PostFinance Ltd’s Board of Directors has appointed Isabella Stalder as the new Head of Internal Auditing at PostFinance. She will take up her position on 1 February 2019 and succeeds Robert Thommen, who is retiring.

The extraordinary PostFinance Ltd General Meeting has elected Giulia Fitzpatrick and Jürg Brun, both of whom were nominated by the Swiss Post Ltd Board of Directors, as new members of the PostFinance Ltd Board of Directors. They succeed Susanne Ruoff and Adriano P. Vassalli, who have left the Board.

PostFinance has set up a virtual assistant on its website – the first Swiss financial institution to do so. It automatically and quickly answers questions that customers frequently ask whilst maintaining the same level of quality. The virtual assistant has also recently learned French. PostFinance worked together with the IT service provider, ELCA, for the development of the chatbot.

PostFinance is operating in a challenging economic and regulatory environment. As interest rates have been low or even negative for years, its interest margin is being eroded. One reason for this is the Postal Services Organization Act, which prevents PostFinance from issuing its own loans and mortgages. The policy decision made by the Federal Council on 5 September 2018 will not affect this situation for the time being. PostFinance will therefore introduce industry-standard prices for certain products and services which no longer cover costs from 1 January 2019.

On Saturday 15 September 2018, some Postomats retained the PostFinance Cards of certain customers due to a technical error. This error has been resolved. Customers will automatically receive a new PostFinance Card free of charge by Tuesday, 25 September at the latest. Customers who have incurred additional costs can get in touch with the Contact Center on 0848 888 710. We apologize for any inconvenience.

At the Swiss WCM Summit held on 28 August 2018 in Zurich, the Supply Chain Finance Lab at the University of St. Gallen and PostFinance presented the findings of their latest study on the trend topic of supply chain finance. This is currently a key issue for many CEOs and CFOs. It is clear that innovative solutions for financing the supply chain are available, and Swiss companies also believe they offer potential. They are nevertheless still lagging behind when it comes to using them.

PostFinance generated earnings before tax (EBT) of 125 million francs in the first half of 2018. That is 247 million francs less than in the first six months of the previous year. This decline was mainly due to a significant drop in income from the interest differential business and to a one-off item in the previous year. This negative development is in line with expectations created by the persistently low interest rates on the money and capital markets, and the trend is set to continue.

PostFinance’s Competence Center for Young Professionals (CCYP) has been presented with the “Great Place to Start” award as one of the best apprenticeship providers in Switzerland for 2018. The award recognizes companies with an exemplary workplace culture for apprentices. The company training scheme and an anonymous survey conducted amongst apprentices carry equal weighting in the certification procedure.

PostFinance is transforming itself from a traditional financial service provider into a digital powerhouse, and, by the end of 2020, aims to be Switzerland’s leading digital bank. This leading position is not only about products, services and processes, it’s also about providing customers with secure protection against cyberspace threats.

PostFinance’s 2018 consultation process is now complete. The Executive Board confirms the measures planned for 2019. Proposals by staff are taken on board and followed up. The company has agreed on measures with its social partners to accompany the redundancy package.

On 1 January 2019, the PostFinance e-sports team will enter the battle arena. The financial service provider is offering five young adults the chance to spend a year receiving professional guidance and playing the strategy game, “League of Legends” at the highest level in Europe. As such, PostFinance is launching an experimental format which will support its transformation into a digital powerhouse and leading digital bank in Switzerland.

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