Austrian Customer Business

“Based on our new customer service approach, we offer customers exactly the level of service intensity they need. We also take a closer look and use modern methods to analyse the typical requirements of our customers in their respective circumstances, be it in their lives or in the company. Standardised products go a long way towards meeting their needs. In this way we make the world easier for customers – and for ourselves. And we find that customers want to be contacted by the bank and they appreciate the competence required to find simple solutions for them.”

Willibald Cernko, Managing Board member with responsibility for Private Customers Austria and SMEs Austria

Bank Austria Creditanstalt’s Austrian customer business comprises the two business segments Private Customers Austria and SMEs Austria, both of which meet the needs of specific customer groups. The two business segments cover the Austrian market (geographical area) and are retail banking divisions with a common customer service approach. Therefore BA-CA uses a single business model and a common – though differentiated – sales organisation to serve these customer groups. In the same way as the Large Corporates and Real Estate segment is defined by a specific customer group – large, internationally active companies – and by product competence for international business, Austrian customer business covers the sales organisation in a wider sense and a comprehensive production approach using product factories which include BA-CA’s specialised departments, the asset management company AMG, Capital Invest and the private banking subsidiaries. Several specialised subsidiaries perform back-office and settlement functions and provide technical infrastructure.

Austrian customer business is part of BA-CA’s core business, which includes operations in Austria, international business and financial market activities as well as CEE. Equity allocated to the two business segments mentioned above was 26% of the total figure for the bank; and they contributed 27% to the bank’s total operating revenues. In the past two years, business with private customers grew by 10% (2004) and 19% (2005) measured by risk-weighted assets. BA-CA has thus proved that profitable expansion is also possible in the extremely competitive Austrian private customer business (for details, see the management report of the Group); and we are also working to make business with SMEs profitable on a sustainable basis through our restructuring programme from 2006/2007 onwards.

Bank Austria Creditanstalt’s high visibility and leading market position in Austria provide a strong basis from which this objective can be achieved: two-thirds of the Austrian population associate the “red wave” in our logo with the Bank Austria Creditanstalt brand. With a market share of 18%, we are the leading bank in Austria.