Austrian Post
{{Short description|Company responsible for postal service in Austria}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Austrian Post
| image = Post.at.jpg
| logo = Österreichische Post.svg
| logo_size = 220px
| native_name = Österreichische Post Aktiengesellschaft
| native_name_lang = de
| type = Aktiengesellschaft
| traded_as = {{WBAG|POST}}
| foundation = 1999
| key_people = Walter Oblin
(CEO)
Elisabeth Stadler
(chairwoman of the supervisory board)
| industry = Logistics
| products = Express, package and mail delivery services
| revenue = €1.939 billion (2017)
| net_income = €165 million (2017)
| assets = €1.674 billion (2017)
| equity = €698 million (2017)
| num_employees = 20,500 (2017)
| homepage = {{URL|https://post.at/en}}
}}
The Austrian Post (German: Österreichische Post Aktiengesellschaft) is a company that provides postal service in Austria. It was established in 1999 after a split-off from the state-owned PTT agency Post und Telekom Austria AG and is listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange.
History
The first standardised postal service was set up between Innsbruck and Mechelen, Belgium in 1490.{{cite web |url=http://www.post.at/gb2008/en/geschichte_der_post.php |title=Corporate history |publisher=Österreichische Post |accessdate=2019-04-14 }} By 1563 an extensive system of mail routes existed connecting Vienna with cities in Belgium, France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. In 1722 In Emperor Charles VI made the postal service a government monopoly{{cite web |url=http://www.post.at/en/footer_about_us_corporate_information_history.php |title=History |publisher=Österreichische Post |language=German |accessdate=2019-04-14 }} and by the mid-18th century passenger carrying mail coach service began.
During the 1800s letter boxes, money orders, cash-on-delivery services were introduced and a pneumatic mail system was set up in Vienna in 1875.
File:Briefmarken Flugpost 1918.jpgn stamps overprinted "FLUGPOST" for the 1918 Vienna, Kraków and Lviv flights]]
The first regular international airmail{{cite news |url=http://www.ukrweekly.com/old/archive/2000/490021.shtml |title=FOCUS ON PHILATELY: The world's first international, and regular, airmail service (PART I) (12/03/00) |publisher=The Ukrainian Weekly |date=2000-12-03 |accessdate=2019-04-14 |last=Kuzych |first=Ingert }} route between Vienna, Kraków and Lviv was established on March 31, 1918, and terminated on October 15. Three definitive stamps were overprinted "FLUGPOST" for this flight and showed that a regular airmail delivery was feasible even during wartime.{{Cite book | author1=Holmes, Donald D. | author2=Svatos, Ladislav | title=Air mail, an illustrated history, 1793-1981 | date=1981 | publisher=Clarkson N. Potter | location=New York | isbn=0-517-54146-7 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/airmailillustrat0000holm/page/80 80–81] | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/airmailillustrat0000holm/page/80 }}{{cite news |url=https://www.linns.com/news/postal-updates-page/stamp-collecting-basics/2003/february/landmarks-of-airmail-history--who-s-on-first-.html |title=Landmarks of airmail history: who's on first? |publisher=Linn's Stamp News |date=2001-02-10 |accessdate=2019-04-14 |work=Refresher Course |last=Miller |first=Rick }} Many philatelists consider this regular post delivery with aeroplanes to be the actual start of airmail history.
Postal codes were introduced nationwide in 1966.
=Philately=
Though not in general use until 80 years later, the first postmarks were introduced in 1787 by Georg Khumer, a postmaster in Friesach identifying time and place of use, and Austria's first postage stamps were issued in 1850.
Services
File:Galtür - Postbriefkasten 01.jpg
Since 1986 the Austrian Post started Express mail services and is an EMS Cooperative contracted delivery agent within the UPU.{{cite web |url=http://www.ems.post/operators |title=Worldwide EMS Operators |publisher=Universal Postal Union |accessdate=2015-01-23 }}
In April 2020, the Austrian Post launched bank99, a credit institution that offers online services as well as personal customer support at around 1,800 service points throughout Austria. The Austrian Post owns 80% of the bank's shares, while a 20% stake is held by CAPITAL BANK – GRAWE GRUPPE AG. Post offices and postal service partners serve as distribution channels, which allows bank99 to potentially provide financial services for 99% percent of the Austrian population, closing supply gaps in rural areas.{{Cite web|title=Neue Post-Bank nennt sich "bank99"|url=https://wien.orf.at/stories/3031226/|last=red|first=wien ORF at/Agenturen|date=2020-01-23|website=wien.ORF.at|language=de|access-date=2020-05-19}}
Bank99 offers checking accounts for private customers, services for national and international financial transactions, and credit cards. Secure international money transfers are carried out in partnership with Ria Money transfer.{{Cite web|title=Ria Money Transfer joins Austrian Post's network with bank99 partnership {{!}} 18.02.20|url=https://www.finanzen.at/nachrichten/aktien/ria-money-transfer-joins-austrian-posts-network-with-bank99-partnership-1028915449|website=finanzen.at|access-date=2020-05-19}} The company has positioned itself in opposition to direct banks, offering personal services through a network of physical locations.{{Cite web|title=bank99: Post startet am 1. April mit eigener neuer Bank in Filialen|url=https://www.derbrutkasten.com/bank99-post-neue-bank/|date=2020-01-23|website=der brutkasten|language=de|access-date=2020-05-19}}File:Austria 1910 10k Franz Josef.JPG issued on the occasion of his 80th birthday, re-issued in a similar design, in 2016 on the 100th anniversary of his death{{Cite web|url=https://colnect.com/en/stamps/stamp/623632-100th_death_anniversary_of_Emperor_Franz_Joseph_I-Austria|title = Stamp: 100th death anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph I (Austria) Mi:AT 3282,Sn:AT 2628,Yt:AT 3110,Sg:AT 3413,ANK:AT 3311,WAD:AT040.16,Un:AT 3109}}]]
Controversy
In 2019, Austria's data protection authority imposed a fine of 18 million euros ($20 million) on the Austrian Post for illegally using customers’ data, such as ages and addresses, to calculate a probability of which political party they might support and sell its findings.Kirsti Knolle (October 29, 2019), [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-austrian-post-fine/data-privacy-fine-to-hit-austrian-posts-2019-profit-idUSKBN1X81R7 Data privacy fine to hit Austrian Post's 2019 profit] Reuters.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{official website|https://www.post.at/en/index.php}} {{in lang|en}}
- [https://www.wienerborse.at/en/market-data/shares-others/quote/?ISIN=AT0000APOST4&market=wbag&typo3=0&news=0&products=1&ID_NOTATION=14932606 Vienna Stock Exchange: Market Data Österreichische Post AG]
- [https://archive.org/details/wienamanfangdesx01kort/page/147/mode/1up History of Post, Telegraphs and Telephone in Vienna - 1905] (In German)
{{ATX companies}}
{{Postal administrations of Europe}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osterreichische Post}}
Category:Service companies of Austria
Category:Postal system of Austria
Category:Organizations established in 1999
Category:1999 establishments in Austria