Poštová sporiteľňa, Bratislava

The declaration of Slovak autonomy on 6 October 1938 enabled the Slovak banking sector to fill in the structural gaps of the credit system in Slovakia. Poštová sporiteľňa (Postal Savings Bank) was one of the additional central financial institutions whose mission of was the intermediation of both cash and non-cash payments. The first step towards its establishment was the opening of a special operation office of Poštová sporiteľňa, Prague, in Martin on 1 December 1938. Initially, this office performed only a limited range of functions. It managed cheque accounts for tax offices in Slovakia and gradually formed work sections for receiving and processing mail from post offices and opening cheque accounts.

After the establishment of the Slovak Republic in 1939, the office was made independent within the meaning of Government Regulation No 37/1939 and its headquarters was moved to Bratislava. By the above government regulation, Poštová sporiteľňa in Bratislava was defined with an analogical scope of activities to those that Poštová sporiteľňa had in Prague. A final definition of the scope of operation of Poštová sporiteľňa was laid down by Act No 55/1944. Based on that Act the office became a public financial institution operating for the entire territory of the state, while its share capital consisted of a state deposit of 30 million Slovak crowns (Ks). Poštová sporiteľňa was a legal entity but the state guaranteed the money and other values entrusted to it. Its core business activities included cheque services, saving services and other banking services such as the provision of loans, securities trading, deposit services and the like. It also provided services of a financial nature for the state, courts and other public institutions.

Another sign of Poštová sporiteľňa’s close relationship with the state administration was the fact that it managed a central account for the central state Treasury which was daily credited with the cheque account balances of individual sectors of state administration. In 1940 – 1945, the foreign payment department became very important as Poštová sporiteľňa was entrusted with paying the savings of Slovak workers working in Germany. By Government Regulation No 145/1943 the bank was charged with the task of liquidation of all vouchers from the Slovak-German clearing.

It differed from other financial institutions mainly by the fact that its collection and pay points were post offices, which meant a close relationship with Slovenská pošta (Slovak Post). The savings service for the public was renewed as of 1 July 1940 and given its convenience – the large network of post offices – it expanded rapidly among the public. At the end of 1945, Poštová sporiteľňa administered deposits in savings books amounting to 1.7 million Czechoslovak crowns (Kcs), with deposits on cheque accounts amounting to Kcs 7.629 million. The administrative agenda of Poštová sporiteľňa was within the competence of the postal department of the Ministry of Transport and Public Works, however the control over its operation was maintained by the Ministry of Finance. From 1940, the administrative body of Poštová sporiteľňa was a temporary administrative commission headed by Alexander Hrnčár, which was replaced in 1944 by an administrative board. The General Director was responsible for direct administration of Poštová sporiteľňa and between 1939 and 1948 this function was performed by Štefan Mazák.

After the outbreak of the Slovak National Uprising in August 1944 an independent Poštová sporiteľňa based in Banská Bystrica operated for some time (from 4 September to 28 October) and its main task was to provide for cashless payments and provision of loans to enterprises that were temporarily in financial distress.

A fundamental change in the operation of Poštová sporiteľňa in Bratislava occurred in 1948, when it was merged with Poštová sporiteľňa in Prague as part of the concentration of the Czechoslovak banking sector under Act No 182/1948. From then on, the former headquarters in Bratislava operated as Poštová sporiteľňa, Regional Institute for Slovakia in Bratislava. In accordance with acts on the new organization of the banking sector, the Institute was taken out of the postal administration sector and turned into a national enterprise. In addition to its original competence it also gained the competence of national banking headquarters and was therefore subordinated to the Ministry of Finance.

It performed a national banking function mainly by receiving deposits on current accounts of banks, people’s banking centres and insurance companies. It provided loans in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Finance. It provided deposit services as long as they were related to its business activity as a banking centre. It also served as a centre for non-cash payments and a state treasury unit. By a decree of the Executive Authority for Finance of 15 July 1949, the Regional Institute of Poštová sporiteľňa merged with former Ľudové peňažné ústredie (People’s Banking Centre) in Bratislava.

As a result of the introduction of the Soviet model consisting of a single central bank, Act No 31/1950 established Štátna banka československá which took over all rights and obligations of several financial institutions, including Poštová sporiteľňa. On 1 July 1950, the Regional Institute of Poštová sporiteľňa in Bratislava was integrated into the Regional Institute of Štátna banka československá for Slovakia .

The archival documents from the operation of Poštová sporiteľňa were moved into the archives of Štátna banka československá in Marianka, where they were partially processed, and a registry list was prepared. In 1978 they were moved to the archives of Štátna banka československá at 27 Krajná Street in Bratislava and the first inventory was produced in 1982. In 2003, they were transported to the building of the Archives of Národná banka Slovenska at 8 Cukrová Street in Bratislava.

Part of the archival fonds has been partially processed. The processed archival documents cover all basic areas of the bank’s activity, such as cheque, saving and deposit services.