Günter Benischek knows branch operations inside out. He became actively involved on behalf of his colleagues early on – from being the representative for young people through to becoming the chairman of the Employees’ Council. Then he combined his social engagement with his business experience, and established social banking – a task that required negotiating skills, persistence and plenty of #believeinyourself.
Günter Benischek has worked at Erste Group for 50 years, and for the last 7 years he has been CEO of Zweite Sparkasse. Although he has retired, he has no intention of putting his feet up for a long time yet. On the contrary, he is already working on new ideas. His voluntary engagement has also been recognised with the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria in silver.
For the impassioned beekeeper and father of two, one thing is very clear: social engagement makes sense – for the country, for Erste and above all for oneself.
© Daniel Hinterramskogler
What was your #believeinyourself moment?
I have had a few of those during my career, as branch manager, on the Employees’ Council, and as project manager. But one in particular comes to mind:
When I had finished my role as chairman of the Employees’ Council in 2013, there was no appropriate vacancy for me to fill, and I spent some time looking for a new activity. At that time Peter Bosek was the Management Board member for private banking at EBOe, and he had the idea of setting up a staff unit to look after Erste Bank’s social engagement.
I thought, “That sounds good, but what will it be like?” I wanted to be involved in the banking business again! Developing our social banking called for great persistence and #believeinyourself. Today we have social banking in every country. The bank has become more social in terms of its attitude, and more than ever has recalled its DNA from 1819, the year we were founded.
What were the challenges you faced?
One of the first initiatives was cooperation with the Ministry of Social Affairs, which wanted to award micro-credits to people that were looking to start a company as a way of escaping unemployment. Then Peter Bosek had the idea that we could award these micro-credits at Erste Bank, but the risk was very high for one bank alone. A consortium of 7 foundations – including the ERSTE Foundation – provided the initial help, and gave guarantees. They called themselves the “Sinnstifter”, or “creators of purpose”.
But as time went on, they found the risk too great as well, and the Sinnstifter pulled out. It looked like our plan was going to fail. I was horrified. There had to be another way of getting guarantees.
© Marlena König
© Marlena König
What did you do?
Luckily something new came along: the possibility of applying for guarantees from the European Investment Fund (EIF). But there was no one at the bank with experience of these highly complex applications. So I set my mind on developing the expertise at Erste Bank, so that we would pluck up the courage to cooperate with the EIF. It was a real challenge. We not only had to become familiar with the applications, but we also had to undergo due diligence ourselves. A team from Luxembourg interviewed selected department heads at the bank to check that we merited these guarantees. It was quite a procedure!
So did your persistence win out?
Yes, the effort paid off! When we got the green light from Luxemburg and we were able to process the first micro-credits under the EIF guarantee programme, a cheer went up in the social banking unit! It was all worth it – for us, for the people who were now able to become self-employed and realise their dream, and for our country too. It was the starting signal for our social banking. We had blazed the trail for applications for further guarantees from the EIF.
Nowadays finance programmes together with the EIF are almost routine, and the volume of guarantees has multiplied. And thank heavens we now have an IT solution for the very time-consuming reports! In retrospect, I have to say it is incredible that it was all prompted by a socially motivated micro-credit programme! And we are the only ones in the market that offer micro-credits.
What did you do?
Luckily something new came along: the possibility of applying for guarantees from the European Investment Fund (EIF). But there was no one at the bank with experience of these highly complex applications. So I set my mind on developing the expertise at Erste Bank, so that we would pluck up the courage to cooperate with the EIF. It was a real challenge. We not only had to become familiar with the applications, but we also had to undergo due diligence ourselves. A team from Luxembourg interviewed selected department heads at the bank to check that we merited these guarantees. It was quite a procedure!
So did your persistence win out?
Yes, the effort paid off! When we got the green light from Luxemburg and we were able to process the first micro-credits under the EIF guarantee programme, a cheer went up in the social banking unit! It was all worth it – for us, for the people who were now able to become self-employed and realise their dream, and for our country too. It was the starting signal for our social banking. We had blazed the trail for applications for further guarantees from the EIF.
Nowadays finance programmes together with the EIF are almost routine, and the volume of guarantees has multiplied. And thank heavens we now have an IT solution for the very time-consuming reports! In retrospect, I have to say it is incredible that it was all prompted by a socially motivated micro-credit programme! And we are the only ones in the market that offer micro-credits.
© Marlena König
What thoughts would you like to pass on to your colleagues?
There will still be poverty, especially among women and children, so social engagement will be more necessary than ever in the future too.
There are so many ways of helping other people. There is something for everyone, no matter how old you are. You can do what you do best and enjoy doing. It makes sense for the people who need help, for our society and for oneself. In retirement in particular, you can apply all the experience you have gained over the years, and you get so much back. Zweite Sparkasse would not exist if we didn’t have all the people who work voluntarily. Die Zweite is a very important experience in my life!
Click below to see more about social engagement at Erste:
Zweite Sparkasse: Die Bank der zweiten Chance | Zweite Sparkasse
Social Banking: Social Banking – Step by Step | Erste Group Bank AG
ERSTE Foundation: ERSTE Stiftung
Time Bank: Erste Time Bank (erste-time-bank.org)