The 2021 New Year will bring Slovenská sporiteľňa clients several improvements and changes, particularly in the area of payment cards. Most are connected to the digitalisation of services and make it easier for you to arrange things yourself by mobile phone or computer – things which in the past you had to visit a bank branch for.
An overview of the most important changes:
Payment cards
- Some operations are being moved out of branches. Card activation, changing a credit limit or change of contactless functionality are now included in the expanded list of services now performed only via George or by phone on the Client Centre line.
- Payment cards are to be delivered by Slovenská sporiteľňa only by post to the client’s address.
- PIN code for a debit card will be sent to clients only by SMS.
- The security of card payments on the Internet is strengthened. Instead of a text message, online card payments are now to be confirmed as standard by the mToken. The changes are related to the European Payment Services Directive (PSD2), which introduces strong customer authentication for card payments online.
Savings
- Benefits of Saving for Housing, which will no longer be on offer, are to be extended to include Saving for Pleasure and Investment Savings.
- Anyone who has been saving regularly for at least two years in an amount of at least €50 per month, will automatically receive the most favourable interest rate for the full amount of the mortgage, not just 10 times the amount saved, as was the case to date. Savings can be set up with just a few clicks online in George.
Mortgages
- Clients are no longer required to bring to a branch a confirmed proposal for the entry of a lien; a photo/scan sent by e-mail is now sufficient (applies from 15 January 2021). The same is true for expert opinions for Slovenská sporiteľňa.
- Clients who still receive mortgage statements by post will receive their annual statement for the last time this January. Statements will be available free of charge in George, or they can be printed out by an employee at a branch upon request.
- After repaying a mortgage, the mortgage loan will be visible in George for a further 30 days after repayment (applies from 22 January 2021). The client will no longer have to go to a bank branch for the last statement after loan repayment; the statement can simply be downloaded and printed out.