BCR, the biggest domestic bank in terms of assets, controlled by Austria’s Erste Group, has bought good.bee Service Romania company, specialising in mobile banking services, from the good.bee company, also owned by Erste.
The value of the deal has not been disclosed, but it probably
did not exceed 1m euros, according to market estimates.
The good.bee service was launched domestically in March 2009,
attracting 25,000 clients so far. The package includes a current
account and a Visa Electron debit card, managed by BCR, as well as
access to a trading platform from the mobile phone.
“In the wake of the takeover, the good.bee package becomes a
key-product for BCR. We’re taking the bank to our clients who
either did not have access to a banking branch, or considered
banking products too intricate or expensive,” says Oana Petrescu,
retail vice-president with BCR.
According to the data available on www.goodbee.ro, clients only pay
the fee for each operation they carry out, with no management fees
being levied.
“It’s only natural that banks should try to expand without having
to build a physical infrastructure. Romania has an extraordinary
coverage in terms of mobile telephony and banks can use this
advantage,” says investment banker Matei Păun.