Sweden's SEB is to step up its e-banking activities in Germany with the launch of an online brokerage in the autumn. The plans were unveiled as SEB announced a 26 per cent increase in e-banking customers at its German subsidiary BfG to 108,000 during the past five months.
"The increase in German e-banking customers confirms the correctness of SEB's efforts to introduce e-banking in Germany, with a focus on investment services. SEB aims to capture a large share of Germany's fast-growing savings and Internet-banking market," says Johan Larson, global manager, SEB e-banking.
BfG's approximately one million customers are currently offered a free Internet package that enables them to conduct their bank transactions on the Net. In addition to software, the package includes a smart card and the necessary smart-card reader for the customer's own PC.
From the autumn, customers will be offered the opportunity to buy investment products and trade shares via a new online brokerage unit which will use the SEB brand.
SEB currently has 430,000 Internet-banking customers in Sweden, 50,000 in Estonia and 10,000 in Latvia.