Posta Romana courted by banks

While waiting for the privatisation of CEC – the bank with the largest network of branches in the country – the prospect of entering into partnership with Posta Romana (Romanian Post Office) is becoming the most tempting target in the banking sector, which is in need of a rapid expansion to its product distribution capacity. The benefits to be had from a partnership with Posta Romana are clear: access to the Posta Romana’s unrivalled territorial network, which boasts 7,189 branches and extends to the least developed areas of the country. Of the total number of branches, 420 are fully computerised and can provide on-line financial services. BCR, the largest bank on the market, has a total of 315 offices, and plans to open a further 50 by the end of the year. CEC, which has some 1,400 branches, and Posta Romana will be the top players in terms of distribution capacity. Unsurprisingly, Posta Romana is attracting an increasing number of suitors. Raiffeisen Banca Pentru Locuinte (Raiffeisen Housing Bank) is already in talks for a contract that would allow it to sell its savings-loan product for buying and building homes through the Posta Romana network. CitiFinancial, the retail arm of Citibank specialised in consumer finance, is also in talks to sell its credits through the post office. ZF