Roland Ludwig, CEO of Advanzia Bank, comments: “Advanzia has continued its success story in 2020, despite the most adverse circumstances. Not only did we sustain our business, but we were also able to grow in all our markets and deliver service stability to our customers, business partners and partner banks. Advanzia’s results demonstrate the success of our prudent credit risk underwriting and our agility in adapting marketing strategies to improve portfolio performance in a changing environment.”

Acquisition and integration of Capitol card portfolio successfully completed

With the acquisition and migration of the Capitol card portfolio from Catella Bank successfully completed, Advanzia Bank has solidified its position as a leading provider for professional card services for banks and financial institutions. The bank is now servicing 89 partner banks in 12 countries with a growing footprint in Europe.

Strong performance in the bank’s established markets

In Germany, the bank’s largest market, the “Gebührenfrei Mastercard Gold” ended the year with a gross loan balance of EUR 1.6 billion and 1.6 million customers. The bank’s products have shown strong resilience during 2020 and continued to outperform the market. In France, the increasing market share of the “carte ZERO” led to a gross loan balance of EUR 134 million at year-end. With its unique positioning in Austria, the bank launched a co-branded programme for business partners and ended 2020 with a loan balance of EUR 109 million for the “free Mastercard Gold”. All three markets have contributed positively to Advanzia’s profit in 2020.

Digitalisation and growth as strategic priorities

The bank’s second year in Spain was stable despite a stronger pandemic influence, resulting in 66 100 “Tarjeta YOU” credit card customers and a gross loan balance of EUR 30 million at the end of 2020, as well as a successful market entry for its co-branded credit card programmes. The bank is confident that the market entry investments will lead to strong developments in the future.

Amidst the challenges posed by the pandemic in 2020, Advanzia Bank continued to assume its vital role as a credit card issuer in the payments ecosystem. The bank also gained market share and reached important milestones in its digital transformation journey by introducing mobile payment solutions in all its markets and launching mobile apps for its customers. With the introduction of a cloud-based infrastructure and the rollout of Advanzia’s API gateway, the bank has laid the foundation for future growth.

The roadmap for 2021 and beyond focuses on digital transformation by creating a customer-centric banking platform and a unified omni-channel customer experience. The continuous focus on growth opportunities through market diversification, partnership agreements and portfolio acquisitions remains a key strategic priority also in 2021.

Download the Advanzia Bank Annual Report 2020 here.