Greece has a rather concentrated banking market, Bank of Greece Deputy Director Christina Papakonstantinou said in a recent interview to the SSM newsletter.
However, she added that fintech companies and non-banking institutions are gradually causing high competition.
Talks about a different banking landscape have increased across Europe, with French President Emmanuel Macron eyeing the prospect of larger schemes within the European Union rather than within member states.
Perhaps this is the way to “save” the banking sector and be able to finance the much-desired development of Europe.
Emmanuel Macron believes the banking sector in Europe needs more consolidation, even if that means a major French bank being bought by European rivals, as he stated in an interview on Bloomberg TV recently.
It is absolutely certain that the benefits of high interest rates, i.e. the high interest income of credit institutions, will sooner or later come to an end with the fall in interest rates.
Competition will sooner or later reduce commissions, something that has not yet been noticed in our country, however international competition will also affect Greece.
The banks, at least most of them, have understood the changes that are coming at a rapid pace.
Greek banks’ concentration
Due to concentration, things in Greece are a little different. It takes 15 days to a month to find an appointment to open a new account, which can be done electronically, as long as the relevant documents arrive at the bank in their original form.
Much greater flexibility is demonstrated by smaller banks, which have taken such positions in order to fill gaps in the systemic banking system.
Bank of Greece
It is true that the Greek banking sector is highly concentrated, with the four major banks owning 96% of all banking assets, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Greece, said. Furthermore, the Greek financial system is bank-centric, with the banking sector accounting for 86% of all assets in the broader financial sector. Insurance companies, mutual funds and investment companies, as well as non-bank financial institutions and non-performing loan servicers, have only a small share of total financial sector assets.
And all this despite the fact that Greek banks, at least for now, do not offer significant returns to their customers in terms of deposit interest.
