Annual Report 2004

pletes the OeNBÕs information kit on
Basel II.
Because of the high number of
counterfeit euro banknotes, the
OeNB and the Austrian Broadcasting
CorporationÕs radio station O‹3 decided
to revive their joint public relations
campaign ÒMEHRscheinchen.Ó
At the heart of this campaign was a
competition based on the serial numbers
and security features of banknotes;
winners were awarded money
prizes. This initiative reached 84%
of O‹3 listeners and familiarized them
with the security features of the euro
banknotes. All in all, 800,000 people
participated in the ÒMEHRscheinchenÓ
contest, which involved checking
euro notes for the winning serial
number and examining their security
features.
The Eurotour bus first toured
Austria in 2002 and 2003, providing
Austrians all across the country with
the opportunity to exchange their
schillings for euro and to obtain information
about money matters. As this
service was very well received
(90,000 persons visited the Eurotour
bus)andasAustriancitizensÕneed
for information is increasing steadily,
the OeNB decided to turn the Eurotour
bus into a permanent mobile
branch office. To this end, a new
bus was furnished with state-of-theartequipment.With97stopsallover
Austria, 2004 has been the most successful
year for the Eurotour so far.
113,000 Austrians visited the Eurotour
bus, receiving information about the
euro and exchanging around
ATS 63 million for euro.
In 2004 the number of questions
addressed to the OeNBÕs information
services (hotline and electronic
query) went up by 15% to 31,400.
This marked increase is largely attributable
to the considerable rise in email
queries, whose number grew
by 2,000 to 6,800 year on year in
2004. The number of electronic
queries was driven up primarily by
questions about monetary policy and
central banking issues raised by university
and Fachhochschule staff and
students as well as business people,
which are also responsible for the rising
complexity and increasingly demanding
nature of these inquiries.
As a consequence, more time and effort
has gone into providing answers
to hotline inquiries.
The Statistics Hotline offers competent
advice and information on the
OeNBÕs financial statistics to the Austrian
public. Like the general information
hotline, the Statistics Hotline
was in high demand in 2004; the
number of requests grew by 17%
year on year, reaching 1,800. 90%
of all inquiries were answered within
24 hours. The clients of the Statistics
Hotline not only include experts
from commercial banks, law firms
as well as consulting companies and
financial analysts, but also a growing
number of journalists.
In September 2004 the professional
management of the OeNBÕs
Money Museum was rewarded with
the Austrian quality seal for museums
— a memorable highlight for the museumÕs
staff.
The OeNBÕs Information Policy —
Conveying Stability and Security
Cooperation with O‹ 3,
Eurotour bus
Humming hotlines
The OeNBÕs Money
Museum
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