History

The Fio banka story

Fio banka as an exclusively Czech-owned bank is completely different from other banks, most of which have long since been swallowed up by large foreign investors. The bank offers standard banking services without any fees while continuing to bring innovative banking products to market and has shown the ability to achieve a slight profit over the long term. Those are the secrets to Fio, which was established nearly two decades ago by a group of students and graduates from the Mathematics and Physics Department at Charles University.

The group of young math and physics students was fascinated by the world of finance and investment and decided in 1993 to open a company focused on securities trading. They began programming the software they later used to make securities trading simpler and faster and began to offer it to clients over time. Thanks to low costs, risk management and emphasis on long-term stability, Fio became the largest Czech online broker in a few years' time.

Efforts to expand Fio's range of financial services led to the establishment of a credit union. Smooth operations combined with internal development activities and the dynamic environment enjoyed by Fio and other Czech companies led to the roll out of Internetbanking in 1998, as the first online application of its kind among today's financial institutions in the Czech Republic. It was released even before the version released by the then-famous Expandia bank, which was later renamed eBank.

Fio purchased the off-market RM-SYSTÉM stock exchange in 2006; coincidentally, the founders of the company first began trading on this exchange thirteen years earlier. Fio's addition of this off-market exchange helped to revive and then transform the Czech securities market.

The key was the network of RM-SYSTEM branch offices in nearly every district capital city. Overnight, Fio began providing its investment and banking services across the entire Czech Republic.

Slowly becoming a bank...

With subsequent growth, Fio reached the critical mass where the assets under the Fio flag had come to represent a small bank in 2008. The transition to a bank was the logical step forward to simplify operations and to drive a major increase in trustworthiness.

Fio banka received its bank license in 2010. It continues to offer standard banking services for absolutely no fees, is pushing forward with improvements to its network of branches and ATMs, issues its own payment cards and has rolled out Smartbanking for smart phones as the first bank in the Czech Republic. The number of clients continues to climb dramatically, reaching 200,000 at the close of 2012.
How is it possible that Fio banka has provided certain banking services for completely no charge for a number of years? And just how does the bank invest in improving quality, introduce Smartbanking as the first bank and become the Most Dynamic Bank in the Czech Republic as well as the Banking Innovator of the Year? Moreover, how has the bank continuously generated a small profit and how can this strategy of free services remain sustainable?

The secret of Czech-owned Fio banka is as follows:

• Fio is a Czech bank that is not under any pressure from foreign shareholders, which often seek excessively high profits.
• The two owners of the bank are also founding members of Fio. They enjoy an intimate relationship with the company and have maintained a strategy of sustainable growth combined with moderate profit generation for nearly 20 years.
• Fio banka also reaps the benefits of long-term stability in top-level management.
• Fio banka develops its internal banking system using efficient development methods. These efforts allow the bank to flexibly respond to new trends and quickly innovate its services.
• Fio banka places exceptional emphasis on low operating costs and maximum use of automation, allowing it to provide standard banking services at absolutely no charge.
• Fio banka's main source of income is not bank fees; rather it is the difference between interest collected on provided loans and interest paid on deposits.
• Investment services are another source of income. Fio banka offers its clients online trading on stock exchanges in the Czech Republic, Europe and the USA. The bank itself does not actively trade stocks or other securities on exchanges, meaning that any fluctuations in the market have no impact on the bank's stability. .