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Bank of the Year in Slovakia for second consecutive year
6 Eurogiro News
Poštová banka has achieved - for the second consecutive year - The “Bank of the Year in Slova-
kia ” award, assigned every year to the best financial institutions worldwide by the international
banking and financial magazine, The Banker
This industry distinction confirms the suc-
cessful implementation and management of
the commercial and communication strategy
of the Bank. The position of Poštová banka
as a strong retail player has been achieved
by developing its strengths within the Slovak
market, providing a simple and clear product
portfolio, as well as a wide branch network
supported by its partnership with the Slovak
postal service. These assets enable Poštová
banka to be closer to the public by offering fair
products that can be used by the vast majority
of its clients, such as consumer lending with
less documentation required to deposit pro-
ducts that offer the most attractive revenues
on the market.
Through its membership in Eurogiro over the
past ten years the Bank has been able to
achieve its leading position in the segment
of international cash transfers offered to its
clients and non-clients in Slovakia. A recent
project of the Bank, ”Post automation”,
guarantees enhancement of quality and
effectiveness of all services and products
provided by the Bank, including Eurogiro
service operation, which is available on each
one of 1500 Slovak postal services and
through 40 Poštová banka branches. The
standard product portfolio of Poštová banka
is complemented by insurance products,
stock funds investment products and annuity
assurance, which make Poštová banka the
financial institution that is able to provide the
highest number of complex financial services
to its clients under the one roof.
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Al Rajhi Bank Saudi Arabia joins Eurogiro
The second biggest player in the remittance market in the world joins the Eurogiro payments network
Nine million expatriates and migrant workers
living in Saudi Arabia now have access to the
Eurogiro network of payment providers. The
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the second lar-
gest remittance market in the world, respon-
sible for over $25billion of remittances
annually. Being just behind the United States
in terms of size, the Saudi remittance market
has maintained strong double-digit growth
even throughout the global economic down-
turn and continues to be a major source of
capital to countries such as India, Pakistan,
Example of a Tahweel Al Rajhi Center
Bangladesh, Egypt, and the Philippines. The
large population of migrant workers in the
Kingdom provide stable support to their home
country’s economies and, of course, to their
families and loved ones.
Al Rajhi Bank is one of the leading retail
banks in the country, with nearly 500 retail
bank branches. In addition to these branches,
the bank has a network of over 150 dedica-
ted remittance centers focused on serving
customers that want to send money to their
family back home. The remittance centres
function under the brand ”Tahweel Al Rajhi”,
which literally translated means ”Al Rajhi
Remittances”. Al Rajhi bank actually started
out as a remittance and currency exchange
company before becoming a fully-fledged
bank. The remittance business has been in
place for nearly half a century under the Al
Rajhi family name. Although that business
has developed into what is today the largest
Islamic bank in the world, its roots have never
been forgotten and the remittance arm of the
bank remains a key strategic priority to the
organisation.
Besides having a separate brand for the
remittance business, Al Rajhi has established
Tahweel as a stand-alone unit under the retail
banking group with a dedicated management
team. This has enabled Tahweel to focus on
the specific needs of its customers and en-
sure that they receive the best possible ser-
vice. As an example, the bank offers multiple
types of remittances including credit-to-bank-
account, cash-over-the-counter, bank-drafts
and third-party-cash-payments. It is this focus
on customer service and meeting customer
needs that has allowed Al Rajhi to maintain its
leading position in the market over the past
several years. The wide variety of nationalities
amongst the migrant workers in Saudi Arabia
means that Al Rajhi will be a key source of
payments for Eurogiro members in South and
South-East Asia, North Africa, the Middle East
and, to a slightly lesser extent, all of Europe
as well. Al Rajhi is interested in signing
bilateral agreements with Eurogiro members
that view Saudi as an important market or po-
tential opportunity, and the volume of the busi-
ness means that automation and streamlined
processes are of top priority.
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