Bank Austria opens first flagship branch in Lower Austria
- The advisory centre in Mödling is Bank Austria's first flagship branch for all customer groups in Lower Austria
- Spread over 550 m2, Bank Austria is setting new benchmarks in customer care in Lower Austria with 66 staff and longer opening hours from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm
- Overall investment into branches and SmartBanking totals EUR 100 million
With its flagship branch in Enzersdorfer Straße, Mödling Bank Austria has opened its first new-style advisory centre in Lower Austria. The advisory centre in Mödling is spread over 550 m2 on three floors with 66 staff, who provide services for approximately 13,000 private and corporate customers as well as private banking customers. Experts at the headquarters can be linked into any consultation by video conference if required.
The private customer area opens partially on 17 March 2015, and will be fully underway by mid-April 2015. The Mödling advisory centre comprises 12 consultation places spread over three stories for private and corporate customers as well as private banking customers with extended opening hours from 8:30am until 5:30pm on weekdays.
Helmut Bernkopf, Bank Austria Management Board member with responsibility for retail and corporate banking, emphasised: "With our first flagship branch in Lower Austria we are providing strong impetus for the entire region. State-of-the-art services enable daily banking transactions to be carried out here easily and conveniently. Yet the focus is quite clearly on the advice given to all groups of customers who receive top-quality support from highly qualified advisory teams expert in all customer matters, while other specialists are available through video conferencing. Bank Austria’s first flagship branch in Lower Austria also sets design and architectural benchmarks that enable completely new customer experiences."
Customers are received at the advisory centre by welcome managers and directed to the services they require. There are twelve places for personal customer consultations, payments and withdrawals can be made at two cash manager machines, there are two ATMs, three account statement printers with transfer functions, state-of-the-art information screens, free Wi-Fi and a safe with fingerprint access, all enabling the most modern banking services to meet any need.
Franz Weisz, head of private customers in Lower Austria and Burgenland, emphasised: "After the opening of our first new-style private customer branch in Tulln in autumn 2014 we are setting new standards in customer care throughout the whole of Lower Austria with the first flagship branch in Mödling. Here the focus is placed on advising all private and corporate customer groups up to and including wealthy private customers in private banking."
One-stop-shop for corporate customer care
Christian Redl, head of corporate customers in Lower Austria and Burgenland, underlines: "Corporate customers and freelancers, SMEs and large enterprises can receive a comprehensive single-source service here. This emphasises our leading position in the corporate customer area in this region and throughout Austria."
Private banking services with tailored asset planning
"The new flagship branch in Mödling is of particular benefit for private banking customers too", stressed Robert Zadrazil, Bank Austria Management Board member for private banking. "In a modern but still discrete atmosphere we can implement our 360-degree advisory approach in the most perfect way. Using state-of-the-art techniques, our private banking advisers in the branch can draw on the help of highly qualified experts for all investment, asset planning and financing requirements in talks with customers."
Development continues apace
In 2014 Bank Austria opened a range of new-style branches in Wiedner Hauptstraße, in Simmering, Vienna, at Messecarree near the new University of Economics, at the new Central Railway Station in Vienna and in Tulln, Lower Austria. Bank Austria also launched self-service branches in Vienna, Graz and St. Pölten as well as the first pop-up branch, which can be used in different locations, such as the Film Festival on Vienna’s Rathausplatz, in Gerasdorf at the G3 shopping centre or in Tulln. Upgrading Bank Austria's branch network by implementing new-style branches is a process that continues at pace in 2015. The first flagship branch was recently opened in Salzburg as an advisory centre for all customer groups.
Extended opening hours:
Bank Austria has also triggered a "small revolution" with banking hours in the shape of its pioneering new model for opening hours, and since October 2014 has offered longer opening hours in 30 Vienna branches, including Schwechat, from 9 am to 6 pm. In future there will be one branch in all large towns and at least in every provincial capital that offers extended opening hours.
Investment in excess of EUR 100 million
More than EUR 100 million is being invested overall in the new branch design, the technical equipment of existing branches and in expanding SmartBanking. Helmut Bernkopf sums up: "Our range of ultra-modern new-style branches throughout Austria is steadily growing and the technical upgrading of our existing branch network is making rapid progress. By 2018 we will have taken action throughout our entire branch network. Using this strategy we are also targeting marked growth in new customers by opening up new growth perspectives through the best customer services on the market."
Enquiries: Bank Austria Media Relations Austria
Matthias Raftl, Tel. +43 (0) 50505 - 52809
E-mail: matthias.raftl@unicreditgroup.at