team spirit - Bankier.pl

With the e-Rechnung service, for which there is no charge,
customers can pay and manage bills via the Internet. Private
customers and companies benefit from both paperless transfers
and electronic accounting. The simplified registration procedure
for e-Rechnung and the growing number of persons or
companies presenting bills in this way brings us one step closer
to “paperless billing and payment”. The common brand
“eps Online-Überweisung” (eps online transfers) was introduced
on an Austria-wide basis in order to make Austrian
bank customers aware of this facility enabling them to make
transfers online. In 2005, the number of transactions carried
out with this system more than doubled, and business volume
increased by about one-third.
Our BusinessNet banking portal enables companies to make
optimum use of the Internet for the settlement of their financial
transactions. Three different product types were created to
meet the needs of different size companies: BusinessNet B@sic
(with limited capacity in the sectors “bank-
BusinessNet – the
ing”, “foreign trade & guarantees” and
“virtual office“
“stock exchanges and markets”) is overseen
by the Help Desk via a link to the CallCenter. BusinessNet
Cl@ssic provides all functions while also offering individual
customer service via the Help Desk. BusinessNet Profession@l
in addition offers individual customer services through the
bank’s service team of account managers and specialists. With
BusinessNet, our customers set up a “virtual office” together
with the bank’s employees. All data are first processed centrally
by BA-CA’s high-security server and backed up twice a day.
More than 6,000 firms are already taking advantage of the
automation of standardised transaction processes. In addition,
BusinessNet assists companies in their financial planning,
including severance payments and EU assistance schemes.
Accounts which were newly introduced significantly enhanced
the settlement procedure for guarantees and import letters of
credit.
Advisory services and corporate finance
Bank Austria Creditanstalt has for many years also been
encouraging small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to
avail themselves of the bank’s professional financial management
and use risk management products which were until
recently limited to large companies. The success of our strategy
in 2005 was reflected in an almost three-quarters increase
in fees generated by the use of derivatives.
In day-to-day business the efforts of BA-CA, as the undisputed
market leader in treasury sales, focused on eliminating any
reservations which SMEs may still have in this respect through
individual advisory services and customer contact. To this end,
together with International Markets, we set up treasury competence
centres in all the capitals of Austria’s federal
provinces. When advising or visiting companies, our account
managers can either be accompanied by treasury specialists,
or they can help a company to establish contact with a specialist.
In this context we analyse the company’s risk exposure and
design a suitable hedging strategy.
Austrian companies still have a lot of catching up to do in the
area of financial planning. A study commissioned by BA-CA in
2005 revealed that only two-thirds of all Austrian companies
with an annual turnover of € 3 m or more have a planning
process set down in writing. Professional financial planning
forms the basis for a company’s long-term success and for
active liquidity management. With the “PlanungsWorkshop”
we therefore successfully introduced an advisory service to
cover this need. It is a one-day event which focuses on preparing
an integrated corporate finance plan. The “BusinessPlanner”
financial planning software supports the company in its
planning activities. Under its Integrated Corporate Finance
approach, BA-CA offers companies an additional advisory service
for strengthening their capital base and for improving their
rating with its RatingBeratung software (a rating advisory
service). This provides companies with better resources to use
the opportunities offered by the capital market. Besides classic
loans, alternative financing products such as private
equity, corporate bonds and profit-sharing securities will
become more prominent in the coming years.
Austrian Customer Business 63
Treasury specialists
serving customers
Financial planning
workshops