The trend towards bigger banks, increasing competition and an assault on European overbanking shows no sign of bypassing Greece. The banking sector is dominated by National Bank and other state institutions, and the burgeoning private-sector banks are still very small. There is a common realization that they will have to consolidate and increase market share in order to compete head to head with the state monoliths and the larger foreign competitors that may enter the market after Emu.
National Bank set the pace for consolidation in April when it merged with the state-owned National Mortgage Bank. "They have created the biggest banking institution in Greece and the Balkans," says Elias Mavrikos at Alpha Credit Bank. "They now have 600 branches and if they buy something else they will be global in scale. It is very important for the private sector to follow the consolidations in the state sector."
Alpha Credit Bank is the largest of the private banks and fourth largest overall. It has already expressed an interest in buying Ionian Bank which would give it an extra 170 branches to add to its existing 200. Mavrikos is not worried about taking on the troubles at Ionian.