DZ Bank

DZ Bank is the cooperative-bank central institution in Germany, the name people outside the industry usually meet only in the background of the financial system. By our assessment, its value is not in consumer polish but in the role it plays for the cooperative network and related banking services. That also means the trade-off is a plain one: it is important institutionally, but it is not designed to be a friendly everyday brand for most retail customers. In practice it belongs to the world of wholesale, networks and back-office banking rather than the front window. Against Deutsche Bank or Commerzbank it is less a household name and more a specialist part of the German system. DZ Bank is based in Germany, and the thing it does best is sit behind other banks rather than in front of them.