The criticism of the second-largest shareholder, Cerberus caught. It is shared by many other shareholders, to the Federal government, according to reports, at least in principle: The Commerzbank as set out in the private customer business, to long on unprofitables growth and cost-deferred savings. Now in the Commerzbank, as we Heard, in addition to cuts in the workforce of branch closing on the list of savings at the very top. This is no wonder, when you Bank UBS sees the results of a study by the Swiss from the year 2019, which has been circulating in banking circles.
Hanno Mußler
editor in the economy.
F. A. Z.
According to the findings, the UBS analysts., Commerzbank, together with the Hypo-Vereinsbank, under the six large private banks in Germany on the basis of four criteria, the worst branch network Deutsche Bank cuts in the UBS study is best, followed by Targobank, Santander Germany and the Postbank. The Commerzbank network of around 1000 branches, which was measured by the number of branches changed since the arrival of the soon-to-be outgoing Chairman of the Board Martin Zielke in 2016, hardly, has weaknesses, according to the UBS analysts, especially two: The branches address in the comparison with competitors the wrong regional markets, that is, they are of too little people with too little income within five to ten minutes. And you are too close to each other and take away business, cannibalizing each other.
a Smaller, but finer branches
Commerzbank has tried in recent years to change their branch network: The number of sites remained about the same, but it should be better lifting location, a number of smaller Local the efficiency of the branch network. The new strategy is being prepared in these days and on Wednesday, the Supervisory Board discussed, provides for a pivot.
While Commerzbank will not shrink to a branch directly to the Bank. It does not hold, as we Heard, furthermore, that the majority of the customers were on personal advice in difficult life, about the house buying wants to waive the loan. But there will be scenarios that up to 450 of 1000 branches closed could be circulating.
competition cut radial
With such a radical cut, the Commerzbank would follow the actions of competitors already. Deutsche Bank has streamlined its branch network between 2016 and 2019, by 27 percent to roughly 500 branches (excluding Postbank). Even large savings banks such as the Munich city savings Bank or the savings Bank Cologne-Bonn reduced their branches in this period to 16 percent and 11 percent. The Corona-crisis is accelerating a new customer behavior. Many people have not yet rejected nor Online Banking, because the security of your data you the creeps. Other customers had no desire to call the Call Center of your Bank and to obliterate in a queue. However, according to the findings of the consulting firm McKinsey, which advises Commerzbank, have a lot of people in the Corona-crisis good experience with the often spurned entrances to the Bank.
On the other hand, Commerzbank had, like many other banks, during the lock downs and the limited use ability of employees who had to take care of their children at home, closed 300 out of 1000 branches and a further 400 only to a limited extent in operation. Many other banks such originally due to Corona closed stores, now all closed. The Hamburger Volksbank, for example, has just decided that 13 of 28 business places remained closed. It helps that the consulting firm Oliver Wyman expects that the German banks on the basis of the Corona and accelerating changes in customer behavior, by 2025, provide your branch network to 33 percent, but 45 percent are thinning. Instead of still 28384 Bank branches as at the end of 2019, there would then already be in 2023, nationwide, only less than 20,000 Bank branches.
