Das neue Geben: Banking mit Impact fischt am falschen Ende des Marktes
Milliarden Euro warten darauf, ein neues Sinnangebot zu erhalten. Aber das Thema grüne und soziale Geldanlage fehlt genau dort, wo es funktionieren würde: bei vermögenden Kunden.
A friend recently received unusual mail from the sustainable Triodos Bank, notifying 35,000 additional customers that their accounts would be closed. The bank announced it would not be able to achieve a significant size in Germany for some time, according to a letter from its management.
This suggests that there may not be enough demand in Germany for green and social investment products. However, the reality is quite different: the topic has structural problems as a mass market. The issue, though, lies where it could work: with affluent clients.
Triodos is not the only one facing this challenge. Pax-Bank and Bank für Kirche und Caritas merged to form Pax-Bank, and the digital bank Tomorrow experienced a downturn in 2025, with its latest annual report still showing a loss. Customers may be attracted by the eco-friendly debit card made of wood, but they are choosing to invest elsewhere.
The investment universe is expanding upward, but this does not solve the problem. The nitch leader GLS Bank has grown to 388,000 customers and 11.6 billion euros in volume, yet it only earns 24 cents per 100 euros of its balance sheet, which is only a third of what other cooperative banks achieve.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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