Many Volksbanks go into a merger

Volksbank-Raiffeisenbank and Sparkasse

There are still many mergers among both cooperative banks and savings banks. The shortage of staff could drive mergers in the future.

(Photo: IMAGO/Michael Gstettenbauer)

Frankfurt There are fewer and fewer savings banks and Volksbanks in Germany. Since the beginning of the year, 35 cooperative banks and nine savings banks have disappeared as a result of mergers, as the consulting firm Zeb determined for the Handelsblatt. This development is likely to continue in the coming years. One reason for this: there is an increasing shortage of employees.

The Federal Association of Volks- und Raiffeisenbanken (BVR) assumes that there will ultimately be 40 to 50 mergers in 2022 – which, with the exception of the Corona year 2020, is roughly the same as before. The BVR will announce the final figure at the beginning of 2023. Last year, the number of institutes fell by around 40.

According to BVR boss Marija Kolak, the banks are facing several challenges such as more regulation and more digitization. “The shortage of skilled workers is also playing an increasingly important role in mergers, and this may soon be another major reason,” Kolak told Handelsblatt.

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