GB00_erste lage_E - Erste Group

ution channels. The complete classic distribution network which we created with the savings
bank sector is now reinforced by electronic distribution channels in the form of call centres and
Internet platforms that make us accessible from anywhere, at any time, to our core target groups
of retail customers and small and medium-sized enterprises.
WWW at Erste Bank: the freedom of Where, When, and hoW
Erste Bank has infused the three Ws of the WWW with a deeper meaning: Thanks to the technology
of the World Wide Web, our customers are now free to access our services Where, When and
hoW they would like. The very fact that the initial Internet euphoria has already given way to a
more level-headed approach has enabled Erste Bank to create benefits for a wide circle of clients.
About 128,000 customers of the savings bank sector now do their banking by Internet, independently
of branch locations and hours; our ecetra.com is one of the most modern and service-oriented
trading platforms on the Net, neatly covering off the extended home market and poised to
become the market leader in just a few years.
Like perhaps no other company, Erste Bank is given life by the strength and motivation of its
staff. No matter how successful our strategies, it is our employees in sales, at the branches,
subsidiaries and service units whose hard work, tremendous dedication and focus on customers
make it possible for us to implement our growth strategy successfully. To all our employees, customers
and shareholders, we extend our sincere thanks for their loyalty to Erste Bank—they are
the most important foundation for future success.
Vision for the immediate future
By working together with the Austrian savings banks and buying the partner institutions in the
neighbouring countries, Erste Bank has set the stage for making its vision reality: to develop a
savings bank “world” in Central Europe that presents no borders to customers. Erste Bank and
the savings bank sector will continue to coalesce and to grow together. Related to this is our plan
to remain an independent institution. We want to forge alliances only on the product side, for the
benefit of customers, and do not intend to look for financial partners. A strong Erste Bank is also
a prerequisite for strengthening the savings banks as autonomous economic entities. The translation
of this idea into practice is already far advanced. If we also succeed in the next several
years in making the enterprise value of Erste Bank on the Vienna stock exchange match with the
impressive size of our customer base, we will have achieved what our employees, customers and
shareholders have a right to expect from the management: the creation of a modern, forwardlooking,
but also thoroughly sound company that vouches for sustained performance.
Andreas Treichl
Erste Bank 2000 9