Banca Comercială Română (BCR) is a Romanian

universal bank A universal bank is a type of bank which participates in many kinds of banking activities and is both a commercial bank and an investment bank as well as providing other financial services such as insurance. These are also called full-service ...

. It is one of the main banks in Romania and is a subsidiary of Erste Group. It provides retail, corporate & investment banking, treasury and capital markets services as well as operating specialized companies on the leasing market, assets management, private pensions, mortgages and banking services through internet and mobile phone. , it was the largest bank in Romania with assets of over EUR 16 billion, the largest number of clients.

History

*1990 – Banca Comercială Română is established by taking over the commercial operations of the National Bank of Romania *1998 – BCR opens a subsidiary in Chisinau, the Republic of Moldova *1999 – BCR absorbs Bancorex *2001 – BCR Leasing is launched on the Romanian market *2003 – BCR privatization by selling the block of shares to EBRD and IFC *2005 – BCR Asigurari de Viata is established *2006 – Austrian bank Erste Bank finalizes the acquisition of Banca Comercială Română. Erste Bank bought 61.8825%* of the BCR shares from the Romanian Government, EBRD and IFC, paying EUR 3.75 billion. *2007 – BCR Administrare Fond de Pensii enters the Romanian market *2008 – Banca Comercială Română sells its insurance operations to Vienna Insurance Group *2008 – BCR Banca pentru Locuinte enters the Romanian market *2009 – BCR adopts a Medium Term Notes (MTN) issuing program – with a total value of EUR 3 billion. Over time, BCR has brought several innovations on the Romanian banking market, such as: *1994 - BCR becomes the first acquirer in Romania and main member of EUROPAY *1995 - BCR issues the first debit cards in Romania under an international logo. o first transaction at an ATM in Romania *2000 - BCR launches the first treasury loan for individuals o BCR is the first bank in Romania to trade securities on the secondary market *2002 - BCR launches the first mortgage loan on the Romanian banking market *2003 - BCR is the first Romanian bank to provide mortgage loans to retail and corporate clients *2004 - BCR is the first bank in Romania to install Currency Exchange Machines (CEM) *2005 - BCR enables the use of CHIP cards (smart-card) in its ATM and POS network *2006 – Banca Comercială Română launches for the first time, through the BCR University, the internship program – STUDENT BCR – allowing students to take internships in seven BCR branches in Bucharest o BCR is the first banking institution in Romania to launch a national network of specialized offices – “EU Office BCR” – dedicated exclusively to European funds.

BCR Group

good.bee Service RO company offering good.bee Mobile Transaction service, was established through a partnership between Erste Foundation and Erste Group.

References

Banks of Romania Romanian brands {{Authority control