Česká spořitelna

Corporate brand

Česká spořitelna is a Czech universal bank and the country’s historic savings-bank institution, operating as a major subsidiary of Austria-based Erste Group.

Last updated October 14, 2026

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Overview

Česká spořitelna is a Czech universal bank headquartered in Prague. Its institutional roots reach back to the creation of Böhmische Sparkasse in 1825, making it one of the oldest savings-bank institutions in the Czech lands and the oldest continuously recognizable banking heritage associated with the modern brand. Although the present-day company is organized as a joint-stock bank, its identity remains closely connected with mass savings, broad public access and a long-standing role in Czech economic life. The bank serves households, entrepreneurs, small and medium-sized enterprises, municipalities and large corporate customers. Its activities include current and savings accounts, payment services, consumer and housing finance, mortgages, credit cards, business lending, investment products, securities services and insurance-related offerings. The institution combines a large physical branch and ATM network with digital channels, particularly the George banking platform. Its retail proposition increasingly emphasizes personal financial planning, digital self-service and helping customers improve their financial resilience rather than simply selling individual banking products. Česká spořitelna became part of the Vienna-headquartered Erste Group during the Czech banking-sector privatization period. In 2000, Erste acquired a 52 percent stake from the Czech government for 19 billion Czech koruna, reported at the time as approximately €530 million. Erste subsequently increased its ownership to approximately 98 percent by 2002 and acquired the remaining shares in 2018. The transaction made Česká spořitelna a central component of Erste Group’s Central and Eastern European retail-banking network while leaving the bank focused primarily on the Czech market. The brand’s communication has moved from conventional product advertising toward themes of confidence, social participation and financial health. The #silnější, or “stronger,” platform introduced in 2021 presents the bank as a partner that encourages people to overcome doubts and deal with life’s challenges. Later campaigns connected this positioning to responsible borrowing, online financial security and the bank’s long history. In 2025, the institution marked its bicentenary with “Age Is Just a Number,” a campaign intended to challenge stereotypes about age and present the two-century-old bank as modern and forward-looking. Česká spořitelna remains an active Czech banking brand under Erste Group ownership. Its current strategic direction combines traditional relationship banking with digital distribution, investment expansion and a publicly communicated ambition to improve customers’ financial health. It is therefore positioned both as a mass-market bank with historic national recognition and as a modern financial-services provider operating within a larger European banking group.

History

The bank’s origin is traced to the savings-bank movement that spread through the Habsburg Monarchy after the establishment of Vienna’s Erste österreichische Spar-Casse in 1819. In Prague, a proposal for a comparable institution was submitted by Josef von Hoch in 1823. Böhmische Sparkasse was then established in 1825 to encourage saving and provide accessible financial services in Prague and Bohemia. The institution’s Czech designation, Česká spořitelna, later became the basis of the modern brand. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the savings-bank model served a broad public. It collected household deposits and supported the development of economic and civic institutions. The bank’s historical identity is consequently linked not only with individual saving but also with the development of Czech communities and businesses. Over time, the institution operated through changing political and constitutional arrangements, including the periods of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic. The post-1989 transition brought major changes to the Czech financial system. Česká spořitelna was transformed into a joint-stock banking company during the restructuring and privatization of the banking sector. In 2000, Erste Group acquired a 52 percent share from the Czech government for 19 billion Czech koruna, equivalent at the time to approximately €530 million. Erste increased its holding to about 98 percent over the following two years. The remaining minority ownership was acquired in October 2018, making the bank wholly controlled within the Erste Group structure according to the cited historical account. Under Erste Group, Česká spořitelna remained focused on the Czech market while gaining access to the group’s regional expertise, technology and capital framework. The bank expanded its universal-banking model across retail, housing, SME, corporate and investment services. It also invested in electronic and mobile banking, with George becoming a central customer interface for payments, account management and selected investment products. In the 2020s, the brand increasingly defined its role around financial health. A strategy announced through the communication platform “We are the first to care about your financial health” linked customer advice, product development and measurement of client outcomes. The bank also continued the #silnější platform, launched in 2021, using confidence and resilience as brand themes. Campaigns included a 2022 historical and national-confidence execution featuring Jenovéfa Boková, the 2023 “Druhé já” campaign about overcoming internal doubts, and a 2024 lending campaign presenting borrowing as something that should support rather than weaken financial health. The 2025 bicentenary campaign “Věk je jen číslo” marked the institution’s two centuries of history while emphasizing modernity and the idea that age should not limit ambition. The bank’s present identity therefore combines institutional longevity, extensive Czech-market coverage, digital banking and a strategic emphasis on responsible financial behavior.

2025
Česká spořitelna marks its bicentenary
[4]Česká spořitelna bicentenary campaignmediaguru.cz
The bank celebrates 200 years and launches a campaign presenting age as a number rather than a limitation.
2021
#silnější communication platform begins
[6]#silnější communication platform beginsfocus-age.cz
The bank introduces a long-term brand platform centered on confidence and the idea that people are stronger than they believe.
2018
Remaining shares are acquired
[3]Erste Group — Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
Erste Group acquires the remaining minority shares in Česká spořitelna.
2002
Erste increases its ownership
[3]Erste Group — Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
Erste’s ownership rises to approximately 98 percent after further acquisitions.
2000
Erste Group acquires a majority stake
[3]Erste Group — Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
Erste Group purchases 52 percent of Česká spořitelna from the Czech government for 19 billion Czech koruna.
1825
Böhmische Sparkasse is established in Prague
[2]Česká spořitelna — Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
The savings-bank institution that forms the historical basis of Česká spořitelna is established in Prague and Bohemia.

Products and positioning

A trusted, mass-market Czech bank combining historic savings-bank heritage, broad physical access and increasingly digital financial-health-oriented advice.

Digital banking
George
George is Česká spořitelna’s digital banking environment for web and mobile users. It supports everyday account administration and payments and has been expanded to include investment functionality. The platform forms part of the bank’s shift toward digitally delivered services and is also reflected in the brand’s modern visual identity.
Lending
Mortgage and housing finance
The bank provides mortgage and related housing-finance products to retail customers. Housing lending is one of the institution’s core consumer-banking activities and is supported through branches, advisers and digital channels.
Investments
Investment services
Česká spořitelna offers investment funds and other investment solutions, with access increasingly integrated into George. Reported capabilities include funds, shares and fractional shares, exchange-traded funds and bonds, alongside investment advice and asset-management services.
Loans
Consumer and business lending
The bank provides personal loans as well as financing for entrepreneurs, small and medium-sized businesses and larger companies. Its communications stress transparent, affordable borrowing designed not to undermine customers’ financial health.

Marketing campaigns

2025Věk je jen číslo / Age Is Just a Number
Czech Republic
The bicentenary campaign encouraged people to challenge stereotypes associated with age. Jenovéfa Boková again personified the bank, and the campaign included a mindset calculator alongside television, cinema, digital, social and outdoor advertising.
Outcome. The campaign positioned the 200-year-old institution as youthful in outlook and open to future challenges.
Source
2024#silnější lending campaign
Czech Republic
A campaign featuring Jenovéfa Boková, a girl and a pony presented loans as tools that should help customers pursue goals while remaining fairly priced and free of fees that could damage financial health.
Outcome. The campaign reinforced the bank’s responsible-borrowing and financial-health positioning.
Source
2023Druhé já
Czech Republic
An image campaign about confronting the internal alter ego that creates doubt and blocks achievement. It ran across television, online, outdoor, cinema and branches, followed by educational material on online financial safety.
Outcome. The campaign extended the #silnější platform from general confidence into personal doubt and digital-security education.
Source
2021#silnější / Jste silnější, než si myslíte
Czech Republic
A long-term image platform built around confidence, resilience and the belief that Czech people can overcome difficult situations. The campaign used emotional storytelling rather than focusing only on rates or product features.
Outcome. A campaign-effect study cited a 12-percentage-point increase in brand salience and reported favorable audience reactions.
Source

Brand decisions

2023
Purchase of Sberbank CZ loan portfoliosM&A
Background
Sberbank Czech Republic entered insolvency proceedings after the collapse of its parent group’s European operations.
Action taken
Česká spořitelna acquired performing and non-performing loan portfolios from Sberbank CZ in transactions reported during 2022 and 2023.
Aftermath
The transactions transferred a substantial portion of Sberbank CZ’s Czech loan business to Česká spořitelna.
Source
2000
Erste Group acquires control of Česká spořitelnaM&A
Background
The Czech government was privatizing and restructuring the banking sector after the end of state-socialist economic management.
Action taken
Erste Group bought a 52 percent stake and later increased its ownership substantially.
Aftermath
Česká spořitelna became a core Czech subsidiary in Erste Group’s Central and Eastern European network.
Acquisition consideration. 19 billion Czech koruna, reported as approximately €530 million at the time (2000)
Source

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