Austrian Post Bets on the Future of Bricks-and-Mortar Banking
- Mail operator bought bank to keep post-office branches busy
- Amazon’s own delivery service will eat into Austrian market
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Austria’s state-controlled mail operator is starting a lender with something that most finance startups are proud to shun in the age of fintech: bricks-and-mortar branches.
Georg Poelzl, Oesterreichische Post AG’s chief executive officer, came up with the plan as he pondered the termination of a deal with the lender that’s still using his company’s network of about 1,800 outlets across the country. He concluded that bank branches still have a future.