Question 1

What is Raiffeisenbank Liesingtal-St. Stefan?

Accepted Answer

Raiffeisenbank Liesingtal-St. Stefan is a local cooperative bank (registered cooperative - eingetragene Genossenschaft) operating in the Styria region of Austria. As a member of the Austrian Raiffeisen Banking Group, it provides retail and business banking services to individuals, professionals, and small-to-medium enterprises in the Liesingtal valley area. With total assets of approximately 227.76 million EUR as of 2023, it ranks as the 308th largest bank in Austria with a market share of 0.02%.

The bank serves local communities in the Upper Styria region, focusing on relationship-based banking within its geographic footprint.

Question 2

When was Raiffeisenbank Liesingtal-St. Stefan founded?

Accepted Answer

The bank traces its origins to June 17, 1894, when it was originally established as a cooperative financial institution following the Raiffeisen cooperative banking model. The Raiffeisen movement, initiated by German reformer Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen, spread to the Habsburg Monarchy in 1886 with the goal of providing rural communities with accessible financial services.

The institution has undergone various organizational changes over its history, including a legal restructuring in 2019. Throughout its existence, it has maintained its core mission of serving the local agricultural and business communities in the Liesingtal valley and surrounding areas.

Question 3

Where is Raiffeisenbank Liesingtal-St. Stefan headquartered?

Accepted Answer

The bank is headquartered at Raiffeisen-Platz 1 in Sankt Michael in Obersteiermark, a market town in the district of Leoben in the Austrian state of Styria. The town sits at an elevation of 596 meters and has a population of approximately 3,000 residents.

Sankt Michael in Obersteiermark lies in the Upper Styria region along the Mur River valley.

Question 4

Where does Raiffeisenbank Liesingtal-St. Stefan operate?

Accepted Answer

The bank operates primarily in the Liesingtal valley and surrounding municipalities within Upper Styria. Its service area includes Sankt Michael in Obersteiermark and nearby communities in the district of Leoben, as well as the broader Murtal region.

The bank maintains its main office in Mautern in Styria (Hauptstraße 18, 8774 Mautern) in addition to its headquarters, serving rural and semi-rural areas characteristic of the Upper Styrian landscape. This geographic focus allows the bank to maintain close relationships with local customers and businesses.

Question 5

What services does Raiffeisenbank Liesingtal-St. Stefan offer?

Accepted Answer

The bank provides a comprehensive range of retail and business banking services including:

Personal Banking: Current accounts, savings accounts, time deposit accounts, debit cards, and credit cards for individual customers.

Lending Products: Consumer loans, car loans, and mortgage loans for private individuals, as well as business loans for SMEs and professionals.

Business Banking: Business accounts, business payment cards, and commercial lending solutions tailored to local enterprises.

Digital Services: Online banking system and mobile application for convenient account access and transaction management. Customers can access services through both digital channels and the bank's physical branch locations.

The bank also participates in wealth management and investment services through the broader Raiffeisen network.

Question 6

What makes Raiffeisenbank Liesingtal-St. Stefan unique?

Accepted Answer

The bank's distinctive characteristics include:

Cooperative Structure: As an eingetragene Genossenschaft (registered cooperative), the bank is owned by its members, aligning its interests directly with those of its local customer base. This cooperative model emphasizes community benefit over profit maximization.

Local Market Expertise: With over 125 years of presence in the Liesingtal valley, the bank possesses deep knowledge of the regional economy, including agriculture, small industry, and tourism sectors characteristic of Upper Styria.

Raiffeisen Network Membership: As part of Austria's Raiffeisen Banking Group (comprising 342 local cooperative banks as of 2021), the institution benefits from shared resources, institutional protection schemes, and access to broader financial products while maintaining local decision-making autonomy.

Deposit Protection: Customer deposits up to 100,000 EUR are protected by the Österreichische Raiffeisen-Sicherungseinrichtung eGen (ÖRS), the dedicated Raiffeisen deposit guarantee scheme established in November 2021.

Question 7

What type of financial institution is Raiffeisenbank Liesingtal-St. Stefan?

Accepted Answer

Raiffeisenbank Liesingtal-St. Stefan is a Raiffeisen credit cooperative (Raiffeisenkasse), operating under Austrian law as an eingetragene Genossenschaft (eGen) - a registered cooperative.

In the Austrian banking system, Raiffeisen cooperatives represent a distinct category of credit institutions characterized by member ownership, democratic governance, and regional focus. These institutions form the foundational layer of the three-tier Austrian Raiffeisen Banking Group structure, which also includes regional wholesale banks (Raiffeisenlandesbanken) at the state level and Raiffeisen Bank International at the national and international level.

As a credit institution authorized by the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) since November 20, 2013, the bank operates under EU banking regulations and is part of the European Banking Authority's registry of supervised institutions.

Question 8

What is the bank's relationship with Raiffeisen-Landesbank Steiermark?

Accepted Answer

Raiffeisenbank Liesingtal-St. Stefan operates as an independent cooperative but maintains a close relationship with Raiffeisen-Landesbank Steiermark AG, which serves as the regional wholesale bank for Styria's Raiffeisen cooperatives. This relationship provides the local bank with access to treasury services, wholesale banking products, and technical infrastructure while preserving its autonomy in local lending and customer relationship decisions.

The Raiffeisen-Landesbank Steiermark acts as a central institution for liquidity management and provides specialized services that would be economically inefficient for individual small cooperative banks to maintain independently.

Question 9

How does the bank participate in the local community?

Accepted Answer

As a cooperative bank with roots dating back to 1894, Raiffeisenbank Liesingtal-St. Stefan plays an active role in the economic and social life of Sankt Michael in Obersteiermark and surrounding communities. The cooperative model inherently ties the bank's success to local prosperity.

The institution supports regional economic development through lending to local businesses, agricultural enterprises, and homeowners. Its presence provides essential financial infrastructure in a semi-rural area where large national or international banks may be less inclined to maintain physical presence and personalized service relationships.

Raiffeisenbank Liesingtal-St. Stefan

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About Raiffeisenbank Liesingtal-St. Stefan in Austria

Raiffe­isenba­nk Liesin­gtal-S­t. Stefan