The best banks in Austria play a vital role in the country’s economy, serving as reliable financial intermediary for individuals and businesses.
Austria is home to some of the most stable and reputable banks in Europe, offering a range of services from basic checking and savings accounts to investment and wealth management solutions.
However, when it comes to banking, you want a reliable institution that offers quality services and fits your financial needs.
In this article, we will explore the top banks in Austria based on their total assets, history, and financial stability.
Whether you are a local or an expat, this guide will help you make an informed decision and choose the bank that suits your financial requirements.
If you are looking to invest as an expat or high-net-worth individual, which is what I specialize in, you can email me (advice@adamfayed.com) or WhatsApp (+44-7393-450-837).
In general, we don’t suggest investing with banks.
We recommend that most wealthy locals and expats invest offshore, and we can help with that.
13 Best Banks in Austria
1. Erste Group Bank
From its inception in 1819 as the “Erste oesterreichische Spar-Casse” Erste Group Bank has developed into one of the most well-known and successful financial organizations in Central and Eastern Europe.
It is Austria’s biggest bank and one of its oldest financial institutions, and its total asset worth is €245.7 billion. As such, it is one of the best banks in Austria.
Erste Group Bank has over 47,284 employees and has served about 15.7 million consumers all over the world in addition to providing banking services to those customers.
The bank has a significant presence in seven different countries and is the most important service provider in both Eastern Europe and Central Europe. The company has a market valuation of €15.68 billion at the moment.
The Erste Group Bank is not only one of the most successful banking companies in Austria but also the key financial institution for savings banks throughout the nation. The banking group is in charge of the savings banks located in the several regions.
Erste Group Bank is able to deliver superior service to its more than 16 million customers by capitalizing on its substantial presence in the financial markets of seven nations located within the CEE region. The bank has a profound understanding of the communities located within these countries.
Families looking to buy houses may choose from a variety of financing alternatives provided by Erste Group Bank.
In addition, it provides assistance to company owners in the process of goal-setting and enables founders to take the first step toward achieving financial independence.
If you are planning to get Austrian citizenship by investment, this bank is the best option to put your money in.
2. Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI)
RBI, also known as Raiffeisen Bank International AG, is a member of the Raiffeisen Banking Group Austria (RBG) and has its headquarters in Austria.
With its network of subsidiary banks, leasing firms, and specialist financial service providers, it offers its products and services to commercial consumers and financial institutions throughout Austria as well as Central and Eastern Europe.
RBI, also known as Raiffeisen Bank International AG, is a corporate and investment banking powerhouse in Austria and across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), which serves as its home market. There are 14 different markets in the area that are handled by subsidiary banks.
In addition, the Group is comprised of a large number of other companies that provide a variety of financial services, such as leasing, asset management, and mergers and acquisitions.
There are around 16.5 million clients that are serviced by almost 50,000 people who work in more than 2,400 retail locations, the bulk of which are located in Central and Eastern Europe. The shares of RBI have been traded on the Vienna Stock Exchange since since the year 2005.
After the merger that took place in March 2017 between the RBI and the Raiffeisen Zentralbank Osterreich AG (RZB), the united institution now does its business under the name Raiffeisen Bank International AG. Formerly, RBI operated under this name.
The transferring corporation, RZB’s rights, liabilities, and responsibilities were all taken up by RBI.
With a total balance sheet value of €135,15 billion as of the 31st of December in 2017, RBI was the second-largest bank in Austria and was ranked among the best banks in Austria.
The free-floating portion of RBI’s stock is around 41.2 percent, while the Regional Raiffeisen Banks own approximately 58.8 percent of the company’s total shares.
It conducts its business through the following five segments:
- Central Europe, which includes the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary;
- Southeastern Europe, which includes Albania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo;
- Eastern Europe, which includes Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia; and
- Group Corporates & Markets, which includes operations in Austria, including business with the RBG and specialized financial institution subsidia.
This bank is present in almost all the best places to retire in Austria.
3. UniCredit Bank Austria AG
Bank Austria, also known as UniCredit Bank Austria AG, is an Austrian financial institution that is 96.35% owned by the UniCredit Group, which has its headquarters in Milan, Italy.
One of the most prominent financial institutions in Austria is the UniCredit Bank Austria. Bank Austria, which is a subsidiary of the European banking giant UniCredit and is located in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), provides services that are up to date and can be accessed 24/7 through the internet, mobile devices, and in-person at any of its locations.
Its parent company has more than 15 million clients all over the globe, and it is structured with four primary areas, two product factories (Corporate Solutions and Individual Solutions), and a global sales force.
In 2008, UniCredit completed the acquisition of the minute portion of Bank Austria (previously known as Bank Austria Creditanstalt) that it did not already control.
This financial institution is ranked number three overall among the best banks in Austria in terms of the total assets under its control.
The total assets held by UniCredit Bank Austria AG amount to €101.66 billion. It first opened its doors in 1991, and in 2005 it became a part of UniCredit.
The bank has a widespread branch network across Austria. It has approximately 162 branches, which are staffed by its 7,700 personnel, who provide service to the company’s consumers.
Vienna serves as the location of their headquarters. This financial institution has branches all over the world, including in Bulgaria, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Russia, Bosnia, Serbia, and many more nations.
One of the things you have to prepare when retiring in Austria is setting up a bank account there. This bank is a good place to start.
4. BAWAG P.S.K.
The fourth-largest bank in Austria is BAWAG P.S.K., or Bank für Arbeit und Wirtschaft und Österreichische Postsparkasse Aktiengesellschaft.
P.S.K. and BAWAG, two different banks, merged into one on October 1, 2005 to establish this new financial institution.
As of the end of 2016, the bank was providing services to approximately 2.5 million clients located across Austria.
It caters to retail, small company, and corporate clients throughout Austria, providing savings, payment, loan, leasing, investment, building society, and insurance goods and services.
Its customers come from a variety of business sectors, including retail, small business, and corporate.
Austrian borrowers account for two-thirds of the total consumer loans. The retail, corporate, commercial real estate, and portfolio lending sectors in developed Western nations are the primary focuses of the worldwide activity.
According to the total assets that are held, this financial institution is now in fourth place. The entire value of BAWAG P.S.K.’s assets is €45.66 billion. It first opened its doors in 1922, and now its headquarters may be located in Vienna.
Since the company’s founding approximately 130 years ago, it has grown to employ 1,200 people and provide services to 2.3 million consumers.
The BAWAG Group is one of the major financial institutions in Austria. It is now active in the states of Austria, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom in addition to the United States.
5. Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG
Oesterreichische Kontrollbank Aktiengesellschaft, more often referred to as OeKB AG, is a supplier of financial services with headquarters in Vienna, Austria.
OeKB, Austria’s official Export Credit Agency, is owned by Austrian commercial banks and operates on their behalf (ECA).
The provision of specialist banking services led to the company’s establishment on January 22, 1946. The goals of the company’s endeavors are to provide for the requirements of the economy as a whole.
In accordance with the company’s sustainability philosophy, it provides goods and services across a wide range of business sectors in a consolidated way.
OeKB has a long history of performing these specialized duties in its primary areas of operation, which include the services for export and capital markets as well as the information services industry.
OeKB is only surpassed in size on the foreign capital markets by the Austrian government itself, making it the country’s second biggest borrower overall.
OeKB provides services for the Austrian government as well as the export and capital markets, the power and gas markets, and the information markets.
According to the total assets that are held, this financial institution comes in at number five. This financial institution has a total asset value of 33,352 billion Euros. 1946 was the year it was established.
This bank’s main office may be found in Vienna, Austria. The Osterreichische Kontrollbank AG focuses primarily on providing services related to capital markets and exports.
This one-of-a-kind financial institution was established with the express objective of catering to foreign concerns and export services. This bank has a staff of around 505 people.
6. Hypo Vorarlberg Bank AG
Once known as Vorarlberger Landes – und Hypothekenbank, Hypo Vorarlberg Bank AG, is the biggest bank in Vorarlberg and one of the biggest banks in all of Western Austria.
The Hypo Vorarlberg Bank markets itself as an Eastern Austria- and internationally-focused regional universal bank serving the Vorarlberg area.
The bank focuses on dealing with large corporations, providing real estate loans, and making investments. Around 77% of the bank is owned by the state of Vorarlberg.
The bank earned EUR 35.1m in profit after taxes in 2021, but the Corona issue is projected to have a heavy burden on the consolidated performance that year.
Mortgage covered bonds (rated Aaa by Moody’s) and senior unsecured bonds (rated A+ by S&P and A3 by Moody’s) are the primary instruments via which Hypo Vorarlberg accesses the capital markets.
The bank is a green bond issuer and has a C grade from ISS ESG, a sustainability rating organization.
The bank serves approximately 90,000 individual and business clients via its 21 locations in Vorarlberg, Vienna, Graz, and Wels.
In 1897, the legislature of Vorarlberg, Austria, authorized the formation of the firm. Vorarlberger Landesbank Holding – LBBW (15.98%), Federal State of Vorarlberg (76.03%), and L-Bank (7.99%) are the current shareholders after the bank was converted to a stock company in 1996.
Corporate banking, investments, and real estate loans are the Bank’s three primary areas of operation.
7. Oberbank AG
The Austrian financial institution known as Oberbank AG was founded in the year 1869 and is headquartered in Linz.
Tradition and development are the two defining characteristics that have contributed to the Oberbank’s meteoric rise to become the most important regional bank in Austria located outside of the capital city of Vienna.
Together with their dedication to its individual clients, the Oberbank has a long history of being a successful and innovative partner to local industry, including both large-scale industrial concerns and small and medium-sized businesses in one of the most significant economic regions.
In Austria, Oberbank AG is a player in the banking sector. In addition to loans and guarantees, it also provides payments, securities, business loans, foreign exchange, and note-and-coin services.
The company offers lease-to-own and hire-purchase services for cars, furniture, and real estate. It also offers mortgaged real estate and works as an estate agent.
The company also offers cross-border transfers and lets exporters and importers manage their accounts through electronic banking or cash management services.
Forfaiting, trade financing, production and sales financing, export financing, guarantees, documentation business, and international leasing are all part of the company’s finance and hedging service offering. The firm also provides insurance and consultancy services.
In addition, they have 2500 correspondent banks located all over the globe.
The bank has 114 branches across Austria, Burgenland, Germany/Bavaria, Lower Austria, Vienna, and Styria, as well as in the Czech Republic, are proof of this.
Lease financing firms with countrywide sales units support Oberbank’s regional development in Budapest and Bratislava, both of which are located in Hungary and Slovakia, respectively.
8. Raiffeisenlandesbank Niederoesterreich-Wien AG
The Raiffeisenlandesbank Niederösterreich-Wien (English translation: Raiffeisen State Bank of Lower Austria-Vienna), often known as RLB NÖ-Wien, is a collection of organized cooperative banks in the city of Vienna and the state of Lower Austria.
It has a share of 22.6% in Raiffeisen Bank International and is a member of the statewide Raiffeisen Bankengruppe grouping of cooperative banks that are autonomous from one another (RBI).
It employs approximately 957 workers and provides services to over 266,000 individual, corporate, and commercial clients.
They are the most successful banking group in Lower Austria, with around 42 percent of the market share.
This financial institution has a total asset value of 28 billion euros. This bank has been around for quite some time. It was established in the year 1898. This bank’s main office may be found in Vienna, Austria.
This financial institution is regarded as one of the most significant commercial banks in Austria.
It provides a variety of goods, including as deposits, loans, cash management, solutions, and project financing, among other things.
9. HYPO NOE Gruppe
For more than 130 years, HYPO NOE Landesbank has served Austria as a reliable commercial bank, steady state bank, and specialized mortgage lender. In addition, it has the distinction of being the state mortgage bank with the longest history of operation.
The Bank principally conducts its business in Germany and Austria, in addition to some markets located abroad in the European Union, and it does so by using the strong position it has in Lower Austria and in Vienna as a springboard for this expansion.
The HYPO NOE Group acts as a one-stop shop, offering a full variety of financial services for clients in the corporate sector, the real estate sector, and the public sector. This is in keeping with the business model of the mortgage bank that it is.
The product portfolio has a primary emphasis on the finance of physical and social infrastructure, the building of non-profit and commercial housing, and other significant real estate projects.
Retail clients are able to take advantage of the specialized, personalized service offered by the branch network in the Group’s Lower Austria/Vienna home market, which is primarily focused on the provision of housing financing.
The Group focuses its efforts on business sectors that allow it to make use of its key skills. These divisions include the Public Sector, Real Estate Clients, Treasury & ALM, and Retail and Corporate Customers.
In addition, the Group comprises HYPO NOE Leasing, which caters to significant clients from state and local governments, and HYPO NOE First Facility and chosen partners, which look after customers from the real estate industry.
Because of this, the Group is able to deliver services that span the whole of the value chain involved in real estate management.
Lower Austria, which constitutes the majority of Austria’s territory, is the only shareholder in HYPO NOE Landesbank, making it a solid and dependable financial institution.
The Bank adheres to a set of defined ethical standards and has established procedures for doing business, both of which support and promote the Bank’s approach to its core activities that is sustainable.
Because of the significant amount of financing that contributes to social value addition, its portfolio leans heavily in the direction of being environmentally responsible. The company’s accreditation as an ISS-ESG Prime organization reflects its dedication to practicing environmental and social responsibility.
10. Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich
The Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich AG, or RLB OÖ, was established in the early 20th century and has its headquarters in Linz, Austria.
The name literally translates to “Raiffeisen State Bank of Upper Austria.” In addition to being the biggest of Austria’s eight provincial central banks, it also serves as the nerve center for the Raiffeisen Banking Group in Upper Austria.
The Raiffeisen banks in Upper Austria hold Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich AG. Co-owners in the local community own and operate these cooperative banks.
Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich provides private and business banking services in addition to its retail services for individuals.
It has 17 locations that provide assistance to a wide variety of small and medium-sized businesses.
In addition, this financial institution caters to more than 80,000 individual consumers. This financial institution excels in investor relations, retail banking, corporate banking, and private banking respectively.
11. Steiermaerkische Bank und Sparkassen AG
The Steiermärkische Bank und Sparkassen AG, which is more often referred to by its abbreviated form, the Steiermarkische Sparkasse, was first established in 1825 as the Vereinssparkasse (Steyermärkische Spar-Casse), making it the oldest financial organization in the state of Styria.
On May 15, 1825, commercial activities started at what would become the first permanent location of the company, which was located at Landhaus, Schmiedgasse No. 9.
The individual who was responsible for establishing the Steiermarkische Sparkasse was Franz von Hartig, who served as the personal agent of the Emperor and Governor in Styria.
From 1823, he had held the titles of Imperial and Royal Count of Styria, Governor of Styria, and hence leader of the Imperial and Royal Styrian Gubernium, which is the highest governmental power in the nation.
12. Volksbank Wien AG
Formerly known as the Osterreichische Volksbanken-Aktiengesellschaft (VBAG), Volksbank Wien AG serves as the umbrella organization for all member banks of the Association of Volksbanks (VB-Verbund).
It’s a frontrunner in the Austrian economy for businesses of all sizes, from start-ups to multinational conglomerates, and it offers a broad variety of goods and services to consumers and businesses alike.
There are now 12 Regional Volksbanks and 3 specialty banks that make up the Association of Volksbanks (Apothekerbank, Sparda Bank Austria, and Arztebank). The assets of Volksbank Wien AG exceed EUR 10 billion, making it the biggest regional bank by far.
The Association’s 4,400 full-time workers run 500 locations and provide services to 93,000 businesses, 1.1 million private clients, and more than 700,000 members.
The Association of Volksbanks has deposits of around EUR 20 billion and customer loans of EUR 26.5 billion as of September 30, 2016.
There will be a consolidation of Regional Volksbanks into 8 bigger Volksbanks in 2017. There will be a split into two specialized banks.
13. Bank fuer Tirol und Vorarlberg AG
The Bank fuer Tirol und Vorarlberg AG (BTV) is a universal bank headquartered in western Austria and a major commercial bank in Austria.
The Bank offers a wide variety of services to both individual consumers and commercial enterprises, such as checking and savings accounts, credit cards, loans, and real estate services to the former group, and financing, leasing, and payment activities to the latter.
At BTV, we place a premium on private-sector ideals including autonomy, political independence, and an entrepreneurial spirit.
Moreover, the BTV’s robust profit and share capital structure enable it to actively and independently manage the company’s favorable long-term growth.
The bank’s long-standing commitment to the local community is another core principle.
BTV was established in Innsbruck and Bregenz, Austria, and has since expanded its operations to the medium-sized centers in the neighboring regions of Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and northern Italy.
The bank may get more familiar with its clients in this way.
Tyrol and Vorarlberg are where BTV really shines as a universal bank, but the rest of Austria, Switzerland, southern Germany, and northern Italy are where the bank is just beginning to scratch the surface as a niche player.
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