PBZ Wins The “Best Bank In Croatia“ Award for 2020

Zagreb, 17 July 2020 - The Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2020 go to Privredna banka Zagreb (PBZ), member of Intesa Sanpaolo Group, in the category as the” Best Bank in Croatia” and also to Intesa Sanpaolo  as the “Best Bank in Italy”. The Euromoney Awards for Excellence are awarded worldwide to financial institutions that provide the highest levels of service, innovation and expertise to their customers. A wide range of qualitative and quantitative criteria was taken into consideration for this award that is viewed as the most prestigious awards in the global banking industry 

On the occasion of the announcement of this award, Dinko Lucić, President of the Management Board of PBZ, said: "We are exceptionally proud of this prestigious international award that we were presented with in these difficult COVID times. As I tend to point out very often, people do make a true difference, and the more difficult the situation in the world gets, all the more important becomes the role of composed and highly skilled employees. This award is a confirmation of the continuous dedication and work of our entire team of the PBZ Group. I am proud of all of our employees and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their contribution, but also to thank all of our clients, for whom we constantly strive to be even better."

Euromoney's Awards for Excellence were established in 1992 and were the first of their kind in the global banking industry. This year Euromoney received almost 1,000 submissions from banks in our regional and country awards programme that covers more than 50 regional awards and best bank awards in close to 100 countries. For more information: https://www.euromoney.com/

Privredna banka Zagreb d.d. (PBZ) has been a significant factor in the development of Croatian economy ever since its establishment in 1966. It has retained such a role until today as a member of Intesa Sanpaolo Group, one of the largest banking groups in Europe. PBZ is a universal bank, it is technologically highly developed, and offers a complete range of specialised products and services. From the perspective of business results, PBZ has been continuously at the very top of Croatian banking, it is a highly liquid and capitalised bank, and has demonstrated extreme resilience by successfully responding to all the challenges that the local banking system has faced over the last couple of years.
PBZ has kept its role of a pioneer in new technologies, continuously developing new and innovative products and services for retail and corporate clients and taking a significant part in the financing of the economy and development of small and medium entrepreneurship in the country. Moreover, PBZ was the first commercial bank in Croatia to provide its clients with Apple Pay and Google Pay services. PBZ is also the centre of excellence for many areas of banking within the International Subsidiary Banks Division of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group and has recently become a regional banking hub following the acquisition of majority ownership of the Intesa Sanpaolo banks in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia. It should be emphasized that PBZ is the clear winner of the Comprehensive assessment of five Croatian banks recently conducted by the European Central Bank. According to published data, PBZ has got the greatest amount of the capital in the adverse scenario (CET1 Ratio of 16.4 %) that substantially exceeds regulatory requirements, while Asset Quality Review (AQR) identified immaterial adjustments with an impact on the capital ratio of one basis point (1bp). These results confirm strong financial stability and reliability of PBZ in the domestic banking market, but also adequacy of its internal rules and procedures pertaining to risk management. Also, PBZ has a proactive role in encouraging CSR initiatives and projects, with constant dedication to supporting the local community. PBZ is the leading donor in the country and unrivalled among banks regarding donations to healthcare institutions in combating the Covid-19 pandemic as well as repairing the consequences of the devastating earthquake that hit Zagreb and its surroundings.