The Lower Austrian Raiffeisen banks

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Self-service
winning favour
Banking
on the Web
Credit and cash
cards growing in
popularity
and is no dearer than renting at current interest rates.
Ten Vienna branches opened on the four “Home Ownership
Saturdays” to provide customer advice.
Meanwhile, demand for retirement saving products is growing
rapidly. In November our personal banking staff and 40 Vienna
tax advisers staged an information drive on tax-efficient investments,
held on four “Pension Saving Saturdays”. This focused
on mixed funds and unit-linked life assurance policies.
In July 2000 a Raiffeisen account holder made the 100,000th
electronic transfer at an RLB terminal. Self-service is increasingly
winning favour with customers. The number of transfers
made via account maintenance terminals rose from 4,989 in
January 2000 to 20,732 in December. By the end of 2000 all our
Vienna branches will have these money transfer terminals,
which can also provide information on account balances and
movements, as well as standing orders.
RLB customers are increasingly making use of the opportunities
for electronic access to their accounts. The number
of e-banking accounts registered a year-on-year increase of
67.6 percent. By year end almost 33,000 of the 97,000 current
accounts were already equipped with e-banking functions.
In March 2000 Raiffeisen.direkt account holders became the
first bank customers in Austria to be able to carry out their
banking transactions by mobile phone, using WAP technology.
The EC and the Maestro cards, which can be used in Austria
and abroad for both cashless payments and cash withdrawals,
are enjoying ever-increasing popularity. During the year under
review the number of cards issued by RLB rose by 11.3 percent
to 43,836.
Credit card sales were also up in 2000; there was a 10 percent
year-on-year increase in the number of card holders to 24,000.
These customers use their Visa and Master cards both as a
means of payment and as a way of obtaining attractive additional
benefits such as travel insurance.
Retail banking in Vienna
In cooperation with the Vienna Chamber of Lawyers the Vienna
banks have created an electronic register of trusts. RLB is sup-
porting the new system, thereby enabling lawyers to administer
trusts under the new provisions of Section 9 of the regulations
for the professional training of lawyers.
In line with the Bank’s efforts to offer customers timely safeguards
against potential financial difficulties, RLB introduced
new “Money & More” loans which come with unemployment
and invalidity insurance. In the event that the borrower
loses his/her job, after three months of unemployment the insurance
pays the instalments on the loan and continues to do
so for up to 12 months; in case of invalidity the policy may cover
the entire remaining repayment period.
RLB reacted to the introduction of university fees in Austria by
introducing a special type of student loan, extended on extremely
attractive terms. We are also the first bank to offer to
reimburse all graduates’ university fees for the entire duration
of their studies when they get a job. The offer applies to all fields
of study, and is open to students after six months of banking
with RLB. It covers the fees for the average length of study in a
given discipline.
In financial 2000 RLB’s advertising on billboards and lamp
posts, and at underground stations, tram and bus stops was a
prominent part of the Vienna cityscape. In the 1999 –2000
period, increased exposure, promotion of advice days and
customer events, and a significantly expanded press relations
effort increased awareness of RLB among the local population
by one-third, to about 50 percent .
Retail banking in Vienna
Electronic register
of trusts administered
by lawyers
Money&More – the
first personal loans
with unemployment
insurance
Student loans
Catching up fast
in terms of
awareness and
approval
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