Deutsche Bank wants to expand its advice to private customers via video and telephone and focus more on wealthy individuals in branches. At the same time, there are cuts in branch offices.
Deutsche Bank wants to provide private customers with more advice via video and telephone – and at the same time close some smaller branches. The offer of personal advice on site will be supplemented with a significantly increased capacity for advice via video and telephone, the Dax group in Frankfurt announced. This is in response to the needs of customers “who are increasingly using this form of advice as a convenient alternative with extended consultation times,” it said. Deutsche Bank also wants to invest in the equipment of its branches, for example in new ATMs. In addition, the Deutsche Bank app will be completely renewed in 2025.
Focus on wealthier customers
At the same time, Deutsche Bank is thinning out its branch network. A “mid-double-digit number” of smaller branches are to be closed, it said. To this end, the bank will begin negotiations with the works council in the near future, it said. At the same time, the institute is increasingly relying on new formats such as so-called private banking centers, which are geared towards advising wealthier customers. Experience with the concept so far has been very positive.
Personal advice remains central, whether in the branches or via video and telephone, said Dominik Hennen, Head of Personal Banking Germany at Deutsche Bank. “Our customers expect a modern and fully digitalized offering, but at the same time want the option of personal advice via the access channel of their choice. As simple banking transactions are increasingly completed digitally, we can concentrate fully on advice in personal contact with our customers.”
Industry-wide closure of branches
Deutsche Bank currently operates around 400 branches in Germany. The institute stressed that the measures are being taken to implement the strategy already announced in the private customer segment. According to previous information, a mid-three-digit million sum is being invested in modernizing the private bank worldwide.
Because many people do banking on their home computers or via smartphone apps, banks have been thinning out their expensive branch networks for years, experimenting with flagship branches or supplementing them with digital offerings. By the end of 2023, the number of bank branches in Germany had fallen below 20,000 for the first time, according to the Bundesbank.
Source: Stern
