The Sparda-Banks are eleven German cooperative banks which are consolidated in the Verband der Sparda-Banken e. V. (Union of Sparda-Banks). Traditionally they are specialized in the retail banking business. The eleven, legally independent banks operate according to the regional principle, which means that each bank is responsible for a set business area and accepts customers only from that area.

History

The oldest Sparda-Bank was founded on 6 May 1896 as Spar- und Vorschuss-Verein der badischen Eisenbahn beamten (Savings and Imprest Association of the Baden Railroad Officials) in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

. Based on this model, equal cooperatives were founded in other places, which, in the spring of 1906, consolidated in the Revisionsverband der Eisenbahn-Spar- und Darlehnskassen (Revision Federation of the Railroad Savings and Loan Associations) in

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

. In 1969 the railroad savings banks were opened for staff of other public services and in 1974 for all employees (steady income in the salary account is expected). Since 1978 the banks uniformly call themselves Sparda-Banks. In the center of its business activities is the standardized retail banking. Customers purchase at least one cooperative share (the amount and the maximum of available shares is determined individually by each bank in a statute) and are therefore, together with other customers, members and part owners of the bank. For the cooperative shares an annual

dividend A dividend is a distribution of profits by a corporation to its shareholders, after which the stock exchange decreases the price of the stock by the dividend to remove volatility. The market has no control over the stock price on open on the ex ...

is paid (at the Sparda-Bank Süd-West currently 3%, at the Sparda-Bank Baden-Württemberg 3.5%).

Products

The Sparda-Banks

checking account A transaction account (also called a checking account, cheque account, chequing account, current account, demand deposit account, or share account at credit unions) is a deposit account or bank account held at a bank or other financial instituti ...

(excluding Sparda-Bank Berlin since October 1, 2017) is free of charge for members as wage, salary or retirement account. However, since 2015, Sparda-Banks charge annually different amounts for the Bankcard.

Cooperative

The following Sparda-Banks are consolidated in the Verband der Sparda-Banken e. V. (Union of Sparda-Banks) which as auditing association is responsible for the statutory audits according to the cooperative bill: * Sparda-Bank

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

* Sparda-Bank

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

(in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, fusion with Sparda-Bank

) * Sparda-Bank

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

* Sparda-Bank

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

* Sparda-Bank

Hannover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

* Sparda-Bank

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

n * Sparda-Bank

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

* Sparda-Bank

Nürnberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the largest city in Franconia, the second-largest city in the German state of Bavaria, and its 544,414 (2023) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest city in Germany. ...

* Sparda-Bank Ost

Bayern Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total land area of Germany, and with over 13.08 million ...

(in

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

) * Sparda-Bank Südwest * Sparda-Bank West (fusion of Sparda-Banks in

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, with a population of 355,000. Wuppertal is the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and List of cities in Germany by population, 17th-largest in Germany. It ...

and

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

) Sparda-Banks are members in the National Association of German Cooperative Banks (BVR) and its protection scheme. Sparda-Banks are together with other banks part of

CashPool CashPool is a cooperation of a multitude of smaller or virtual German private banks, in which they mutually waive ATM usage fees for their customers. It is not an interbank network but uses the pre-existing German ATM or Maestro/ Cirrus netwo ...

. A few Sparda-Banks have agreements for a free of charge cash withdrawal at Postbank ATMs.

Business figures

In sum the total assets of all Sparda-Banks was 68.9 billion

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

s in 2016. At the end of 2016 the number of all members of Sparda-Banks was 3.6 million.

References

External links

Official Website
{{Portal, Banks Banks of Germany Cooperative banks of Germany 1896 establishments