Piraeus Bank Romania to change its name to First Bank

The former subsidiary of Greek financial group Piraeus, now owned by J.C. Flowers, will change its name in First bank this year, following a decision of bank’s board.

“Following the meeting on Wednesday, September 12, 2018, the Bank’s Board of Directors decided to change the name of the company and the commercial brand of Piraeus Bank Romania to “First Bank”. The rebranding process will begin in 2018 and will continue in the next months,” the bank said in a press release.

The transition to the new brand will be visible gradually over the entire process. The company’s business will run as usually. All contractual agreements between the bank and its clients remain active and will not be affected by the adoption of the new brand identity.

The end of the transition to the new brand will be announced by the bank to all its clients.

“This is a new beginning, a journey in which innovation, passion and teamwork will take us to better banking to the benefit of customers. We are supported by a large-scale international investor, whose financial force and expertise enable us to embrace the modern banking standards,” says Dominic Bruynseels, executive president of Piraeus Bank Romania.

On June 28th, 2018, Piraeus Bank Romania was acquired by JCF IV Tiger Holdings, entity belonging to J.C. Flowers.

This was the first investment made by the investment fund on the Romanian market and in Central and Eastern Europe.

“We shall continue to improve our current offer of services and products, so that they align to the expectations of local customers. At the same time, we shall pay great attention to their feedback in order to propose those new services and products that shall be useful to them,” Bruynseels added.

Following this rebranding, the only major Greek financial groups to maintain presence on the Romanian market are Alpha Bank and National Bank of Greece (through its local subsidiary Banca Romaneasca, currently for sale).