Luminor Bank to cut number of customer service centers in Baltics

RIGA - This year, Luminor Bank will reduce the number of its customer service centers in the Baltic states, the bank’s Baltic communications and branding head Signe Lonerte informed LETA.

The bank’s representative indicated that by the end of 2019, the number of Luminor customer service centers in the Baltic states will be cut to 35. Of these customer service centers eight will be operating in Estonia, ten in Latvia and 17 in Lithuania.

At the end of 2018, Luminor Bank had 61 customer service centers in the Baltic states, including 11 in Estonia, 17 in Latvia and 33 in Lithuania.

“The transformation of the customer service center network will be carried out gradually during 2019,” Lonerte said.

As part of this transformation, the bank will revise its customer service model and merge some of the customer service centers, strengthening at the same time its portfolio of digital services.

“Following general digitalization trends in the industry, the role of the banks’ customer service centers continues to change. We are already seeing fewer visitors at our customer service centers as more and more customers choose the convenient online and mobile banking services. Last year, 85 percent of Luminor customers in the Baltic were using remote channels for their daily financial transactions,” said Kerli Gabrilovica, Head of Luminor Latvia branch and Head of Retail Banking in Luminor.

In 2019, Luminor Bank also plans to revise its ATM network as it works on a single Baltic ATM network and gradually increase the provision of remote consultations and services.

As reported, Luminor was established as an independent Baltic bank in autumn 2017 built on the Baltic businesses of Nordea and DNB and combining the experience and knowledge from the Nordic countries. Nordea and DNB announced the plans to combine business operations in the Baltic countries in summer 2016.