Romania's Savings Bank switches to CEC Bank within a rebranding strategy

Romanian Savings Bank (CEC), the country’s oldest state-owned lender, changed its name to CEC Bank and adopted a new image, according to the bank's head, Radu Gratian Ghetea.

The bank released an Internet banking service, a card, three products to use European funds and plans to offer mortgage loans for dwellings.

CEC Bank modernized more than 30 offices out of 1,404 and plans to upgrade all units by 2010. Most of them (61 percent) are located in the rural area.

More than 80 percent of the farmers that could receive European funds applied to CEC to receive the necessary money for starting production, according to Agency for Payments and Farming Intervention (APIA)

Romania's Prime Minister, Calin Popescu Tariceanu, said the country needs a bank for people in the rural area, with small incomes, who would feel embarrassed to go at a different bank.

The bank has deposits of more than 2.7 billion euros, about 600,000 cards and 3 million clients. Its net profit doubled last year against the previous, reaching 90 million lei (24.7 million euros). CEC posted 39.8 million lei net profit in 2006, nine-fold boost against 2005.

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