Banks in Germany

Commerzbank Deutsche Bank Drezdner Bank Deutsche Bundesbank Hypovereinsbank LBBW KfW Bankengruppe
Commerzbank Deutsche Bank Dresdner Bank Bundesbank HVB LBBW KfW Group

The Germany’s banking system includes approximately 200 private banks, 400 public savings banks and over 1,000 cooperative banks. The largest private banks are Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank and Unicredit Bank AG (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. At May 10, 2018, it had a market capitalization EUR 13.5 billion.

Degussa Bank – A German private bank based in Frankfurt am Main. Specialising in worksite banking, it serves companies and their employees.

Deutsche Bank – A global financial services provider with over 2,500 branches in 70 countries and total assets of EUR 1.6 trillion. The company’s market capitalization was over EUR 24 billion as of May 11, 2018.

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 specializes in the global transport market. Its main business segments are shipping finance, aviation finance, offshore finance and land transport finance. It has numerous subsidiaries, including 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 owns 95% of DVB Bank.

DZ Bank AG – A commercial bank and the central administration for approximately 1,000 co-operative banks or credit unions.

Hypothekenbank Frankfurt AG (formerly Eurohypo AG) – A real estate bank headquartered in Eschborn. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Commerzbank.

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

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 – 54,83% owned by NORD/LB.

HSH Nordbank AG – A public-sector wholesale bank with focus on medium-sized corporates, real estate financing, shipping, energy and infrastructure.

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.

Landesbank Berlin (LBB) – One of the largest retail and regional corporate banks with more than 3,500 employees and 2 million customers.

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 1,034 local cooperative banks (Volksbank, Raiffeisenbank), Sparda and PSD banks, two cooperative central banks (DZ Bank and WGZ 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 12 Sparda Banks with approximately 3.4 million customers and over 400 offices throughout Germany. The PSD Bank Group consists of 14 independent cooperative banks and serves over 1.2 million customers.

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 Münster eG, Münster
Sparda-Bank Nürnberg eG, Nürnberg
Sparda-Bank Regensburg eG, Regensburg
Sparda-Bank Südwest eG, Mainz
Sparda-Bank West eG, Düsseldorf

PSD Banks

PSD Bank Berlin-Brandenburg eG, Berlin
PSD Bank Braunschweig eG, Braunschweig
PSD Bank Hannover eG, Hannover
PSD Bank Hessen-Thüringen eG, Eschborn
PSD Bank Karlsruhe-Neustadt eG, Karlsruhe
PSD Bank Kiel eG, Kiel
PSD Bank Koblenz eG, Koblenz
PSD Bank Köln eG, Köln
PSD Bank München eG, Augsburg
PSD Bank Nord eG, Hamburg
PSD Bank Nürnberg eG, Nürnberg
PSD Bank Regensburg eG, Regensburg
PSD Bank RheinNeckarSaar eG, Stuttgart
PSD Bank Rhein-Ruhr eG, Düsseldorf
PSD Bank Westfalen-Lippe eG, Münster

Top Banks in Germany

 Total assets (EUR billion)

Rank Bank 31.12.2017 31.12.2016 31.12.2015 31.12.2014 31.12.2013 31.12.2012 31.12.2011
1 Deutsche Bank 1,482.67 1,590.55 1,629.13 1,708.70 1,611.40 2,022.28 2,164.10
2 DZ Bank Group 505.594 509.447 408.341 402.682 385.572 407.236 405.926
3 KfW Group 472.300 507.000 503.000 489.100 464.800 509.400 494.800
4 Commerzbank 456.317 480.450 532.641 558.317 550.764 636.023 661.763
5 HypoVereinsbank (UniCredit Bank AG) 299.060 302.090 298.745 300.342 290.018 347.285 385.514
6 Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg 237.713 243.623 234.015 266.230 274.646 336.337 373.059
7 Bayerische Landesbank (BayernLB) 214.521 212.150 215.713 232.124 255.483 286.864 309.144
8 Norddeutsche Landesbank (Nord/LB) 165.379 174.732 180.998 197.304 200.823 225.550 227.630
9 Landesbank Hessen Thueringen (Helaba) 158.349 165.164 172.256 179.500 178.279 199.301 163.985
10 NRW.BANK 147.584 142.066 141.175 143.843 145.350 148.835 152.546
11 Deka Group 93.740 85.955 107.981 113.175 116.073 129.770 133.738

See also: Top Banks in Germany 2014 - 2007