World’s Best Private Banks 2025: Central & Eastern Europe

Macroeconomic growth raises investment interests. 

After a brutal 2022-2023, which saw economic activity impacted by COVID-19, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Germany’s downturn, 2023-2024 has seen a recovery in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and Southeastern Europe (SEE). As a consequence, consumers are spending and investing more.

“Our economies are steadily adjusting to evolving global dynamics,” said Beata Javorcik, the chief economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in comments accompanying the EBRD’s September Regional Economic Prospects report.

According to the EBRD, growth in Central Europe and the Baltic states in the first half of 2024 was up 2% year on year and is expected to rise to 2.3% for the full year 2024, against 0.2% for the full year 2023. Meanwhile, the southeastern EU (Greece, Romania, and Bulgaria) grew by 1.7% in this year’s first half and is looking forward to 1.9% growth for 2024. At the same time, inflation has fallen, averaging 5.8% for the EBRD regions in July of this year, comparing favorably to the high of 17.5% recorded in October 2022.

“The easing of inflation and recovery in real wages offer encouraging signs,” Javorcik added.

Best Private Bank: Erste Private Banking

Erste Bank’s Erste Campus, located in the heart of the historic Belvedere area of Vienna, brings together 4,500 employees from 20 different Vienna locations. This campus symbolizes the group’s confidence in private banking, and Erste Bank is this year’s Best Private Bank in CEE. The campus includes the Financial Life Park, home of Europe’s largest financial education initiative to encourage more people to invest. As an institution, Erste has already succeeded by increasing its client base of high net worth individuals and ultrahigh net worth individuals.

During 2023, the bank reached a new milestone in client acquisition, up 7.2% to just under 25,000 across the CEE region. Assets under management (AUM) rose 7.5% to 33.7 billion euros (about $35.6 billion) during the same period, rising further to €34.9 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2024. Erste Bank is now a major and recognized brand across CEE, with branches in key cities across Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia. Erste now offers clients asset management in private market investments, including private equity. The bank also provides access to exchange-traded fund and exchange-traded commodity investments through its George online banking app.

Best Private Bank For Sustainable Investing: OTP Bank

Last year’s Best Private Bank in CEE winner took the striking step in July 2024 of withdrawing from Romania, the fifth biggest country by population in CEE/SEE (and with substantial private bank potential) because the bank was unable to expand operations there. OTP Asset Management was sold to Banca Transilvania. OTP says it will devote its energies to the other 11 countries to which it offers private banking services. The bank is frequently the market leader within CEE, SEE, and Central Asia. In all, it has 35,600 clients, with AUM of €10.2 billion.

OTP is pushing private bank clients toward environmental projects, green financing, and other sustainable opportunities; so sustainable investing remains a priority. The bank’s group ESG strategy has now been rolled out across subsidiary banks that align their local objectives with it. New dynamic digitalization solutions are part of the ESG approach, while other recent initiatives include a green debit card made from recycled materials exclusively for private bank clients.

Best Private Bank Digital Solutions For Clients: Akbank Private Banking

Akbank has eight branches across Turkey and has been one of the best-known brands in Turkish banking since the bank’s founding in 1948. Akbank prioritizes digital solutions at all levels. The takeup of Akbank’s Mobile Investment module has been enormous, with 97% of equity customers and 70% of mutual fund customers executing transactions through it. The bank’s Wings and Black Wings cards give private bank customers various benefits depending on the amount they have invested through the bank, including free flights, railroad tickets, and airport lounge access. Axess Mobile is a new Akbank app that allows private bank clients to access goods and services depending on their mood, with AI enabling unprecedented personalization.

Meanwhile, Akbank’s digital-customer base hit 11.2 million by the end of 2023, up 2.4 million, with over half of new customers acquired via digital onboarding.