Podgoricka Banka Société Générale Group launches a new banking package offering up to 8 percent of interest on savings

Today, on Monday December 22, 2008, Podgorička Banka Société Générale Group announced offering to its regular clients, Montenegrins and foreigners, a new banking package called “Spend & Save” which enables saving with an interest rate of up to 8% for a period of one, three, six or twelve months, with a minimum deposit of €3,000 and a monthly payment of interests to Visa credit cards. Users of “Spend & Save” package will receive free monthly membership fee on Visa credit cards and an account statement via SMS during the time deposit.

Earlier this year, on July 21, Podgorička Banka Société Générale Group also introduced, for a three-month period, a 50% discount on subscriptions to its “SoGe” packages (Daily, Optimum, Comfort or Golden packages), a bundle of banking services which enables more financial freedom by combining the allowed overdraft in the current accounts, the credit limit in cards and electronic banking, and which is offered with a considerable saving to subscribers, as the price of each package is lower than the total price of the services and products purchased individually.

This new commercial strategy of the Société Générale is part of an entire action plan the French banking group has developed for Montenegro to increase the number of its clients and the number of services used by them, as explained by Mr. Jean-Louis Mattei, Director of the Sector for International Markets, on September 25 last at a seminar organised in Paris, France. “Our basic goal is to increase the market share of Podgorička Banka in Montenegro, one of our target countries in which we want to be a significant player,” declared Mr. Mattei, adding that “although Montenegro is small, it is a country very important for our banking group. Société Générale is only starting in Montenegro, we are planning to invest in a new business building and to introduce a new system of accounting, for which our employees will be trained.”

According to experts of the French banking group, Montenegro — as well as some other countries of Central and Eastern Europe — should not expect any decrease in economic activity, even with the current crisis, precising that “perhaps, compared to the previous two years, Montenegrin economy will slow down a bit, but that’s all !”

Société Générale Group has recorded a profit of €184 million in the third quarter of 2008, €1.9 billion in the nine months of this year.