Autriche
The following data have been gathered by Capgemini and are part of the World Retail Banking Report published annually in March.
Macro economic indicators (2007)
|
GDP at current prices and PPP
|
€ 271 billion
|
|
Inhabitants
|
8,315 million
|
|
GDP per head
|
€ 32,570
|
|
Economic growth rate
|
3.1%
|
|
Consumer confidence indicator
|
13
|
|
Unemployment rate
|
4.4%
|
|
Consumer Price Index
|
1.5%
|
|
Banking staff
|
79,180
|
|
Number of branches
|
5,156
|
|
Number of ATMs
|
3,226
|
|
Households savings ratio
|
10.10%
|
|
Inflation rate
|
2.2%
|
|
Interest rate for consumer credit
|
7.21%
|
|
Interest rate for residential mortgage
|
5.18%
|
|
Interest rate on long term bonds
|
4.31%
|
Retail banking environment
• In Austria the banking market consists of several large banks (e.g. Bank Austria, Erste Bank, BAWAG P.S.K.)
• Additionally 3 sectors cover more than 50% of the retail banking market:
- Sparkassen (savings banks)
- Raiffeisen (rural cooperative banks)
- Volksbanken (cooperative banks)
• These sectors are multi-layer banks which have a central institution for coordination and money balancing activities
Type and size of players
• About 80% of the retail banking market is shared by the 3 major banks and 3 large banking sectors (Net Income for domestic activity in million € and Cost/Income Ratio total)
Distribution of branches among the players in the Austrian banking market
• The total number of branches in Austria amounted to 5,156 at the end of 2007
• The branch consolidation trend is continuing
• The Raiffeisen sector has the highest number of branches with 1,746 in Austria due to the fact that it is a large, diversified group of banks with a very dense distribution network especially in rural areas
Products
• 73 % of total retail banking deposits and 71% of the retail credits are shared between the 5 major players
• The total retail deposit market amounts to 181 billion € (2006: 160 billion € ) and the total retail credit market amounts to 115 billion € (2006: 108 billion €). The increase in the retail credit market stems from the high attractiveness of the (mortgage) loans offers, resulting in more new contracts and higher contract values.
• A relatively high market share among “other banks” in the retail credit market (29%) is due to the strong presence of building societies and mortgage banks
• The Raiffeisen sector ranks no.1 in both, the retail deposit market (approx. 29%) and in the retail credit market (24%), followed by the Sparkassen sector. Number two in the retail deposit market is Bank Austria (16%) which overtook the Sparkassen sector incl. Erste Bank that rank third (15.6%).
Trends
Expansion to CEE and SEE
Austrian banks have been leading players in the CEE and SEE markets since years. But this trend does not seem to diminish. Further privatizations with Austrian banks as potential acquisition candidates are ongoing and expected in the next years. Additionally, banks are expanding in Eastern Europe.
Branch network optimisation
Banks are trying to re-define the role of the branch, moving from a (pure) transaction to a more advisory type of branch. This also includes efforts aiming at improving sales force effectiveness resulting in improved processes, more intensive cross-selling activities, and a more sales-oriented and customer-centric approach.
Consolidation of branches
The trend of branch consolidation is continuing due to M&A’s and an over-banked market. Combined with a strong branch network optimization, this intends to result in an increased customer satisfaction and profitability increase.
Alternative channels
In a well-balanced channel mix, e-banking / internet banking and mobile sales force are pushed increasingly by banks. These alternative channels are intended to be improved within a framework of a proper multi-channel management.
“Less cash society”
There is a clear tendency towards cashless payments. According to a new study of PayLife Austria, already 41% of all payments are done by cards and a further increase of this ratio is expected.
Shared service centers and outsourcing
An increasing trend towards outsourcing of processes, especially of cards and F&A processes can be observed among Austrian banks. Usually, processes are either bundled in captive Shared Service Centers (e.g. regionally for a number of countries) or outsourced to third parties – but still rather in the CEE region, i.e. near-shore.
