Brussels, 03/07/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday, the Commission approved the creation of a start-up joint venture between two Austrian banks: Creditanstalt AG ("CA") and RaiffeisenZentralbank Österreich AG ("RZB"). The new company will operate in eelectronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP). The European Commission decided that once it had developed the software needed for EBPP, the new company would have to compete with two other firms already operating on the Austrian market (bezahlen.at and billbyclick.com) and also that since CA and RZB are strong competritors on the Astrian banking market, the new company does not in itself restrict market access for new EBPP service proividers. It therefore decided not to raise any objectiions against the planned joint venture and to "declare it compatible with the common market".