BCR, the biggest domestic bank in terms of assets, controlled byAustria's Erste Group, has bought good.bee Service Romania company,specialising in mobile banking services, from the good.bee company,also owned by Erste.
The value of the deal has not been disclosed, but it probablydid not exceed 1m euros, according to market estimates.
The good.bee service was launched domestically in March 2009,attracting 25,000 clients so far. The package includes a currentaccount and a Visa Electron debit card, managed by BCR, as well asaccess to a trading platform from the mobile phone.
"In the wake of the takeover, the good.bee package becomes akey-product for BCR. We're taking the bank to our clients whoeither did not have access to a banking branch, or consideredbanking products too intricate or expensive," says Oana Petrescu,retail vice-president with BCR.
According to the data available on www.goodbee.ro, clients only paythe fee for each operation they carry out, with no management feesbeing levied.
"It's only natural that banks should try to expand without havingto build a physical infrastructure. Romania has an extraordinarycoverage in terms of mobile telephony and banks can use thisadvantage," says investment banker Matei Păun.
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