Since our Bank was founded in 1845, we have been continually adapting and updating our range of services in response to customers’ changing needs. Now, 180 years later, we are still working hand-in-hand with Vaud residents and businesses to help them build a brighter future.
BCV celebrates its 175th anniversary.
BCV expands its digital offering. Customers can open an account and apply for, renew, or transfer a mortgage online, as well as speak with an advisor via videoconferencing.
BCV's main lobby at Place St-François in Lausanne gets a makeover with a modern look and feel – reflecting our positioning as a bank for the 21st century.
BCV subsidiary Banque Piguet & Cie SA merges with Banque Franck Galland & Cie SA in the first half of the year to create Banque Piguet Galland & Cie SA.
BCV becomes the first full-service bank in Switzerland to offer an e-banking app for smartphones and for tablets.
BCV repurchases the final tranche of the participation-certificate capital issued in 2003, reducing the Cantonal Government's stake to 67%.
BCV divides its operations into nine regional divisions in order to strengthen ties with customers.
BCV experiences significant losses and a sharp reduction in its capital. The Vaud Cantonal Government steps in to shore up the Bank through two recapitalizations; its stake in BCV rises from 50.1% to 84%.
The Bank expands into new business lines, including investment banking, international private banking and trading.
BCV first launches www.bcv.ch.
BCV merges with Crédit Foncier Vaudois, which two years earlier had merged with Caisse d’Épargne et de Crédit.
BCV’s Administrative Center opens in the spring. It houses the Bank's IT and admin functions, the training center for cantonal banks in French- and Italian-speaking Switzerland and the Bank’s trading room – one of the largest in French-speaking Switzerland.
BCV acquires Banque Vaudoise de Crédit.
BCV’s total assets cross the CHF 10 billion mark.
BCV introduces a decentralized organizational structure with regional headquarters to oversee the offices and branches of each region (the Renens regional headquarters is shown).
BCV has 43 branch offices.
The Bank opens its own training center, initially located at Rue du Maupas 2 in Lausanne but relocated to BCV’s Administrative Center in Prilly in 1994.
BCV’s total assets cross the CHF 1 billion mark.
The Bank's admin departments move into the Beau-Séjour extension on the south side of the main building.
The end of the Second World War marks the start of a phase of rapid growth at BCV. The Bank has 27 branches spread over the canton and begins building an extension on its main building.
BCV takes over several regional banks in liquidation and expands its footprint in Vaud.
BCV has 180 employees, not including its agents.
BCV opens a new head office at 14 Place St-François in Lausanne.
La BCV est la première banque cantonale à créer une caisse de retraite pour son personnel.
Until 1881, banks were free to print their own banknotes and use their own designs. But the federal government passed a law that year introducing a standard design for all banknotes, except for the name of the issuing bank. In 1883, BCV began printing standard banknotes of 50, 100, 500, and 1,000 francs. The Canton of Vaud, through BCV, continued to issue banknotes until July 1906 when the federal government opened the official mint that’s still in use today. The federal government obtained a monopoly on banknotes in 1907.
A mere seven years after its founding, BCV moves into a stately building at 25 Rue Saint-Pierre. This time the Bank decides to buy the property rather than to rent it.
BCV opens branch offices in 17 towns in Vaud.
BCV opens its doors on 21 July and is led by Adolphe Burnand until 1852. The Bank leases office space at 13 Rue Saint-Pierre in Lausanne, paying CHF 110 francs per month in rent.
In the midst of tough economic conditions, the people of Vaud petition the Cantonal Parliament to create a canton-level banking institution: BCV is born.
