Mobi Banka, formerly known as Telenor Banka, is a commercial bank based in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

, Serbia. It was founded in 2014 upon the acquisition of KBC Banka in Serbia, by

Telenor Serbia Yettel Serbia (known as Telenor Serbia until 2022) is a Serbian mobile, fixed, internet and IPTV provider, owned by the Czech investment group PPF. It is headquartered in Belgrade. As of 2020, it is the second largest mobile telephony operator w ...

, one of the largest telecommunications operators in the country.

History

The banking licence was originally awarded to "Alco Banka" in 1996, and was in ownership of Serbian businessman Miroljub Aleksić. The bank later changed its name to "A Banka". In June 2007, "A Bank" was sold to the Belgian

KBC Group KBC Group is a Belgian universal multi-channel bank-insurer, focusing on private clients and small and medium-sized enterprises in Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. It was created in 1998 through the merger of Kredietbank ...

for 100 million euros. After the transaction, it changed name to "KBC Bank Serbia". The Belgian bank was present in Serbia from 2007 up until 2014, when they announced their retreat from the Serbian market. They made a deal with Société Générale Srbija to sell its portfolio to this bank, while the banking licence and the bank itself were sold to

Telenor Group Telenor ASA ( or ) is a Norwegian majority state-owned multinational telecommunications company headquartered at Fornebu in Bærum, close to Oslo. It is one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications companies with operations worldwide, ...

, which was already present in Serbia, as a telecommunications operator. Thus, Telenor banka was founded, and commenced its operations in September 2014. In July 2017, a strategic partnership contract was signed between

Telenor Telenor ASA ( or ) is a Norwegian majority state-owned multinational telecommunications company headquartered at Fornebu in Bærum, close to Oslo. It is one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications companies with operations worldwide, ...

and the Bulgarian

investment fund An investment fund is a way of investing money alongside other investors in order to benefit from the inherent advantages of working as part of a group such as reducing the risks of the investment by a significant percentage. These advantages inc ...

River Styxx, selling 85% of shares to River Styxx. Telenor would keep a 15% share in bank's ownership, retaining special ties between Telenor Serbia and the bank. However, the transaction was annulled by the

National Bank of Serbia The National Bank of Serbia ( sr, Народна банка Србије, Narodna banka Srbije) is the central bank of Serbia. Founded in 1884, the responsibilities of the bank are: monetary policy, sole issuer of Serbian banknotes and coins, p ...

in February 2018, due to "non-fulfillment of the prescribed conditions established by the regulations of Serbia". In October 2019, Telenor banka changed its name to Mobi Banka.

Market and financial data

According to the most recent consolidated annual financial report submitted to the Serbian Business Registry Agency, the company has 182 employees and posted an annual loss of RSD 1,317,786,000 (€10.98 million) for the calendar year 2016. At the end of 2016 Telenor banka's total assets reached RSD 11,119,778,000 (€92.660 million). According to media reports, the bank has more than 330,000 clients.

References

{{Reflist Banks of Serbia Companies based in Belgrade Serbian brands Telenor

History

Market and financial data

See also

References