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Money makes the world go round...
Love 'em or hate 'em, we all need them... yes, we're talking about banks. In general, do not expect to find that banks in the Czech Republic provide services of the same standard as would be expected in Western Europe. Nor is the range of services equivalent... for example, no Czech bank currently offers a merchant account facilitating online credit card acceptance.
This page includes details of the banks and cashpoints in and around Roudnice, with some appropriate notes based on personal experience. Oh, and if you're still worrying about accepting cards online, see the bottom of the page! |
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Banks
Česká Spořitelna (the Czech Savings Bank)
The Roudnice branch is fairly average, but has an excellent foreign exchange desk. Allows foreign currency accounts in US$, Euros and Sterling, but check the charges carefully!
Branch address: Karlovo nám. 22, 413 12 Roudnice
Tel.: 416826111, 416826150; Fax: 416838073
Open Monday to Friday, 0900-1230 and 1330-1600, with an extension to 1700 on Mondays and Wednesdays. Closed weekends and public holidays
Cashpoints at the main branch, at the Delvita supermarket (Alej 17. listopadu 1762) and at OD Říp (Špindlerova 812)
Information on Česká spořitelna’s Expat Centre is available here
Komerční banka (the Commercial Bank)
Information on Komerční banka’s services for non-Czech customers is available here; expect to use Czech in the Roudnice branch, but staff are extremely helpful. On the downside, KB’s foreign currency accounts are denominated only in US$ and Euros... no Sterling.
Branch address: Dr Slavíka 1062, 413 01 Roudnice
Tel.: 416837636, 416838111
Fax: 416837171
Open Monday to Friday, 0830-1200 and 1300 to 1630.
Cashpoint at the main branch. Nearest “Foreigners’ desk” is in Ústí or Prague.
Further cashpoints at the town hall in Libochovice and at the KB branches at Litoměřice, Lovosice and Mělník.
GE MoneyBank
GE MoneyBank in Roudnice refuses to lend to anyone without Czech citizenship (!); nor will they lend to companies less than 60% in Czech ownership. Not surprisingly, then, the company has no English-language Internet pages either. (Quite extraordinary for an American firm, but there it is...)
Branch address: Řipská 9 (actually on the main square!), 413 01 Roudnice
Tel.: 416837330
Fax: 416838154
Open Monday to Friday, 0830-1200 and 1300-1630
Further cashpoints at Roudnice hospital, the Štětí, Lovosice, Litoměřice and Mělník branches, at Kaufland in Litoměřice and at Mělník hospital.
ČSOB (formerly the Czechoslovak Trade Bank)
ČSOB has no branch in Roudnice, but has a cashpoint at the Post Office
the company’s English-language pages are here .(“welcome on”? Oh deary deary me...)
Cashpoints at the Litoměřice and Mělník branches, and at Budyně nad Ohří and Lovosice.
Živnostenská banka (the Trade Bank)
Živnostenská banka also has no branch in Roudnice, but their English-language Internet pages are here.
The bank has no cashpoints in the area.
Poštovní spořitelna (the Post Office Savings Bank)
Services available through Post Offices across the country, including that on the main square in Roudnice. The company has no English-language website.
eBanka
Not surprisingly, eBanka, the Czech Republic’s first online bank, have no local branch in Roudnice, but information is available from the offices of parent company Česká pojišťovna on the main square. If virtual banking is your idea of a good time, then eBanka’s English website is here (just grit your teeth over the quality of the English...)
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Accepting Credit Cards online
If you want to be able to accept credit cards online from the Czech Republic, then your best bet is probably MoneyBookers, based (and regulated) in the UK, which seems to specialise in Central and Eastern Europe.
PayPal, the grandaddy of online payment systems, technically only allows users in the Czech Republic to MAKE payments, not receive them - and it's only been doing that since mid-2005 or so. If you have a UK, US, Canadian or Australian bank account and mailing address, however, you could use these to set up a full account... but be aware that it's against their Terms of Service.
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