Österreichische Postsparkasse

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Österreichische Postsparkasse AG

Investment banking, Private banking, Asset management
Revenue	€ 56,271 mn (2004, as part of the merged BAWAG P.S.K.)
Number of employees	~6.280 (2004, as part of BAWAG P.S.K.)
Website	www.psk.at

Österreichische Postsparkasse (P.S.K.) was a

History

During the Austro-Hungarian Empire

Österreichische Postsparkasse was founded by law in 1882. On 28 May, the parliamentary bill "...on the introduction of postal savings banks in kingdoms and countries represented by the Imperial Assembly"[1] was passed in the Imperial Council (Reichsrat). The government bill was drawn up by Georg Coch, the founder and first director of the bank.

The first headquarters of the "k.k. Postsparcassen-Amt" (Imperial-Royal Postal Savings Office) was opened on 12 January 1883 in the former

began offering their postal savings service to customers. The idea behind offering financial services at post offices was to promote public awareness and encourage saving. The added benefit of the system was to make important funds available to the state and to guarantee the security of the deposits with government liability.

In October 1883, Coch introduced a revolutionary innovation, the system of cashless transfers (Scheckverkehr), whereby a written instruction authorised the debit of one account and the credit to another. This radically changed the monetary system and made the P.S.K. into the centre of payment transactions. The new system of cashless transfers started spreading throughout the world.^[2] The bank also saw the expansion of the foreign payment transaction system. Giro agreements were signed with the Austro-Hungarian Bank and other foreign postal savings bank throughout Europe.

In 1906 the

in the main hall allows for natural light to reach the interior of the building. The headquarters building became the most recognisable trademark of the postal savings bank.

World War I and aftermath

World War I dealt a heavy blow to the bank. With the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, its areas of activity were restricted to the much smaller, newly founded Austrian Republic. As a result, the number of post office branches was heavily reduced from 7,000 to around 2,000.^[2]

On 28 December 1926, parliament passed a new law which liberalised the P.S.K., transferring it from direct state administration and control into a separate, independent legal entity as a public company.

Following the Anschluss of Austria to Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1945, the P.S.K. was dissolved as a legal entity by the Nazis, and all assets were transferred to Germany.

Rebirth and merger

After the liberation and the restoration of Austria, the postal savings bank was re-founded on 26 April 1945, as Österreichische Postsparkassenamt. It was the first Viennese banking institute to resume its services and was under the direct control of the

. The law formed the starting point for a new business strategy aimed at creating a market-oriented range of services.

The strategy seemed to work well, as the bank grew and was able to further consolidate its position in 1976, when it purchased the majority stake in the Appell Kunden-Kredit Teilzahlungsbank regGenmbH, which was one year later converted into a full bank under the name Bank der Österreichischen Postsparkasse AG (P.S.K. Bank AG).

The 1990s saw substantial change for the bank. In 1996,

. The Austrian government was liable for any financial obligations of the newly listed company. With the new restructuring, a new agreement was signed between the P.S.K. and the Austrian Mail Service of how the post offices would continue to offer the financial services.

In 2000, 74.82% of the bank's shares were bought by Bank für Arbeit und Wirtschaft AG (BAWAG) and the remaining 25.18% by KSP Unternehmensbeteiligungsgesellschaft mbH. The merger of the two financial institutes created the BAWAG P.S.K., making it Austria’s third-largest banking group. By 2000 the balance sheet had a total of almost 45 million euros and the new group had about 5000 employees, some 2000 outlets and over one million private customers. The BAWAG P.S.K. Group now has the largest centrally managed sales network in Austria.

Areas of activity

The bank's services cover the classical areas of

.

Apart from offering financial services, the bank also sponsors cultural events such as art exhibitions, especially on the Viennese Jugendstil, concerts, as well as donating for social issues such as fundraisers for victims of natural disasters.

References

Literature

• Schorske, Carl E. (1980).
  ISBN 0-394-74478-0
  .
• Wagner, Otto (1996). Die österreichische Postsparkasse. Wien: Falter Verlag.
  ISBN 3-85439-180-3
  .

External links

• Official site
• AEIOU on company history