Erste Group Bank AG is one of the largest financial services providers in Central and Eastern Europe and focuses on retail and SME banking. More than 50,000 employees are serving clients in over 3,200 branches in 8 countries (Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, and Ukraine).

Erste Group was founded in 1819 as the first Austrian savings bank. In 1997, Erste Group went public with a strategy to expand its retail business into Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Since then Erste Group's customer base has grown through numerous acquisitions and organic growth from 600,000 to more than 17 million. 95% of all clients are citizens of the European Union.

During the years of economic crisis in the wake of the Napoleonic War, Francis I, Emperor of Austria proposed the creation of a savings bank based on the German and English model. Johann Baptist Weber, a pastor in Leopoldstadt, pursued this idea. In 1819, he founded the association “Verein der Ersten österreichischen Spar-Casse” and on 4 October 1819 the first Austrian savings bank “Die Erste oesterreichische Spar-Casse” opened its doors for business.