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Lučenecká úverná banka, Lučenec
Lučenecká úverná banka (Lučenec Credit Bank), Lučenec, was established in 1872 as the Lučenec Savings and Credit Bank (with the official Hungarian name Losonczi takarék- és hitelbank, részvénytársaság). It had share capital of 100,000 guldens. After the conversion to a gold-standard currency in 1900, the share capital was valued at 200,000 Austro-Hungarian crowns (K). This was raised to K 800,000 in 1908 and K 1.5 million in 1911.
The bank gradually became one of the most important banks in the Novohrad region, which is supported by the fact that it acted as a sub-office for the branch of the Austro-Hungarian Bank in Nitra. From 1888 it paid regular dividends ranging from 7% to 15%. In 1913 it provided loans against promissory notes, mortgages and current accounts amounting to K 12 million; it managed more than K 9.9 million in savings book deposits and made a net profit of K 278,011.
It provided loans mainly to large landowners and industrial enterprises in Lučenec such as the Sternlicht and Rakottyay enamelling factories and a factory for agricultural machinery. It owned shares in a plate glass factory at Rimavská Kokava. The chairman of the bank’s board of directors was Zoltán Török, the chairman of the supervisory board was Július Bartholomeides and the managing director was Július Havas.
It profited from the war effort between 1914 and 1918. In 1918 it increased its share capital to K 3 million. A surplus of funds and the inflation of the Austro-Hungarian crown led to an increase in savings book deposits, which reached K 16.8 million in 1918, while current accounts deposits amounted to K 1.95 million. The bank’s loans secured by promissory notes, mortgages and current accounts amounted to K 15.4 million. It owned securities with a nominal value of K 7.7 million and its total subscriptions to war loans for its own account reached K 6.9 million.
The dissolution of Austria-Hungary and the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic created problems for the Lučenec Savings and Credit Bank because its funds were tied up in Budapest. It had invested a significant amount in war loans, which it managed to have recognised as claims against the Czechoslovak Republic with help from the banking industry association Jednota peňažných ústavov na Slovensku a Podkarpatskej Rusi (Association of Financial Institutions in Slovakia and Sub-Carpathian Ruthenia) in Bratislava. To comply with the Savings Bank Act (Act No 302/1920), it renamed itself Lučenecká úverná banka (Lučenec Credit Bank). In 1924 it established a branch in Rimavská Sobota.
The dissolution of Austria-Hungary also dissolved the single market between the lands of the former monarchy, which had a severe impact on industry in Lučenec and the banks that financed it. Several businesses went completely bankrupt (Rakottyay’s enamelling factory) while others made large cutbacks in production (Sternlicht’s enamelling factory, the agricultural machinery factory). This created financial difficulties for Lučenecká úverná banka, which declared a moratorium in 1926.
From 1927 it fell under the influence of Banka československých légií (Bank of Czechoslovak Legions, Legiobanka), Prague, which concluded an affiliation agreement with it and provided loans for rediscounting and operations. With Legiobanka’s help, the bank was restructured and a part of its losses were covered by reducing the share capital from 3 million Czechoslovak crowns (Kč) to Kč 60,000, after which it was then raised back to Kč 2 million.
Lučenecká úverná banka continued as an independent institution until 1929, when Legiobanka orchestrated a merger between it, Tornaľská banka and Gemerská ľudová banka, Rožňava, to create Hospodárska úverná banka, Tornaľa, with branches in Lučenec, Rimavská Sobota and Rožňava.
All that has survived of the documentation of Lučenecká úverná banka is the general ledger of current accounts of the branch in Rimavská Sobota from 1929 – 1930.
Last updated: Friday, December 29, 2023