Zuno Bank to end operations in Czech Republic in Raffeissen consolidation move
Zuno Banka, an online banking unit of Raiffeisen in the Czech Republic and neighbouring Slovakia, will end operations in both countries by the end of the first half of 2017, Reuters and other sources report. The decision is a consolidation move on the part of the parent group, Raffeissen, the parent banking firm confirmed on Tuesday.
The move will not change anything for the online bank’s 266,000 clients; the bank’s General Director Oyvind Oanes is quoted by Lidové noviny as saying that clients would not have to take any particular steps in the face of the changes and said that under the parent company it would continue to offer the same services. The rub is that it will no longer offer the same services to new clients after October 21st of this year. He also made clear that any changes in the future would be announced well in advance. The move to end Zuno Banka’s activities is part of streamlining planned by Raiffeisenbank, and should cut an overlap of services offered.
Originally, in 2015, Raiffeisen had agreed to sell Zuno to ABH Holdings, the parent company of Russia's Alfa Banking Group, however, that deal fell through. Zuno began operations in the Czech Republic in 2011, along with others on the market like Air Bank and Equa Bank. The attraction of online units is that they offer clients account services without client fees, transparency and advantage interest rates on savings accounts, Lidové noviny notes.
