PostFinance is undergoing fundamental change: society – and with it, banking – is becoming increasingly digital, bringing about fundamental changes in customers’ needs and behaviour. At the same time, PostFinance is suffering badly from the current negative interest rate environment due to the ban on issuing its own loans and mortgages. In order to counter margin erosion and the associated decline in revenue, the financial service provider is planning measures in various business units to increase efficiency and reduce costs. This would lead to a reduction of up to 500 full-time positions by the end of 2020, two thirds of which could be absorbed by natural staff turnover. New positions will also be created in parallel.
PostFinance operates in an extremely challenging market environment. The digital revolution is progressing at a rapid rate in the banking industry. Customer behaviour is changing as a result, and new competitors from other industries and countries are attempting to gain a foothold in payment transactions and retail banking. At the same time, margins are gradually collapsing in the current negative interest rate environment, particularly due to the ban on issuing loans and mortgages. This is leading to a significant decline in revenue from interest operations. To offset this negative development, at least in part, in the next few years PostFinance is planning to introduce various measures to increase efficiency, consistently exploit savings potential and hence reduce costs.