The Challenge
The Post Savings Bank (PSB), a limited scope financial institution that before its separation from Hellenic Post Organization comprised its financial services arm, was an entity under the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport (due to its aforementioned origins) providing primarily savings deposits individuals and housing loans to civil servants.
Still, as a result of the Greek banking sector deregulation, the Post Savings Bank had to become a real bank detaching itself from its status as a decentralized department of the Ministry of Transport and operating in the open competitive market of financial institutions in Greece.
The Approach
PLANET was engaged to support in total this transformation starting from the compilation of a Strategic, Business and Action Plan in collaboration with one of the leading international strategy firms that laid the foundation of the migration from a civil service to a proper bank followed by the active support during the implementation of the transformation.
Turning a financial institution from civil service into a retail bank
The overall journey addressed issues such as:
- Strategically positioning PSB as a modern financial institution with a broader product and service portfolio
- Defining a new business and operating model that addresses the requirements for a fully competent banking institution in terms of core banking processes, risk management and governance
- Determining investments needed to upgrade information systems and implement the new business and operating model
- Addressing human resources issues
- Changing legal status into a societe anonyme and obtain a banking license
- Paving the way for professional bank management to assume critical roles within the organization
- Managing the change throughout the first period of the transformation (2,5 years)
Results & Impact
The Post Savings Bank that emerged out of this long and strenuous process was a fully competent retail financial institution with professional management and actively competing in the financial services market until as a result of the banking sector consolidation taking place in the context of the global financial crisis, being a state owned bank had to be absorbed by a private bank.
