Deutsche Bank will become the first big bank to systemically distribute deposits from rival banks through its branch network and wealth management business, in another shift towards open banking in Europe.
The move comes as Deutsche Bank seeks to improve its client offering and fee income at a time when banks – especially in Germany – are facing a stark choice between charging negative rates to depositors or suffering even lower net interest margins.
Germany’s biggest bank, which has a loan-to-deposit ratio of about 75%, is the single-largest holder of excess reserves at the European Central Bank (ECB), according to research by JPMorgan.
Deutsche bought 5% of deposit-marketplace fintech Deposit Solutions in September, the same month that the ECB cut its deposit rate to -0.5%.
Zinsmarkt
It made the platform available on a white-labelled basis with the launch of its Zinsmarkt deposit offering two-and-half years ago, initially through its in-house online broker Maxblue, but previously only on a self-directed basis.
Now Deutsche is moving beyond the test phase, launching active distribution of Zinsmarkt at branch level, and to wealth management clients – in other words, to those most likely to be charged negative rates.
