Innovation key to Eurobank’s success

NICHOLAS NANOPOULOS Chief Executive Officer of Eurobank

Founded 11 years ago as Euromerchant Bank, EFG Eurobank Ergasias has today already become a market leader in Greece, due to its modern, innovative approach.
At the outset, the bank merged with and acquired ErgoBank, Telesis Investment Bank, Bank of Crete, Bank of Athens and InterBank. It now has over 300 branches across Greece, 30 percent of the country’s credit card business and around 25 percent of the overall consumer lending business.
Eurobank was established during a transitional period, as traditional banking methods gave way to modern models.
Nicholas Nanopoulos, Eurobank’s Chief Executive Officer, says: “When the environment is expanding and changing, it’s easier for a new entrant to come in and take a position.”
The bank also took advantage of the boom in the consumer lending business, which has been expanding at an average rate of around 40 percent each year since the liberation of the market in 1994.

“We re-structured the way our branches were organized and focused on this expanding business. Through innovation and aggressive marketing we were able to capture a very large market share,” Mr. Nanopoulos explains.
Technology is also key to the bank’s philosophy: Eurobank offers a powerful financial portal and also provides mobile and television banking services. In addition, it has created a commercial portal through which retailers promote their products to the bank’s clients at discount prices.
Eurobank is now the third largest bank in Greece, though Mr. Nanopoulos emphasizes that size is not the most important consideration when assessing its success.

“We are not the largest bank in Greece, but I believe in many fields we are leaders because we have worked very hard to innovate, to implement new ideas and provide modern products and services to the client base.”
The bank has a number of product agreements with Deutsche Bank, which is a strategic shareholder. It has also developed strategic partnerships with the EFG Bank Group, which holds a 40 percent stake in Eurobank.
As to the future, Eurobank wants to build up competitive strength in neighboring regions, such as Eastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean. However, continuing to excel at home is also a primary objective.
“Our strategy is to be a leader in the most attractive fields of business in Greece, including consumer lending, mortgages, mutual funds, stock brokerage business and capital market,” says Mr. Nanopoulos. He concludes: “Our aim is to be recognized as the prefered provider of financial services in Greece.”