A new partnership between POST Luxembourg and Banque Raiffeisen has seen the two parties open up combined offers to new and existing customers and POST Luxembourg acquire a 10% interest in Banque Raiffeisen.
The agreement, which was signed on Monday 22 February 2016, will enable POST clients with postal cheque accounts (CCP) to now benefit from a Raiffeisen savings account, free V PAY withdrawals from Raiffeisen cash machines and electronic transactions between CCP and the bank with no charge.
At an official presentation of the partnership held Thursday, CEO of POST Luxembourg, Claude Strasser, and chairman of the management committee of Raiffeisen, Guy Hoffmann, explained that current CCP clients will be able to decide whether they wish to take advantage of these changes, or opt to retain the original CCP offer. Those wishing to incorporate the new services into their banking needs will be able to manage a savings account where they are from their CCP Connect, freely access 108 Raiffeisen and POST cash machines around the country and perform everyday banking transactions in an extended network from May 2016.
"Raiffeisen is a cooperative bank. And that changes everything!" according to Guy Hoffmann, who claimed that the decision for the two financial partners to join forces was borne from an appraisal of needs within the Luxembourg market. "Our bank belongs to our customers and members, and is not dependent on an international financial group. Raiffeisen is known to be a solid bank that is prudent. Our decision centres are located in Luxembourg and our main interest is devoted to the local market."
"Our first goal is obviously to expand our financial offer in collaboration with Raiffeisen, to better meet customer requirements and anticipate their needs," continued Claude Strasser. "In addition, we are clearly communicating to our customers that maintaing the postal cheque is guaranteed. Sharing our values and requirements in terms of quality of service was important in the choice of partner. Together with Raiffeisen, we can open new horizons for CCP clients."
In addition, POST Luxembourg has acquired a 10% stake in Raiffeisen, which Guy Hoffmann stated was not due to a need for the bank to increase its capital, but rather was the result of "entrepreneurial thinking", explaining: "As our statute provides a third pillar for capital structure, there is no obstacle to the participation of POST as an economic partner."
"As an industrial investor, POST Luxembourg holds interests in a number of partner companies in the telecommunications sector and the postal sector," added the CEO of the company, which will now hold two representatives on the board of directors at the cooperative bank following the acquistion. "Similarly, we highlight with our participation in Raiffeisen the seriousness of the agreements and the long-term goals and, through our investment shares, we also hope to participate in the anticipated success of our partnership."
Photos by Sarah Graham (Bottom L-R: Claude Strasser, CEO of POST Luxembourg; Guy Hoffmann, chairman of the management committee of Raiffeisen)
