Direktna Banka () was a Serbian bank based in
Kragujevac
Kragujevac ( sr-Cyrl, Крагујевац, ) is the List of cities in Serbia, fourth largest city in Serbia and the administrative centre of the Šumadija District. It is the historical centre of the geographical region of Šumadija in central Se ...
. It ceased with operations in December 2021, after it was merged with the Serbian branch of the
Eurobank Ergasias, forming Eurobank Direktna.
History
The origins of the banks date back to 1871 when it was founded in
Kingdom of Serbia
The Kingdom of Serbia was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynast ...
as "Kragujevačka okružna štedionica". In the beginning, bank served Šumadija region. Over the coming decades its operation was at the mercy of the region's eventful social and geopolitical history.
Following
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and establishment of
Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, it re-established operation as "Komunalna banka" in 1955. In 1970, the bank was merged into the state owned "Jugobanka".
1991–2016
In July 1991, in the midst of the breakup of
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...
, it started operating independently within Jugobanka system as "Jugobanka Jubanka" a.d. Kragujevac.
In 2000, Šumadija banka a.d. Kragujevac was merged into the bank.
In June 2001, the Board of bank agreed on the name change, thus adopting the name "Credy banka". In December 2004, Srpska regionalna banka a.d. Beograd was merged into Credy banka, further expanding its network in Serbia.
On 2 September 2013, Credy banka changed its name to "KBM Banka" a.d Kragujevac, due to change in ownership structure.
2016–2021
In February 2016, Serbian businessmen Andrej Jovanović and Bojan Milovanović (former owners and founders of Serbian
potato chip
Potato chips (North American English and Australian English; often just chip) or crisp (British English and Hiberno-English) are thin slices of potato (or a thin deposit of potato paste) that has been deep frying, deep fried, baking, baked, ...
food company
Marbo Product) bought the KBM Banka from the Slovenian Nova KBM d.d. bank.
On 8 July 2016, KBM Banka a.d. Kragujevac changed its name into "Direktna Banka" a.d. with headquarters in Kragujevac.
In November 2016, Direktna Banka bought 100% of shares of the Serbian commercial bank Findomestic Bank Serbia from the French
BNP Paribas.
Findomestic Bank operated in Serbia from 2006 to 2016 and was a leader in
car finance
Car finance refers to the various financial products which allow someone to acquire a car, including car loans and leases.
History
Car financing started with the General Motors Acceptance Corporation circa World War 1.
Car purchases
T ...
loan
In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money.
The document evidencing the deb ...
s.
After this acquisition, Direktna Banka had around 400 employees and total assets worth around 200 million euros.
In November 2017, Direktna Banka bought another Serbian commercial bank
Piraeus Bank Beograd from the Greek
Piraeus Bank
Piraeus Bank () is a Greece, Greek multinational financial services company with its headquarters in Athens, Greece. Piraeus Bank's shares have been listed on the Athens Exchange, Athens Stock Exchange (Athens Exchange, ATHEX) since January 1918. ...
, for a sum in range of 58–61 million euros.
The projections for complete merge to be completed was by the first quarter of 2018, and thus way Direktna Banka would have a total assets worth over 500 million euros.
In July 2021, the Greek
Eurobank a.d. and Direktna Banka agreed to merge units on Serbian market by the end of 2021; when complete, the Eurobank would control 70% of shares, while the owners of Direktna Banka would control the remaining 30% of shares of new bank unit. The bank ceased operations and since 13 December 2021, it is merged with the Serbian branch of Eurobank, thus forming Eurobank Direktna.
See also
*
List of banks in Serbia
References
External links
* {{Official website, https://www.eurobank-direktna.rs
Banks established in 1995
Banks disestablished in 2021
Banks of Serbia
Defunct banks of Serbia
Serbian companies established in 1995