Pax-Bank eG is a German

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

that focuses on

Christian finance Christian finance is a kind of ethical finance following Christian ethics. Although not widely used, the notion of "Christian finance" or "Catholic finance" refers to banking and financial activities which came into existence several centuries ag ...

headquartered in

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 ...

. The bank states that it is a (Bank for the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

and Charities), a

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

Catholic

universal bank A universal bank is a type of bank which participates in many kinds of banking activities and is both a commercial bank and an investment bank as well as providing other financial services such as insurance. These are also called full-service ...

. Its members consist of institutions of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and private individuals from the clerical field. The bank was founded as a

self-help Self-help or self-improvement is "a focus on self-guided, in contrast to professionally guided, efforts to cope with life problems" —economically, physically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a substantial psychological basis. When ...

organization by and for

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

s in 1917 in Cologne. The bank was founded as a ''Pax Spar- und Darlehnskasse eGmbH'' as a

organization of

priests A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, ...

for priests on October 18, 1917 in Cologne. Its forerunner organization was the 1905 founded ''Pax Vereinigung katholischer Kleriker'' from Cologne, in which priests supported each other. Together with the ''Bank für Kirche und Caritas eG''

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn (district), Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pade ...

, the ''DKM Darlehenskasse Münster'' and the ''

Bank im Bistum Essen The Bank im Bistum Essen eG (BIB) is a German cooperative bank located in Essen and has clients that are not-for-profit, ethical and sustainable organisations and their employees. These include the Catholic Church and its institutions. Its members ...

'' it is one of the four catholic banks in

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

. The banks' clients mainly consist of

Diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

s, religious orders, church congregations and their social services, but does accept private customers. Unlike in the past, non-

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

can become customers today. , the bank has 190 members of staff at the Cologne headquarter and six branches in German and representative office in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in close proximity to the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

. It has approximately 30,000 customers (private/institutions). The bank focuses on

socially responsible investing Socially responsible investing (SRI) is any investment strategy which seeks to consider financial return alongside ethical, social or environmental goals. The areas of concern recognized by SRI practitioners are often linked to environmental, ...

(e.g.

microfinance Microfinance consists of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses (SMEs) who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; saving ...

investments) and

investment management Investment management (sometimes referred to more generally as financial asset management) is the professional asset management of various Security (finance), securities, including shareholdings, Bond (finance), bonds, and other assets, such as r ...

. It also provides LIGA Pay Union Funds, real estate consultation, EU-development funds, fundraising and foundation consultation services. The bank itself says that

ethics Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...

and

sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

are important to its business and determines the economic actions it takes in the pursuit of profit.

History

The bank was founded as a

organization by and for

s in 1917 in Cologne. The bank opened branches in

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

in 1958,

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 ...

in 1992,

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

in 1992,

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 ...

in 1958,

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

in 1985 and

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

in 1980. In 2001 the bank opened a representative office in

in close proximity to the

. Since 2005 the bank annually awards the "Pax-Bank-Preis" (Pax-Bank-Award) for

Interfaith dialogue Interfaith dialogue, also known as interreligious dialogue, refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religion, religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spirituality, spiritual or humanism, hum ...

and receives consulting for it by the "Georges-Anawati-Stiftung" (Georges-Anawati-Foundation). The €5,000 price is presented by the chief executive. In 2017 the former German Federal President

Christian Wulff Christian Wilhelm Walter Wulff (; born 1959) is a retired German politician and lawyer who served as President of Germany from 2010 to 2012. A member of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he previously ...

was honored for his dedication and contribution to the intercultural-religious dialog. In August 2009 it was made public that one of the bank's non-ethical investment funds held shares of a defense contractor, a tobacco company and of a

pharmaceutics Pharmaceutics is the discipline of pharmacy that deals with the process of turning a new chemical entity (NCE) or an existing drug into a medication to be used safely and effectively by patients. The patients could be either humans or animals. Ph ...

manufacturer, which also produces

contraceptives Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...

. Immediately after this became public knowledge, the corporate management divested the affected papers. In addition, the control mechanisms were refined and the ethical alignment of all funds were checked. As the subsidiary "PBA Uerlichs + Finger Versicherungsvermittlungs-GmbH" offers Pax-Bank customers individual insurance products. In 2018, Pax-Bank was the first church bank in Germany to offer a

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...

platform. Charitable and public Institutions and providers can present and circulate their project ideas on the platform and thereby generate the needed funds.

References

External links

Pax-Bank
− Official Website {{Authority control Cooperative banks of Germany Catholic Church and finance Christianity in Cologne Companies based in Cologne 1917 establishments in Germany