Austria , is part of the Austrian credit industry alongside the joint stock banks , the Raiffeisen sector , the Volksbank sector , the state mortgage banks and the group of special banks .

Erste Bank und Sparkassen in Austria currently serve more than 3.6 million customers in 1,085 branches with more than 15,500 employees. The customer share in Austria is around 31.2% (as of 05/2018).

S Versicherung is the bank sales brand of Wiener Städtische Versicherung .

Organization and members

The Austrian savings bank group consists of the Erste Group Bank AG , the Erste Bank der oesterreichischen Sparkassen , 46 savings banks and the Die Zwei Wiener Vereins-Sparcasse . In 1918 there were still 210 savings banks; mergers reduced the number to 174 (1945), 130 (1982, as a result of the provisions of the 1979 Banking Act and the Savings Banks Act ) and to 68 at the beginning of this century.

The Erste Bank der oesterreichischen Sparkassen acts as the central institution of the savings bank group. There are also a large number of subsidiaries of the savings banks, some of which are credit institutions and some are financial services companies. The most important are the Bausparkasse der Österreichische Sparkassen (s Bausparkasse) , s IT Solutions and VBV Pensionskasse . The savings banks represent the interests of the Austrian Savings Bank Association .

Today the group has around 1,085 branches and OMV branches in all federal states.

See the list of savings banks in Austria for the individual savings banks

Legal form and business model

In contrast to the German savings banks, the Austrian savings banks are not public credit institutions , but legal entities under private law. They were founded by municipalities or associations and are characterized by lack of ownership and non-profit status. The regional principle that applies in Germany, according to which the business area of ​​a savings bank is spatially defined, does not necessarily apply in Austria, but is largely implemented. Since 1999 the savings banks have had the option of outsourcing their business operations to a stock corporation. By the end of 2010, a total of 40 institutes had made use of this option. The old ownerless savings banks, which have been converted into share management savings banks and in 35 cases into a savings bank foundation , institutions and in some cases also private individuals act as shareholders . The organs of a savings bank are the board of directors and the supervisory board (in the case of stock corporations) or the savings bank council (in the case of owner-less savings banks).

Balance sheet data and employees

According to the Austrian Savings Banks Association, the total assets of the Austrian savings banks amounted to EUR 103.2 billion as of December 31, 2017. The amount of primary funds at the end of 2017 was 76.3 billion euros, customer loans totaled 73.6 billion euros in the same year. Erste Bank und Sparkassen employ more than 15,500 people.

History of the savings banks

The first Austrian savings banks were founded as association savings banks by so-called "human friends", which were primarily aristocrats, clergymen, high administrative officials, but also doctors and pharmacists. As a counterbalance to the private banking houses, the savings banks should be a preventive institution against the impoverishment of the population and an instrument of wealth accumulation for the working population. The history of the Austrian savings banks begins with the opening of the Erste Österreichische Spar-Casse on October 4, 1819 in Vienna, followed by foundations in all provincial capitals and occasionally in rural communities over the next few decades. With the "Sparkassen-Regulativ" of the year 1844 and the possibility of forming political communities from 1849, the establishment of community savings banks became possible. The start-up boom of the savings banks began in 1860, so that their number increased from 26 to 210 in 1910. The model statute of 1872 lifted the previous restriction of the savings banks to "less well-off classes" and the degression of interest rates (the interest rate fell with the amount of deposits); they now became "financial institutions of a humanitarian character" that could do business with all strata of the population. The economic difficulties after the First World War could only be mastered because the legislature allowed the savings banks to carry out new tasks, above all current account business and cashless payment transactions as well as foreign exchange and currency trading.

After a brief heyday after 1924, the most difficult years in the history of the savings bank followed between the economic crisis of 1929 and the end of World War II . Between 1938 and 1945, an adaptation of the savings bank law to German law had to be prevented. From 1938 onwards, the savings banks also had access to a top sector institute, the Girozentrale . After the currency stabilization in 1952, the most successful phase of the savings bank system to date began with extremely high growth rates, but until the 1970s under strong government restrictions to combat inflation. Through the Banking Act and the Savings Bank Act in 1979, the savings banks were put on an equal footing with the other credit institutions, which meant a significant expansion of the area of ​​responsibility. The honorary board member was replaced by a full-time executive board member, and most state regulations fell. At the same time, an expansion of the branch network and the associated workforce began. In order to offer all financial services, numerous subsidiaries in the insurance, leasing and investment sectors were established. There were also two major merger waves with a significant reduction in savings banks from 162 (1979) to 75 (1995). In addition to this structural reform, the 1990s were characterized by customer orientation, the automation of business and the opening up of the savings bank legal form towards a stock corporation. The outsourcing of banking to joint-stock companies opened up new opportunities for raising equity. The year 1997 was a milestone in the history of savings banks in Austria. In that year, the then largest Austrian savings bank, the Zentralsparkasse der Gemeinde Wien , merged as Bank Austria with Austria’s largest public limited company, Creditanstalt, and gradually left the savings bank organization over the next few years. Erste Österreichische Spar-Casse merged with Girozentrale and became Erste Bank as the new central institution. In 2002 the savings banks formed a joint liability association for mutual support and cooperation. The home market was expanded into 12 Eastern and Southeastern European countries, and Erste Group Bank , founded in 2008 , now acts as the holding company.

logo

The company logo in the form of the red letter S with a dot is intended to stylize a money box with a coin and was used in Austria from 1952. It was designed in 1938 by the Austrian Louis Gaigg on behalf of the Deutsche Sparkassenverlag and revised in 1972 by removing the slot shown up to then. The red color became a distinctive feature that was associated with the blue lettering of the respective member of the savings bank group in 1999. The Sparkassen-S is one of the most popular trademarks in Germany and Austria. The Sparkassen-S is also used in the logos of the Central and Eastern European subsidiaries of Erste Group (for example at Česká spořitelna or at Banca Comercială Română).

Regional associations

All savings banks belong to a regional association. There is the Sparkassen-Landesverband Wien (3 members), the Landesverband der Niederösterreichischen Sparkassen (16 members), the Landesverband der Sparkassen Carinthia (2 members), the Sparkassen Landesverband Oberösterreichs und Salzburg (2 members), the Sparkassen-Landesverband Mitte-West (9 members), the Sparkassen-Landesverband Tirol and Vorarlberg (13 members) and the Association of Styrian Savings Banks (4 members).

The Austrian savings banks are also united in a liability association, the objectives of which are to provide extended deposit protection for customer deposits and to work together within the savings bank group. Members of the liability association are the Erste Bank der oesterreichischen Sparkassen AG, Erste Group Bank AG and the Austrian savings banks in the federal states.

Network partner

• s Bausparkasse AG
• Erste-Sparinvest KAG
• Austrian Savings Bank Association
• EBV-Leasing GmbH
• s REAL real estate

literature

• Austrian Savings Banks Association (Ed.): Austrian Savings Banks Handbook.

Web links

• Homepage of the Austrian savings bank group

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Erste Bank and Sparkassen | About us. Retrieved May 3, 2018 . 
2. ↑ Numbers and facts. Retrieved May 3, 2018 . 
3. ↑ Identity. Retrieved May 3, 2018 . 
4. ↑ Österreichischer Sparkassenverband (Ed.): Sparkassen Handbuch 2017 . Vienna.
5. ↑ Joint Liability. Retrieved May 3, 2018 .