* updated: 5 of May, 2022
1996 2003 2004 2005 2007 2008 2010 2011 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
LIBRA BANK was incorporated in 1996 and became fully operational in 1997.
Starting May 2003, LIBRA INTERNET BANK is a member of the American investment Group New Century Holdings (NCH), one of the leading foreign investors in Romania, with investments of over $ 3 billion in Central and Eastern Europe of which over 300 million dollars were invested in Romania. Being present in Romania since 1993, NCH involved in the development of several important sectors of the Romanian economy: the electrical industry, bakery, construction materials, financial services and banking, financial capital, real estate, being the majority shareholder in many companies in these areas.
For the bank, 2003 represents a period of deep transformations that established the framework for a growth and developing perspective.
LIBRA INTERNET BANK unveils its new strategy and starts to actively and successfully address new market segments especially focusing on medical doctors (as main representatives of the Liberal Arts Professionals segment) but also paying strong attention to the entrepreneurs' segment.
Following the development strategy to strengthen the bank's presence in different market segments, Libra launches new business lines with new products and services tailored for Retail Individuals and for SMEs as well.
Concurrently with all steps taken to develop the business lines, a special attention has been dedicated to actions needed to assure the growth of the bank by optimizing internal processes, changing the operations, loan assessment and administration flows to a centralized model.
The continuous bank's development and growth on all levels can be assured only with a strong performing core banking system, thus Libra adopts Temenos 24 as its banking platform, essential for all bank's future developments.
LIBRA INTERNET BANK continues to diversify its lines of business by starting to address the Corporate segment as well, targeting companies with a yearly turnover of more than EUR 10 million.
By setting up the eBusiness division and by changing its name to LIBRA INTERNET BANK, anticipating the evolution of new technologies and their positive impact, Libra quickly positions itself in a strong innovative light, betting on processing as fast as possible the customers' requests and operations, on the development of one of the most modern and dynamic Internet Banking service available on the Romanian market and also on completely new and innovative services such as LibraPay or Acces Investigator.
The strategy of focusing on new technologies allowed the bank to also launch the Mobile Banking application, the app being extremely well received by Libra's customers as it could be used not only for the usual banking operations but for getting info and finding nearby branches or ATMs as well.
In the same year Libra continued its growth strategy by setting a new line of business and by launching new products and services for the AgriBusiness segment.
In order to facilitate SMEs access to financing, LIBRA INTERNET BANK, within a partnership with the European Investment Fund, launches a new set of financing solutions under the 2014 - 2020 European Financing Programs. Also, 2014 is the year when Libra becomes the first bank in Romania to allow the opening of accounts fully online, without the need to visit a branch or to fill out any paper forms.
LIBRA INTERNET BANK develops its real estate line of business by accelerating its financing programs especially for Residential Projects but for Commercial Projects as well.
The consistent commitment for the digital arm of business allows to continuously and at a fast pace to launch new products and services such as the loan dedicated to individuals, fully delivered online, placing Libra once again as a first mover within the Romanian Banking market.
2017 is the year when LIBRA INTERNET BANK obtained the best financial results in its entire history, this achievement following the success strategy employed by bank's management to continuously launch new innovative products doubled by prudent business decisions, with constant support from shareholders and with the dedicated efforts of an extremely well prepared and valuable team of employees.
Libra Internet Bank ended 2018 with very good financial results, recording a 61% net profit increase and an 18% increase in total assets. Libra Internet Bank also became known as "The most innovative bank" in Romania, after being recognized as such within 3 prestigious events of the banking industry: Mastercard Bank of the Year, Online Banking Gala and NoCash Gala. The awards were given by juries of specialists selected by each event's organizers and came as a result of Libra Internet Bank's continuous focus on technology and innovation.
The year 2019 was a new record year for Libra Internet Bank. The bank generated its largest business volume and significantly expanded the strategic partnerships with customers, while generating the largest historical profit for shareholders. Furthermore, Libra kept on investing in technology, and reaffirmed its openness towards Fintechs by concluding successful digital partnerships and thus becoming the first bank in Romania to export banking technology as part of an international instant payment solution.
Libra Internet Bank became the most active Romanian bank in the Fintech area, through partnerships concluded with major international Fintechs, and took its first step on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, where it listed a bond issue of over EUR 4MN. The bank maintained a sustainable, balanced and well-targeted strategy and stood out through its niche targeting, openness to partnerships, appetite to explore new territories and its ability to constantly implement new technology.