Banking in Serbia

Head office building

Banking in Serbia is regulated by the central bank The National Bank of Serbia. Mandate of National Bank of Serbia is to contribute, without prejudice to its primary objective, to the maintenance and strengthening of the stability of the financial system and Economy of Serbia. To determine and implement measures and activities to that effect.^[1] Out the total of 31 commercial banks, providing a wide array of banking services, 21 are in majority foreign ownership. Banks in Serbia are independent in their pursuit of profit-oriented business activities based on the principles of solvency, profitability and liquidity. Every-day payment transactions are, with a few exceptions, made in Serbian dinars, and one can use various types of credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, Diners, American Express). All major foreign currencies can be freely purchased and sold in exchange offices throughout the country.Many banks have ATMs, enabling you to draw currency any time you want so.^[2] As foreigner in Serbia, similar to the other countries, you cannot get full service in bank as you can in your home country. But you can find a bank that will not take you too much provision when redrawing your money from ATM.^[3]

The profitability of the banking sector

The profitability of the banking sector went up by 58.8 percent by the end of June 2013 compared to the respective period in 2012 and the indicators of profitability continue to recover although they are still below the level of the pre-crisis period. According to the report on the situation in the banking sector in the second quarter of the year, which is released on the National Bank of Serbia's (NBS) website, Serbia's banking sector has recorded a net income of RSD 15.9 billion which is a 58.8 percent increase compared to the same period in 2012.The crucial reason for these changes is the fact that the Development Bank of Vojvodina was stripped off work permit and it operated with a loss of RSD 6.9 billion in the same period in 2012, the NBS said.Out of a total of 31 banks, 18 made profit totalling RSD 20.6 billion, while 13 banks operated with a loss of RSD 4.7 billion. The indicators of profitability continue the recovery trend, however they are still below the level of the pre-crisis period, the report reads. The indicators' recovery dynamics will mostly depend on the banks' business policy which at the moment aims at refraining from taking new loans and investing in the most liquid and the most safe forms of investments such as repurchase agreement securities of the NBS and Serbia's bonds. The greatest profit was made by the banks which belong to the group of big banks (with participation in the assets of over five percent of the banking sector), while the greatest losses were incurred by mid-sized banks (up to five percent). The list of banks with the greatest net profit comprises Banca Intesa (RSD 4,316 billion), Raiffeisen Bank (RSD 3,668 billion), UniCredit Bank Serbia (RSD 3,039 billion), Komercijalna banka (RSD 2, 583 billion), and Vojvodjanska banka (RSD 1,322 billion). The banks with the greatest net loss are NLB Bank (RSD -1,166 billion), Alpha Bank (RSD - 1,047 billion), Univerzal banka (RSD -554 billion), OTP Bank Serbia (RSD -531 billion) and Piraeus Bank (RSD -431 billion).^[4]

List of banks

	Bank	Headquarters	Assets (EUR millions)	Revenue (EUR millions)	Employees
1	AIK banka	Niš	1,357	201	507
2	Alpha Bank	Belgrade	802	210	1,459
3	Banca Intesa	Belgrade	3,664	630	3,237
4	Banka Poštanska štedionica	Belgrade	664	99	1,686
5	Credy banka	Kragujevac	139	17	385
6	Crédit Agricole	Novi Sad	584	103	1,007
7	Dunav banka	Zvečan	63	11	182
8	Erste Bank	Novi Sad	710	136	990
9	Eurobank	Belgrade	1,485	361	1,533
10	Findomestic banka	Belgrade	175	31	338
11	Hypo Group Alpe Adria	Belgrade	1,482	263	842
12	JUBMES banka	Belgrade	89	11	120
13	Jugobanka Jugbanka	K. Mitrovica	11	2	94
14	KBC banka	Belgrade	255	46	522
15	Komercijalna banka	Belgrade	3,018	402	3,273
16	Marfin bank	Belgrade	231	40	372
17	Moskovska banka	Belgrade	65	11	63
18	NLB banka	Belgrade	376	58	603
19	Opportunity banka	Novi Sad	69	15	198
20	OTP banka	Novi Sad	407	51	697
21	Piraeus Bank	Belgrade	544	86	547
22	Privredna banka	Belgrade	299	84	359
23	Procredit Bank	Belgrade	610	151	1,303
24	Raiffeisenbank	Belgrade	1,790	346	1,927
25	Sberbank	Belgrade	896	59	526
26	Société Générale	Belgrade	1,817	312	1,384
27	Srpska banka	Belgrade	182	40	406
28	UniCredit banka	Belgrade	2,142	596	999
29	Univerzal banka	Belgrade	263	46	464
30	Vojvođanska banka	Novi Sad	915	72	1,784
31	Čačanska banka	Čačak	289	46	386

• Credy Banka a.d.(Since September 2, 2013, Credy Banka AD Kragujevac has changed its business name into KBM Banka a.d. Kragujevac)

• Moskovska banka a.d. (Since September 2, 2013, Moskovska banka a.d. Beograd has changed its business name into VTB Bank a.d. Beograd)^[5]

See also

• Serbian Chamber of Commerce
• Serbia Investment and Export Promotion Agency

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Banking in Serbia.

• ASSOCIATION OF SERBIAN BANKS
• Central Bank of Serbia