List of Banks in Germany
The banking system in Germany includes commercial banks, private banks, public sector banks and cooperative segment (Volks- und Raiffeisenbanken, Sparda-Banken, PSD Bankengruppe etc). The largest retail banks in Germany are Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, Postbank and Hypovereinsbank. The Deutsche Bundesbank is the central bank of the country. Below is a list of the major and popular German banks.
Top 10 Banks in Germany
Here is a list of the top banks in Germany in terms of total assets.
| Rank | Bank | Total Assets, EUR b * |
| 1 | Deutsche Bank AG | 1,336.79 |
| 2 | DZ Bank AG | 628.397 |
| 3 | KfW Group | 554.600 |
| 4 | Commerzbank AG | 477.438 |
| 5 | J.P. Morgan SE | 435.829 |
| 6 | Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg (LBBW) | 324.174 |
| 7 | HypoVereinsbank (UniCredit Bank AG) | 318.006 |
| 8 | Bayerische Landesbank (BayernLB) | 259.343 |
| 9 | Landesbank Hessen-Thueringen | 211.500 |
| 10 | ING-DiBa AG | 190.183 |
* Total assets as of December 31, 2022
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank AG, headquartered in Frankfurt, is the largest bank in Germany. It provides a full spectrum of financial services to retail customers, companies, governments and institutional investors. With over 90,000 employees, it maintains an extensive network of approximately 1,400 branches of which 67% are located in Germany. The company is the best bank in Germany according to Global Finance and Euromoney.
DZ Bank
DZ Bank AG is the second-largest German bank in terms of total assets. It acts as the central institution for over 730 co-operative banks (Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken) with more than 17.5 million members and over 7,000 branches. It also operates as a corporate and investment bank.
KfW Group
KfW Group is a government-owned development financial institution established in 1948. It is the most important promotional bank in Germany and one of the biggest promotional banks in the world. The company employs about 6,700 people and is headquartered in Frankfurt with main offices in Berlin, Bonn and Cologne. It also has about 80 local branches and representative offices abroad. KfW is the safest bank in Germany and Europe according to Global Finance.
Commerzbank
Commerzbank AG, with about 42,000 employees, serves over 11 million private, small business and corporate customers through about 450 domestic branches as well as through international offices in New York City, Madrid, London, Zurich, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Vienna, Milan, Hong Kong, Barcelona, Prague and Luxembourg, among others. Commerzbank has been named German’s Best Trade Finance Provider by Global Finance and won FStech award for Blockchain Project of the Year.
HypoVereinsbank
HypoVereinsbank (a business name of UniCredit Bank AG), headquartered in Munich, is a full service bank offering current and savings accounts, personal and business loans, mortgages, auto loans, debit and credit cards, insurance and pension products, commercial real estate lending, private and investment banking, wealth management, advisory and brokerage services, online banking, mobile banking app, wire transfers, foreign currency exchange and other services.
Postbank
Postbank is a retail banking arm of Deutsche Bank AG. It provides a full spectrum of banking services to over 13 million customers through around 550 branches and 360 advisory centers.
Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg (LBBW)
Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg (LBBW) is the biggest Landesbank in Germany with more than 10,000 staff and 160 branches across the country. It is a commercial bank serving companies, savings banks, private individuals and institutional clients. LBBW acts as a central bank for the savings banks in Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate und Saxony. It was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Stuttgart.
Bayerische Landesbank
Bayerische Landesbank (BayernLB) is a Bavarian bank operating in the following business segments: corporates and mittelstand, real estate, savings and financial markets. It is the seventh largest bank in Germany with total assets of EUR 280 billion, deposits of EUR 199 billion and credit volume of EUR 259 billion as of June 30, 2024. Deutsche Kreditbank (DKB), Germany's second-largest online bank, is the retail arm of the BayernLB Group.
Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen
Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen (Helaba) is one of leading banks in Germany with about 5,800 employees. It provides a comprehensive range of financial products and services for real estate and corporate customers, savings banks, institutional clients, public authorities, private customers and credit institutions. For the year ended December 31, 2023, it reported over €200 billion in total assets.
ING Germany
ING-DiBa AG, a subsidiary of ING Holding Deutschland GmbH, is one of the top 5 retail banks in Germany with over 9.1 million customers and more than 6,000 employees. The company's offerings include current accounts, savings products, consumer loans, mortgages, SME lending, securities as well as services to large and international companies. It has offices in Frankfurt am Main, Hanover, Nuremberg and Berlin.
NRW.BANK
NRW.BANK, headquartered in Dusseldorf and Münster, is a development bank wholly-owned by German federal state North Rhine-Westphalia. NRW's activities are focused on providing social housing promotion, venture capital, Infrastructure initiatives and loans to small and midsize enterprises. The Bank was awarded a long-term credit rating of AAA by Fitch, Aa1 by Moody's and AA by Standard & Poor's.
Norddeutsche Landesbank (Nord/LB)
Norddeutsche Landesbank (Nord/LB), based in Hanover, acts as a central bank for savings banks in Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Nord/LB has more than 100 branches in Braunschweig country as well as international offices in London, New York, Shanghai and Singapore.
Genossenschaftliche FinanzGruppe
Genossenschaftliche FinanzGruppe (GFG) is a cooperative financial network that comprises approximately 740 local cooperative banks (Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken) and 7,500 branches. With over 30 million customers and 135,000 employees, GFG is one of the pillars of Germany's banking sector. The Group also includes PSD banks, Sparda banks, church banks and specialized institutions. The total assets of cooperative financial network exceed €1.6 trillion.
Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe
The Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe is a network of public sector banks that form the largest financial services group in the country. The Group includes over 500 companies of which 350 savings banks (Sparkassen) with more than 40 million checking accounts and 11,000 branches throughout Germany.
Related article: Top 20 Banks in Germany
Popular online bank accounts in Germany
N26 is a neobank offering a range of current account plans with physical and virtual debit cards. You can also trade about 200 cryptocurrencies directly from your app.
DKB Deutsche Kreditbank (DKB) is a German online bank offering current account with a debit card as well as savings products, installment credits and brokerage services.
Bunq is a mobile bank offering various plans including free savings account, for both individuals and business clients. It also offers debit and credit cards, mortgages, easy Investments, free ATM withdrawals and more.
Last updated October 14, 2024