Banks in Germany

Germany’s banking system is built on three pillars: private commercial banks, public-sector savings banks (Sparkassen) together with their Landesbanken, and cooperative banks. Consolidation has reduced the sector to roughly 330 savings banks and roughly 630 cooperative banks, counted from the ECB’s list of supervised entities with a cut-off date of 1 July 2026. The largest private banks are Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank and UniCredit Bank GmbH, which trades as HypoVereinsbank.

Aareal Bank, headquartered in Wiesbaden, is one of the leading international real estate banks. It offers property financing solutions in Europe, North America and the Asia/Pacific region.

Commerzbank – A leading commercial bank in Germany with about 1,000 branches,17.5 million customers and approximately 50,000 employees. The ECB’s list of supervised entities, with a cut-off date of 1 July 2026, places it in the EUR 500–1,000 billion total assets band.

Degussa Bank was a German private bank based in Frankfurt am Main, specialising in worksite banking for companies and their employees. It was acquired by Oldenburgische Landesbank (OLB) in 2024, no longer operates as a separate credit institution and does not appear on the ECB’s list of supervised entities.

Deutsche Bank – A global financial services provider with over 2,500 branches in 70 countries and total assets of EUR 1.6 trillion. The ECB’s list of supervised entities, with a cut-off date of 1 July 2026, places Deutsche Bank AG in its highest total assets band, above EUR 1,000 billion.

Deutsche Bundesbank – The central bank of Germany headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. Eurosystem monetary policy is the Bundesbank’s core business area.

Deutsche Kreditbank (DKB) – A subsidiary of Bayerische Landesbank. The Banks was established in 1990 and serves nearly 2 million private customers.

Deutsche Postbank (DPB) – With about 14 million active domestic customers, it is one of the largest retail banks in Germany. It is the market leader in direct banking with 9 million online customer accounts. DPB was formed in 1990 and is headquartered in Bonn.

Dresdner bank was one of largest banks in Germany with more than 6 million customers. It was acquired by Commerzbank AG in 2009.

DVB Bank was a specialist lender to the global transport market. Its main business segments were shipping finance, aviation finance, offshore finance and land transport finance, and its subsidiaries included DVB Bank America in the Netherlands Antilles, DVB Group Merchant Bank (Asia), DVB Transport Finance in Japan and DVB Holding (US) in the United States. DZ BANK held 95% of DVB Bank. The company was absorbed by DZ BANK AG and no longer appears on the ECB’s list of supervised entities.

DZ Bank AG – A commercial bank and the central institution for Germany’s co-operative banks and credit unions.

Hypothekenbank Frankfurt AG (formerly Eurohypo AG) was a real estate bank headquartered in Eschborn and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Commerzbank. Commerzbank wound it up in 2016: its portfolios were transferred to Commerzbank AG, it returned its banking and Pfandbrief licences, and it was transformed into the service company LSF Loan Solutions Frankfurt GmbH. It no longer appears on the ECB’s list of supervised entities.

HypoVereinsbank (HVB) – One of the largest financial institutions in Germany and is member of UniCredit Group.

IKB Deutsche Industriebank supports small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by providing loans, risk management, capital market and advisory services.

KfW Group – One of the world’s leading promotional banks.

NRW.BANK – The development bank for North Rhine-Westphalia. It offers a wide range of banking products required in the field of development and promotion. The Bank’s three business segments are Housing & Living, Development & Protection and Seed & Growth.

WestLB AG was a commercial bank headquartered in Düsseldorf. It was partly owned by the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. As of June 30, 2012, WestLB was formally dissolved.

WGZ Bank was the umbrella organization for over 230 cooperative banks in the Rhineland and Westphalia. It merged with DZ Bank in August 2016.

ING-DiBa AG – The German retail banking subsidiary of the Dutch ING Group, trading as ING Deutschland. It is a direct bank offering current and savings accounts, mortgages and brokerage, and is supervised as part of the ING Groep N.V. group.

Other credit institutions established in Germany that the ECB lists as significant include Deutsche Apotheker- und Ärztebank eG, Münchener Hypothekenbank eG, Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG, Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE, J.P. Morgan SE and Morgan Stanley Europe SE.

Landesbanks (Landesbanken)

The Landesbanks are a group of regionally organized state-owned banks that mainly offer commercial banking services to Germany's small and mid-size companies.

BayernLB (Bayerische Landesbank) – The leading Bavarian commercial bank and one of the six Landesbanken. Its main business segments are corporate lending, project finance, capital markets and real estate. The Bank is 94% owned by the free state of Bavaria.

Bremer Landesbank was a regional bank 54,83% owned by NORD/LB. It was absorbed by Norddeutsche Landesbank and no longer appears on the ECB’s list of supervised entities.

Hamburg Commercial Bank AG (formerly HSH Nordbank) – A privately owned wholesale bank focused on corporate lending, real estate finance, shipping, energy and infrastructure. Following its sale by the states of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein it was renamed in 2019, ending its status as a Landesbank. The ECB’s list of supervised entities records it as a significant institution with total assets of EUR 30–50 billion.

Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) – One of Germany’s largest banks. LBBW is the central bank of the savings banks in Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland Palatinate and Saxony.

BSK 1818 AG (formerly Landesbank Berlin AG) – The parent institution (Träger) of Berliner Sparkasse, one of Germany’s largest regional retail and corporate banks. It is held within the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe through Erwerbsgesellschaft der S-Finanzgruppe mbH & Co. KG and appears on the ECB’s list of supervised entities with total assets of EUR 30–50 billion.

Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen (Helaba) – One of the leading German universal banks with balance sheet total of EUR 178 billion and about 6,300 employees.

Landesbank Saar (SaarLB) – 49,9% owned by Bayern LB.

Norddeutsche Landesbank (Nord/LB) – The largest universal bank in Northern Germany. It is Landesbank for Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. Nord/LB is also one of Germany’s major players on both the domestic and international bond markets as well as among the world's leading institutions in the financing of renewable energies.

German Cooperative Banks

The German cooperative banking sector includes local cooperative banks (Volksbank, Raiffeisenbank), Sparda and PSD banks, DZ Bank as the sole cooperative central bank, and other institutions and companies. The whole sector, including central institutions, has consolidated total assets of approximately €1.1 trillion. The Sparda Group comprises eleven Sparda banks. The PSD Bank Group consists of eleven independent cooperative banks.

Sparda Banks

Sparda-Bank Augsburg eG, Augsburg
Sparda-Bank Baden-Württemberg eG, Stuttgart
Sparda-Bank Berlin eG, Berlin
Sparda-Bank Hamburg eG, Hamburg
Sparda-Bank Hannover eG, Hannover
Sparda-Bank Hessen eG, Frankfurt am Main
Sparda-Bank München eG, München
Sparda-Bank Nürnberg eG, Nürnberg
Sparda-Bank Ostbayern eG, Regensburg
Sparda-Bank Südwest eG, Mainz
Sparda-Bank West eG, Düsseldorf

The list follows the ECB’s list of supervised entities, with a cut-off date of 1 July 2026. Sparda-Bank Münster eG has been merged into Sparda-Bank West eG, and the Regensburg institution now trades as Sparda-Bank Ostbayern eG.

PSD Banks

PSD Bank Braunschweig eG, Braunschweig
PSD Bank Hannover eG, Hannover
PSD Bank Hessen-Thüringen eG, Eschborn
PSD Bank Karlsruhe-Neustadt eG, Karlsruhe
PSD Bank Koblenz eG, Koblenz
PSD Bank München eG, Augsburg
PSD Bank Nord eG, Hamburg
PSD Bank Nürnberg eG, Nürnberg
PSD Bank RheinNeckarSaar eG, Stuttgart
PSD Bank Rhein-Ruhr eG, Düsseldorf
PSD Bank West eG

The list follows the ECB’s list of supervised entities, with a cut-off date of 1 July 2026. PSD Bank Köln eG has been renamed PSD Bank West eG, PSD Bank Kiel eG has been merged into PSD Bank Nord eG, and PSD Bank Berlin-Brandenburg eG has been merged into BBBank eG. PSD Bank Regensburg eG and PSD Bank Westfalen-Lippe eG no longer appear.

Top Banks in Germany

Total assets (EUR billion), financial years 2011 to 2017.

See also: Top Banks in Germany 2014 - 2007