Austrian Post and its financial services partner Bawag PSK have expanded their long-standingcooperation with the setup of a new branch network offering customers a full range of postal and
banking services at over 500 locations in Austria. The first branches will open this year, with thenationwide rollout to be completed by the end of 2012.As part of this new concept, all Bawag sites will function as fully equipped branch banks. Theoutlets with PSK Bank service, which have provided basic financial services until now, will beupgraded and expanded to offer the entire range of Bawag banking services. At the same time, postoffices will also be expanded with the complete service portfolio of Bawag PSK. In the future,customers will thus be able to access all these services at more than 500 offices throughoutAustria, with 280 branches operating in rural areas and 240 in the cities.
The new branch strategy offers advantages to all parties involved. Bawag PSK thus expands itsnetwork of 150 Bawag offices to more than 500 fully-equipped Bawag PSK branches, supplemented withpostal services. At the same time, Austrian Post will expand its presence to 2,000 sites in themedium term and thus secure its post office network in the long run. Customers, particularly inrural areas, will also profit from easy, local-level access to banking and postal services.
Austrian Post CEO Georg Pölzl said: “Over the next two years, the density in the supply ofpostal and banking services will increase considerably thanks to this intensified cooperation. Infuture, our customers will be able to handle their day-to-day postal and money transactions atalmost 2,000 locations and access top-quality banking services provided by highly-trained financialadvisors.”
The new offices will have self-service areas in the lobbies with account statement printers,transfer scanners and cash machines for simple handling of daily banking transactions 24/7.Consultations on banking services and personalised customer service will take place in a separatebanking area.
The two Austrian traditional banks Bawag and PSK merged into the Bawag PSK bank in October2005.
