Danske Bank Group today announces that going forward its business activities in the Baltic countries will be aligned with the Group’s strategy. This means that Danske Bank in the Baltic countries will focus exclusively on supporting subsidiaries of Nordic customers and global corporates with a significant Nordic footprint.
“The decision is a strategic one based on our overall ambition of focusing on customers in the Nordic region. Therefore, we continue to align business activities in the Baltics accordingly. This way we can deliver most value to our customers operating in the Nordics through expertise and global services and solutions,” says Frederik Bjørn, Executive Vice president, Business Banking, International.
He adds: “This means that we will harmonise our value propositions and service model across borders to be the same in the Baltics as, for example, in Germany or Poland. The decision will, of course, affect our business volumes in the Baltic countries, however, we will take a consistent approach in all three countries, and we will continue to serve our local customers for some time as well as ensure that all our current obligations are fulfilled”.
No immediate changes for current local customers
The exit from serving local business and private banking customers will be executed as a wind-down. This means that Danske Bank will stop onboarding new local customers.
Existing local customers will be served within current obligations. Loans will therefore mature in accordance with existing terms and conditions, and deposits and other service agreements will remain in force. Existing day-to-day private banking and business products will continue to be supported until further notice. Danske Bank will not, however, expand customer relationships or provide new loans and credits.
Local customers do not need to take any action now, as they will be served as usual. Danske Bank will inform its local customers about any coming changes in the customer relationship well in advance.
Danske Bank in Lithuania still growing
The decision to reposition business activities in the Baltic countries will have no consequences for the Group’s shared service centres - Danske Group IT Lithuania and Global Services Lithuania.
“Our shared service centres include all kinds of operational and digital support for all of Danske Bank Group and are therefore key for our delivering seamless customer journeys – that is fast, high quality deliveries of products, services and solutions that make daily banking easy for our customers,” Frederik Bjørn adds.
The growth of Danske Bank global services and IT centres in Lithuania will continue as planned. During the past years, Danske Bank has employed more than 2,300 employees in Lithuania.
From now on, Danske Bank in the Baltic countries will no longer announce financial results on a stand-alone basis. The financial performance of the Baltic branches will be consolidated into the Group’s financial reports.
