Ionian Bank up its banking licence. The Greek operation, renamed "Ionian Popular Bank", was absorbed into Alpha Bank in 2000. A "decree of the Eminent Senate of the Commonwealth of Ionian Islands" established the Ionian State Bank in 1839, to finance trade between the Ionian Islands (a British protectorate), and Great Britain. This made the bank the oldest in Greece. The bank received a 20-year grant of the exclusive privilege of issuing and circulating banknotes for the Ionian Islands. The bank soon changed its name to Ionian Bank (IB), and initially only operated in the Ionian Islands, opening branches in Corfu, Aante
Technological Educational Institute of the Ionian Islands was the first university of modern Greece. In 1908 Panayis Athanase Vagliano donated the "Agricultural School of Argostoli" and in 1915 the "Vallianos Vocational School" in Lixouri. In 2003 these two schools and some others in the Ionian Islands were unified to the new TEI of the Ionian Islands. The university comprises four Schools and six Departments. The ATHENA Reform Plan restructured the institute's departments in 2013. The language of instruction at the TEI of Ionian Islands is Greek. Therefore, a good knowledge of Greek is essential for regular students. However, special arrangements are made for certain number of courses