OTP Bank Albania and Alpha Bank Albania become one bank proceeding as OTP Bank Albania

OTP Bank Albania and Alpha Bank Albania become one bank proceeding as OTP Bank Albania

OTP Bank Albania announces the completion of the first milestone of the merger process between Alpha Bank Albania and OTP Bank Albania: as of today, December 1, 2022, the two banks will operate under the name OTP Bank Albania. The merger resulted in the reduction of the total number of the banks in the country to 11. It also positions OTP Bank Albania as the fifth largest player in terms of total assets and the third largest player in terms of customer loans in Albania. The integration process of OTP Bank Albania and Alpha Bank Albania is planned to last until the end of 2023.

Tirana, 1 December 2022 – OTP Bank Albania announces the completion of the Legal Merge between Alpha Bank Albania and OTP Bank Albania. The result of this merger reduces the total number of the banks in the country to 11 out of 12. It also positions OTP Bank Albania as the fifth largest player in terms of total assets and the third largest player in terms of customer loans in Albania, thus further strengthens its market position in Albania.

From today 1 December 2022, the two banks will operate as one entity. We note that Alpha Bank Albania siezed to exist while being now merged to OTP Bank Albania (member of OTP Group). At present, in connection with the merger, the welcomed customers of Alpha Bank Albania do not need to do anything, and all customers are continuously notified in due course about the key milestones and related changes. The clients of the merged bank shall benefit from a larger branch network, a larger well-positioned and multifunctional network of ATMS, a vast network of POSs, as well as more attractive products and innovative services. The first noticeable change that customers will encounter is that the logo and color will gradually go green throughout the network. In the next period, OTP Bank Albania’s focus will be to maintain the highest level of service quality and the successful continuation of the integration process.

As a result of the legal merger, in terms of total assets, the market share of OTP Group in Albania has reached 11% and the customer loan portfolio increased by one and a half times. Based on the latter, OTP Bank Albania has become the third largest market player with a 16.3% market share. The full integration process of OTP Bank Albania and Alpha Bank Albania is planned to last until the end of 2023.

„Today we finalized the first of the milestones we had in the project of the Merger of Alpha Bank Albania with OTP Bank Albania. It is the moment to share my gratitude to the people who are working at the highest dedication and commitment possible, so that we bring to life this dynamic and complex process. It is our leading motivation in ’making a seamless and smooth transition process for our clients’. Today we announce the continuation of OTP Bank Albania as a larger and stronger bank, looking with enthusiasm towards our common future for better service, larger network, more attractive products and innovative solutions. We were committed to become the Best Bank in Albania,“ declared Bledar Shella, CEO of OTP Bank Albania.

OTP Bank has been one of the most active financial institutions in the European acquisitions market. Following the financial crisis, new transactions started in 2014 and since then OTP Bank has announced the purchase of 12 financial institutions and banking portfolios in nine countries, including the present acquisition of Alpha Bank Albania. All of these, except for the Slovenian Nova KBM transaction, which is still in the process of being completed, have been successfully integrated into the banking group.

With this unique acquisition performance, OTP Group has become the most active banking sector consolidator in Central and Eastern Europe, substantially improving its market position in Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro and augmenting the profit contribution of non-Hungarian group members.

OTP Group is one of the most stable financial groups in the CEE region with outstanding profitability and stable capital and liquidity positions. At present, the banking group provides universal financial services in 11 countries to nearly 16 million customers, has a network of more than 1,400 branches and has  nearly 36,000 employees. OTP Group is headquartered in Budapest, Hungary and has a diversified and transparent ownership structure. The banking group has been listed on the Budapest Stock Exchange since 1995.