Österreichische Postsparkasse

Postsparcassen-Amt" (Imperial-Royal Postal Savings Office) was opened on 12 January 1883 in the former Dominican Monastery building on Wollzeile street in the first Viennese district Innere Stadt.

About 4,000 post office branches located throughout the Austro-Hungarian Empire began offering their postal savings service to customers.

The idea behind offering financial services at post offices was to promote public awareness and encourage saving.

The added benefit of the system was to make important funds available to the state and to guarantee the security of the deposits with government liability.

In October 1883, Coch introduced a revolutionary innovation, the system of cashless transfers (Scheckverkehr), whereby a written instruction authorised the debit of one account and the credit to another.

Its clear lines and the usage of steel, concrete and glass give the building a solid and impenetrable look.

With the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, its areas of activity were restricted to the much smaller, newly founded Austrian Republic.

[2] On 28 December 1926, parliament passed a new law which liberalised the P.S.K., transferring it from direct state administration and control into a separate, independent legal entity as a public company.

It was the first Viennese banking institute to resume its services and was under the direct control of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance.

It remained under the direct control of the ministry until 1 January 1970, when the 1969 Postal Savings Bank Act (Postsparkassengesetz 1969)[3] came into effect.

The law formed the starting point for a new business strategy aimed at creating a market-oriented range of services.

Apart from offering financial services, the bank also sponsors cultural events such as art exhibitions, especially on the Viennese Jugendstil, concerts, as well as donating for social issues such as fundraisers for victims of natural disasters.

Vienna headquarters of the Österreichische Postsparkasse , built by Otto Wagner
Interior of the Österreichische Postsparkasse headquarters, Vienna
Exterior decoration of the Österreichische Postsparkasse headquarters, Vienna
Old Logo of the P.S.K.
Last logo of the P.S.K. with the postal horn, when it still belonged to the postal system