Western Europe's slow growth, low-interest rate environment is not the most lucrative landscape for the region's banks, but this year's western European Bank of the Year winners have shown impressive levels of expertise and innovation to negotiate these difficult times. 

Winners, western Europe:

 

Andorra: MoraBanc

Accusations of money laundering levelled at Banca Privada d’Andorra and the subsequent placing into government administration of the bank has brought about changes affecting business for all domestic banks in Andorra. Anticipating the government’s move towards demanding a more transparent financial sector, MoraBanc developed and implemented a strategy designed to adjust to the new environment by creating more value for private banking customers and by focusing on retail banking as a growth lever for the group’s future strategy.

“As a result of a particular banking situation in the country, we have had to devote time and resources to explain and reassure international markets and peers [regarding] the path of transparency and regulatory compliance that the country has been following for some years, as well as our own solvency, liquidity and prudent business-as-usual stance and commitment to such standards,” says Pedro Gonzalez Grau, chief executive at MoraBanc.  

Meanwhile, MoraBanc managed to maintain its customers’ trust and even increased its domestic market share. In the first six months of 2015, MoraBanc’s new customer acquisition rate increased by 35%, compared with the same period in 2014.

MoraBanc supports entrepreneurs and start-ups with tailored initiatives. Local businesses seeking to expand internationally can receive tax advice, support in developing a business plan, help in searching for new opportunities, as well as banking services through MoraBanc. 

“Domestic market share growth remains a key priority with a focus on the relocation of foreign companies and international residents to Andorra,” says Mr Grau. “In private banking, we will continue to expand and consolidate our coverage from the key locations where we are based. In both cases, our digital banking strategy should provide a competitive advantage.”

AustriaBawag PSK

Austria’s banks suffer similar challenges to banks in the rest of western Europe: a persistently low interest rate environment and steadily rising regulatory requirements. Despite these headwinds, Bawag PSK, The Banker’s bank of the year in Austria, managed to increase its profits by more than 45%.

The country’s fifth largest bank by assets reported €333m of net profits in 2014, which helped reduce its cost-to-income ratio by 12.7 percentage points on the previous year to 53.1%. Bawag also improved its non-performing loan ratio by 0.6 percentage points to 2.8%.

“Our strong increase in profitability was driven by our continuous growth in core revenues, our focus on key lending products, maintaining a disciplined pricing approach and running an efficient balance sheet,” says Byron Haynes, Bawag’s chief executive. “At the same time, we maintained a conservative risk profile and focused on stable geographies in the western hemisphere.”

Bawag has exited legacy non-core assets and is now focusing on banking services for its Austrian clients, with more than 70% of its customer loans and receivables in Austria.

Bawag is also benefiting from collaboration with Austrian Post, sharing the post office’s branch network of more than 480 outlets, while working with asset manager Amundi. Furthermore, it purchased VB Leasing Austria in August 2015, a core car leasing business in Austria, according to Mr Haynes, “which when combined with our business makes us the number three auto lessor in the country”.

Apart from growing through acquisitions, Bawag is focused on organically expanding its digital capabilities by increasing the size of its online and mobile footprint. “Additionally, we’ll continue to simplify our product offerings, focus on operational efficiencies, and maintain a safe and secure balance sheet while continuing to grow our profit base,” says Mr Haynes.

BelgiumING Belgium

ING Belgium not only successfully tackled challenges posed by low interest rates and increasing regulation, but supplemented this with innovative new products, such as its biometrics-ready mobile app, making it the bank of the year in Belgium.

“Competition is moving fast,” says Rik Vandenberghe, chief executive at ING Belgium. “Not just [in the shape of] traditional banks, but also [through] new entrants that are looking to take advantage of all the disruptions taking place.” 

The fourth largest bank in Belgium by capital increased its net profits by 14% to €949m in 2014, lowered its cost-to-income ratio by two percentage points and decreased its non-performing loan ratio to less than 2%.

ING invested in innovation such as the technology to allow customers to log into their ING Smart banking mobile application through fingerprint authorisation, as well as a feature to see their bank account balance offline in real time.

“One of our strategic priorities is to deliver in the field of innovation,” says Mr Vandenberghe. “And we lived up to that promise by offering our customers alternative payment and funding solutions, such as crowdfunding, and by launching the first accelerator dedicated to Belgian financial technology – ING FinTech Village.” The FinTech Village, launched in July 2015, brings together some of ING’s partners, such as Deloitte, Swift Innotribe, Belcube, Smartfin Capital, Eggsplore and Startups.be, to foster existing start-ups and accelerate the pace of innovation to come up with solutions that further enhance the experience of ING’s clientele.

Through Flanders’s digital research and entrepreneurial hub iMinds, ING further invests in start-ups in different domains of expertise. The platform links 900 researchers from five Flemish universities to small and medium-sized businesses working in innovative research projects to convert digital knowhow into products and services.

DenmarkNordea Bank Danmark

As is the case with many countries in the developed world, Denmark has endured a low-interest-rate environment in recent years, meaning that profitability is hard to come by for its banks. However, against this backdrop Nordea Bank Danmark has recorded strong growth figures. Net profits rose by 56% in 2014 to DKr5.7bn ($926m) despite the bank making large investments in its sophisticated technological projects.

“Our biggest task is being ahead of our customers’ digital wishes and meeting customers online, by phone and face to face,” says Mads G Jakobsen, the country senior executive, Denmark, at Nordea. “Being available and accessible to customers whenever and wherever is at the top of our minds. We are seeing a massive increase in customers choosing online meetings [where our] advisors share their screens with the customers and are able to go through everything, just like at a face-to-face meeting.”

One of Nordea’s innovations is its ‘eBolig’ offering, which enables customers to refinance their housing loans, change the reset period for adjustable rate mortgages and compare loans online. eBolig simplifies the process from 30 documents to be signed physically to four digital signatures, saving time and paperwork and ensuring the compliance process.

Nordea allows customers to trade bonds and follow investments on their computer, tablet or smartphone through ‘Nordea Investor’, a trading platform in responsive design, while the bank is in the process of releasing touch-ID for its mobile banking app.

“In Denmark it is important that we continue to engage with our customers on a frequent basis, respond quickly and reach out when we see a new opportunity or a need that we can help with” says Mr Jakobsen. “It is only natural that we keep on developing our e-branches, making it easy and convenient for customers to engage with us in the evenings and at weekends.”

FinlandNordea Bank Finland

Finnish banks are being challenged by an economy, which, after three years of recession, is only slowly recovering in 2015, despite the low interest rates in the eurozone. Nordea Bank Finland nevertheless reported 9% higher net profits in 2014, mainly as a result of increased income from savings and investments and from its corporate business. 

The challenging domestic economy has dampened the demand for loans from households and companies, although Nordea’s volume of new mortgage loans remained high in 2014.

“We have continued to launch new solutions to make it easier for our customers to engage with us,” says Ari Kaperi, country senior executive, Finland, at Nordea. “Our goal is to be available with professional financial advice anywhere, anytime, whether it is face to face, online or by phone. Our simplification programme, including the replacement of our core systems, is on track.”

Nordea has introduced ways to engage customers in developing new products and services, such as through ‘Nordea Next’, where clients can participate in idea evaluation experiments through their smartphone or Apple Watch. As one-third of Nordea’s customers prefer to interact with the bank without visiting a branch, Nordea launched its ‘Online Branches’, where clients can remotely meet an advisor who shares their screen. 

Finland’s largest bank by assets further contributes to increasing the financial knowledge of Finnish schoolchildren by bringing Nordea experts to the schools to educate pupils on economics. The bank also acts as a sponsor for Me & MyCity, a study module on society, working life and entrepreneurship.

“We will continue our journey towards being a ‘future relationship bank’,” says Mr Kaperi. “With a strong financial foundation we will now start to build the new bank in practice. It will allow a new level of cost efficiency with tailored customer services meeting the requirements of the digital world.”

FranceGroupe Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Epargne 

Innovative technological solutions and solid results, despite pressures on profits created by low interest rates and increasing regulation, make Groupe Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Epargne (Groupe BPCE) The Banker’s bank of the year in France.

“Groupe BPCE has confirmed its strong commercial dynamism and its financial strength, both in terms of solvency and liquidity, in line with the targets of our strategic plan,” says François Pérol, chairman of the bank’s management board. “Our group has also continued to selectively reinforce its strategic business lines, as illustrated by the recent acquisition of DNCA Finance in asset management [which was finalised in June 2015].”

France’s third largest bank by Tier 1 capital increased its net profits by 8.9% year on year to €2.9bn in 2014, while also growing its assets and capital base.

With its StartMyStory service, the bank helps budding entrepreneurs develop a business plan, while self-employed professionals can also benefit from a start-up guide and access to a dedicated website. 

Aimed at business leaders, the bank’s Turbo Suite Enterprise allows users to access and manage their company’s bank accounts through smartphones and tablet devices, as well as through their smart watches. The app enables its clients to centralise their banking operations regardless of how many banks they use, provides a forward-looking view of customer receivables and allows users to approve transactions and trigger their remote transmission to the banks.

“The group’s ambitions remain relevant but our environment is more challenging than anticipated,” says Mr Pérol. “[This means] we must accelerate the implementation of all our strategic initiatives, in particular the successful digital transformation of our group to the benefit of our clients, our staff and our co-operative shareholders.”

GermanyHypoVereinsbank

In a demanding environment, with weaker-than-expected economic growth and an overbanked financial sector, Germany’s lenders have been challenged by more than just low interest rates and a tough regulatory environment. Against this backdrop, HypoVereinsbank (HVB) made the strategic decision to transform into a multi-channel bank, making it The Banker’s bank of the year in Germany.

“Given the challenges, HVB’s major success was achieving consistently high profitability; our profit before tax has averaged €1.6bn over the past five years,” says Theodor Weimer, a board spokesman for HVB. “Our track record in cost efficiency and our best-in-class risk profile and outstanding high capitalisation again contributed to our success.”

While the bank reported a 10.8% reduction in net profits in 2014, both its capital and asset base increased. “In 2014, we started to streamline our retail branch network,” says Mr Weimer. “We offer a wide range of multi-channel banking services using online, video and mobile media.”

HVB recognises its customers’ needs for mobile and internet-based offerings for everyday banking activities, while detecting a constant demand for high-quality, personal advice relating to complex financial issues. HVB identified this requirement and opportunity, and responded by focusing on advisory quality and rolling out its multi-channel offering by becoming the first bank in Germany to carry out a root-and-branch modernisation of its retail banking activities. 

“As a first mover in the drive to digitalise banking services both for private and corporate clients, we will profit from our investments in new technology and state-of-the-art services,” says Mr Weimer. “Our visibility as a premium provider of tailor-made solutions for different client groups will enable us to make inroads in areas such as cross-border consolidation of corporate investments, mandated solutions for private banking and an integrated platform in investment banking.”

IcelandArion Bank

In a banking sector that has recovered from being the poster child of the financial crisis in 2008, competition is strong. Yet, Arion Bank is standing out with best-in-class profits and an impressive cost-to-income ratio, all achieved while leading the charge into further digitalisation. Arion more than doubled its net profits in 2014 to Ikr28.6bn ($225m), compared with 2013’s Ikr12.7bn ($110m as per December 2013 exchange rate), thanks to it successful relationship banking approach. 

The universal bank sees an increase in commission income driven by its asset management and investment banking businesses. Its fund management subsidiary, Stefnir, is the largest in Iceland in terms of size and product offering. The bank’s subsidiary, Valitor, is a leading online and e-commerce payment solutions company, with operations in Iceland, the UK and Denmark, and is an important contributor to commission income – Valitor was recently chosen as one of six companies to service ApplePay in the UK.

“We continue to focus on innovation,” says Höskuldur H Ólafsson, chief executive at Arion Bank. “We became one of the largest investors in domestic venture capital funds and [for the] fourth year we held Startup Reykjavík, [which has been] named best accelerator programme in the Nordics.” 

Cost effectiveness is another of Arion’s priorities. Iceland’s second largest bank by assets consolidated its branch network by more than one-third, and lowered its cost of funding. It was the first Icelandic bank since 2008 to issue a benchmark bond in euros, with its €300m three-year bond, and also issues in Norwegian kroner.

Further opportunities will come with the lifting of capital controls, according to Mr Ólafsson. “This will create new opportunities for our customers,” he says. “The Icelandic economy is growing in strength and gross domestic product is expected to be strong. We look forward to supporting our customers in the exciting times that lie ahead.”

ItalyUniCredit 

After three consecutive years of gross domestic product contraction in Italy, 2015 is showing signs of recovery. In the country’s banking sector, meanwhile, UniCredit appears to be one step ahead. Italy’s largest bank by assets managed to turn around its business in 2014. 

After heavy losses of €14bn in 2013, UniCredit reported €2bn of net profits in 2014. This came alongside a 2% rise in assets and 8% increase in capital.

“Last year we definitely concluded the ‘Italy turnaround’, one of the key pillars of our strategic plan, underpinned by the closure of the funding gap, by reaching a sustainable level of cost income, by reducing the cost of risk to a normalised level, and by increasing the satisfaction of our customers to a level never reached,” says Gabriele Piccini, country chairman for Italy at UniCredit. “All these achievements helped to restore commercial banking in Italy as the main contributor to [our group’s] profitability.” 

At the end of 2014, UniCredit adopted the ‘Banca Open’ approach, allowing customers to check their accounts, make payments and manage investments on their laptops and smartphones. Meanwhile, one of the bank’s latest features, PrelievoSmart, allows customers to withdraw money at cashpoints without the use of their cards but with an app on their smartphones. 

Between 2012 and 2014, UniCredit supported the real economy in Italy with €40bn of new credit lines to help non-financial companies make new investments, reach new markets and increase their volumes. The bank, meanwhile, has granted €8.5bn-worth of new mortgages in the past 18 months - an acceleration of 2.5 times.

UniCredit has committed €100bn in credit support for companies (€60bn) and households (€40bn) up to 2018, according to Mr Piccini, and aims to help companies diversify their funding sources through instruments such as ‘minibonds’.

LiechtensteinLGT Group

With its solid financial performance and successful acquisition and integration of the portfolio of HSBC Private Bank (Switzerland), private banking and asset management group LGT Private Banking is The Banker’s bank of the year in Liechtenstein. Managing more than SFr128bn ($127bn) of assets for institutional clients and high-net-worth individuals, LGT employs more than 2000 people, and follows a growth strategy that enables it to act decisively yet flexibly.

“Despite a difficult environment, we were able to gain substantial market share in all business areas and grow further,” says Thomas Piske, chief executive at LGT Private Banking. “We increased assets under management by 15% within a 12-month period, generated high-net [and] new asset inflows and delivered an attractive performance for our clients.”

LGT reported an 18.5% increase in profits in 2014, to SFr165m, while boosting assets by 20% to SFr128.8m.  At the end of 2014, LGT acquired and integrated a portfolio from HSBC Private Bank of more than SFr7.7bn in assets under management and about 70 staff. The acquisition strengthens the group’s market position in its core and growth markets – high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients from central and eastern Europe, Latin America and western Europe.

Following another strategic decision, LGT merged its asset management business specialised in traditional and alternative asset classes in 2014. This move enabled LGT to optimise its investment offering and to deliver services to its clients from a single source. It also strengthened LGT’s position as a leading provider of multi-alternative solutions with assets under management of more than SFr50bn.

“Our focus has always been on developing state-of-the-art operations and investment management competences, building strong management teams and shaping an inclusive and attractive culture,” says Mr Piske. 

LuxembourgBGL BNP Paribas

With its innovative offerings for start-ups and an expanding wealth management business, BGL BNP Paribas is The Banker’s bank of the year in Luxembourg.

 “Over the past 12 months, we expanded our omni-channel digital strategy and successfully developed our strategic client base,” says Carlo Thill, country head and chairman of the management board at BGL BNP Paribas. “We delivered a strong performance, despite historically low interest rates, ranking number one in Luxembourg for financial soundness.”

 The subsidiary of France-based BNP Paribas reported consolidated net profits of €342.5m in 2014, including its international leasing activities, broadly stable year on year, while its assets increased by 2% to €41.1bn. 

 With a 10% increase in ultra-high-net-worth clients, BGL’s wealth management operations outperformed the market by 8% – resulting in a net capital contribution of 18%. 

 BGL’s new omni-channel digital strategy allows its retail clients to check their account balance on their watch, tablet or smartphone, or message a branch for a loan. Wealth management clients can manage their investments online through BGL’s My-Portfolio iPad app.

 BLG is keen to support entrepreneurs through initiatives such as its ‘Lux Future Lab’, which hosts 19 start-ups in the bank’s offices, offering training and advice from relationship managers who are specialised in supporting young businesses and dedicated to the segment. The bank further supports start-ups, such as in the case of a business specialised in water treatment, which BLG provided with a €500,000 financing facility.

 “Besides pursuing digitalisation, we plan to adapt our business to reflect the economic climate and regulatory changes, while helping finance the development of the local economy,” says Mr Thill. “Our strategy is to remain innovative, competitive and client-focused, while maintaining a strong balance sheet to best assist our clients with their projects.” 

MaltaBank of Valletta

In the face of low interest rates, a challenge many other countries were also dealing with, Bank of Valletta (BOV) still managed to post strong profits of 17.5% return on equity for 2014. With the bank’s efforts to support the Maltese economy, especially through its support of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), BOV is The Banker’s bank of the year in Malta – for the second time in a row.

“Bank of Valletta has retained the customer as the fulcrum of its operations, harnessing technology and expertise, while continuously investing in areas such as wealth management, trade finance and self-service banking,” says Charles Borg, chief executive at BOV. “Cognisant of the sector’s importance to the sustainability and growth of the local economy, BOV positioned itself as the bank of choice for SMEs.”

During 2014, Bank of Valletta introduced two products aimed at assisting local SMEs obtain financing. Leveraging on the European Central Bank’s targeted long-term refinancing operations, BOV created a specific pot of funds to assist local SMEs. The ‘BOV4SME’ financing offers loans at attractive interest rates through a pricing mechanism directed to provide stability in financing costs for SMEs in the first four years of the funding period. A second product, BOV Start Plus, taps into EU centralised funds to offer a new risk-sharing instrument for start-ups and micro enterprises that usually find it hard to obtain external financing.

“BOV recognises the extent of its responsibility towards the Maltese economy,” says Mr Borg. “Being a systemically important institution for Malta, the bank will continue to maintain a healthy balance between a cautious risk appetite and a prudent business model while seeking to continue to support local businesses in a sustainable manner.”

NetherlandsING Bank Netherlands

With some sweeping changes now in effect, 2014 was a significant year for ING Bank Netherlands. The bank made its last repayment to the Dutch state – six months early – for support given during the financial crisis, it successfully disposed of its asset management business and reinstated dividends to shareholders.

ING Bank’s asset management business was spun off at NN Group in an initial public offering on the Euronext Amsterdam in July 2014, raising €1.54bn.

But the largest Dutch bank by assets and capital is also a driving force in innovation.

“In the Netherlands we are creating a consistent customer experience by integrating our channels to an omni-channel approach,” says Nick Jue, chief executive at ING Bank Netherlands. “We also launched several innovative services to enhance the customer experience, including voice-recognition technology for the mobile app, which was a first for European banks, to make mobile banking easier and more accessible for our customers. “

Apart from voice recognition, ING also introduced biometric fingerprint technology in its smartphone app.

Tailored to its corporate clients, ING launched its digital platform – InsideBusiness – in May 2015, which brings together all ING channels, products and services on one platform with a single sign-on, allowing clients to get key information that affects the financial position of their business and make transactions from any internet-enabled device. InsideBusiness has so far been launched for a select number of clients with a plan to be rolled out to all corporate clients.

“In addition to our own innovation strengths we are bringing outside knowledge inside by partnering with fintech companies and by creating facilities where start-ups can experiment with their new business models, enabling ING to learn from their creativity and innovative spirit,” says Mr Jue.

NorwayNordea Bank Norge

Oil-rich Norway is used to profiting from its natural resources, generally bringing with it healthy economic growth. While the impact was not yet fully felt during 2014, the plunge in oil prices has hampered the country’s economy somewhat in 2015. Nordea Bank Norge, nevertheless, has impressed by recording consistent growth and sticking to a solid plan to address the digital banking challenge. Net profits grew by 6% in 2014, with assets and capital 9% and 11% higher, respectively.

“The banking industry is changing rapidly and Norwegian society has become increasingly more digital,” says Gunn Wærsted, country senior executive, Norway, at Nordea Bank Norge. “To meet changes in customer behaviour we have adjusted our operating model, primarily to increase customer availability. Our goal is to be available with professional financial advice anywhere, anytime, whether it is face to face, online or by phone.”

Nordea has implemented a 24/7 service to support the bank’s relationship strategy, which saw more advisors authorised and the new mobile bank introduced. Nordea’s new offer of online meetings was met with positive feedback, as this is practical and time saving for customers with busy schedules.

The bank also introduced ‘Nordea Next’, inviting customers to engage in and try out new potential ideas.

In 2014, Nordea launched its mobile bank for corporate customers, providing small and medium-sized enterprises with easy access to banking services. 

“One of the things that distinguishes us from our competitors is that we are the bank that is most frequently in contact with our existing customers [according to research by] TNS Gallup for Finance Norway,” says Ms Wærsted. “Not to sell, but to reaffirm and develop our customer relationships. We will continue the strategy to stay available and relevant to our customers in all touch points.”

PortugalBanco Santander Totta

The slow growth of the Portuguese economy, which has only just come out of recession, means that corporate credit demand in the country is still low, and the eurozone’s historically low interest rates are making profits hard to come by in Portugal’s banking sector. This makes Banco Santander Totta’s performance all the more impressive, crowned by an 89.2% increase in net profits to €193m in 2014. 

“Being seen as a safe haven due to the strength of our balance sheet and our solid image, we were able to grow our deposit base more than any other competitor, while paying less than our competitors for customer resources,” says António Vieira Monteiro, chief executive at Banco Santander Totta. “This lowered our cost of funding and permitted growth in credit market share, with competitive spreads. This, along with our traditional cost efficiency and effective risk policy, resulted in business growth with recurrent profits.”

Santander Totta’s sale of 51% of its life and non-life insurance portfolios Aegon Santander Portugal Vida and Aegon Santander Portugal Não Vida to Aegon Spain in the fourth quarter of 2014 also contributed to the strong performance.

The bank further increased lending to companies by 0.7% in 2014, despite the market’s deleveraging environment, and granted 18% more new mortgage loans than in 2013.

“In the coming year, we will continue our strategy of organic growth, gaining market share both in corporates and individuals,” says Mr Monteiro. “We are preparing the bank for the future by investing in customer relationship management developments, as well as implementing a multichannel approach aimed at promoting an excellent customer experience at every point of contact, with a special focus on our digital strategy.”

SpainBBVA

In a still-challenging environment for Spanish banks, BBVA has made the step to adjust its network and saw profits jump 75%. This, as well as the bank’s successful integration of savings bank Unnim and CatalunyaCaixa, which boosted its market share in Catalonia and increased its customer base by 2 million, makes it The Banker’s bank of the year in Spain.

“BBVA Spain’s goal is to continue growing in an organic and profitable way while regaining the trust of society in the banking sector,” says Cristina de Parias, country manager, Spain, at BBVA. “At present, BBVA is the leader of the Spanish market in terms of business volume, with a market share above 15%.”

BBVA anticipated the transformation in banking and started to adjust its network and promoted the development of digital channels. Through this, BBVA increased its mobile clients seven-fold between 2011 and 2014. Alongside this have been innovations such as the BBVA Net Cash app for enterprises and the additional functions of the ‘BBVA Wallet’, as well as features such as the optional deferred signature, with the possibility of online closing of contracts initiated in a physical channel. 

“BBVA Spain is deeply involved in digital transformation, in line with BBVA Group’s ambition to become the best universal bank of the digital age,” says Ms Parias. “BBVA Spain is developing a new concept of ‘head branch’, with a network of dependent branches to achieve critical mass for specialisation and deploying a new remote management model.”

BBVA uses smart solutions such as ‘Credipyme’, a tool that determines the risk profile and capacity for indebtedness of small and medium-sized businesses in order to estimate what finance can be provided for them. It also provides financial aid through ‘Yo Soy Empleo’, which has so far supported more than 5600 businesses and freelancers.

SwedenSEB

Banks in Sweden have to operate in an exceptional market environment. Interest rates, which were zero for most of 2014, have been lowered to as little as -0.35% by the country’s Riksbank, making SEB’s net profit growth of 30% and return on equity of 15.3% stand out all the more.

“At SEB, we continue to honour prudence, resilience, flexibility and focus on long-term customer relationships in order to adapt operations and grow in our areas of strength,” says Annika Falkengren, president and chief executive at SEB. “I am proud of SEB’s growing business platform, high asset quality and devotion to enhancing customer experience.” 

In 2014, SEB reported SKr19.2bn ($2.46bn) of net profits and a 6% rise in assets to SKr2641bn. SEB increased the number of customers across segments.

SEB is seeking to improve its user experience by enhancing all digital interfaces, offering services that allow payments between private individuals and opportunities to pay businesses using smartphones as well as ‘Visma AutoPay’, a new payment service that provides a secure payment between a company's business and its bank.

“Being the Nordic corporate bank and with a core equity Tier 1 ratio of 17.8%, we see that we are well positioned to continue to grow in our core areas in the Nordic region and in Germany as corporate sentiment now is gradually improving,” says Ms Falkengren. “It’s all about fully focusing on long-term customer needs.”

In 2014, SEB worked on the majority of merger and acquisitions, equity and corporate bond transactions within the Nordic region. Sweden’s second largest bank by assets places a specific focus on green bonds, where it was the market leader in 2014, having underwritten some SKr27bn of the bonds.

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