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Comdirect Bank

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Comdirect Bank Aktiengesellschaft
Company typeAktiengesellschaft
FWB: COM
ISINDE0005428007
IndustryFinancial services
Founded1994; 30 years ago (1994)
FounderCommerzbank
DefunctNovember 1, 2020 (2020-11-01)
Headquarters
Quickborn
,
Germany
Area served
Germany
Key people
ProductsRetail banking, Savings, Securities, Asset management
Decrease €70.723 million (2018)
Decrease €50.369 million (2018)
Total equityDecrease €634 million (2018)
Number of employees
1,534 (2018)
ParentCommerzbank (82%)[1]
Subsidiaries
  • Onvista
Websitecomdirect.de

Comdirect Bank Aktiengesellschaft was the third-largest German direct bank and was based in Quickborn, Schleswig-Holstein.[2][3] Founded by the Commerzbank in 1994,[4] the company went public in 2000.[5] The Commerzbank integrated the company on November 1, 2020.

History

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Previous logo.

Foundation

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In 1994, the Commerzbank desired to expand its business and customer base and therefore decided to establish a direct bank.[6] Commerzbank founded Comdirect, which was registered in December 1994 as a private limited company (GmbH - Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung).[7] It began operations with 50 employees and 50 million Deutsche Mark on equity in January 1995.[8] The company positioned itself not as a traditional direct bank like seen before, but instead as a universal bank for private customers with a wide range of specialized products.[9] One of the first products of the Comdirect Bank was a money market account. Also, securities trading became one of the top priorities.[10]

Public offering

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Within the first few months, the Comdirect Bank gained tens of thousands of customers.[11] In the late 1990s, the Comdirect Bank expanded to other European countries.[12] The Commerzbank and Deutsche Telekom agreed on the cooperation of their subsidiaries, the Comdirect Bank and T-Online International.[13] Comdirect Bank became a public company (Aktiengesellschaft) in November 1999 and went public in June 2000.[7][5] Commerzbank sold a minority stake in the company.[14] The stock was oversubscribed several times and later became part of the Nemax 50 index and the Prime Standard of Frankfurt Stock Exchange.[15][16] The proceeds of the initial public offering were used to build the investment banking of the Comdirect Bank, for example.[17] The company doubled its workforce to cope with the growing number of customers.[18]

Consolidation

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In 2000, the burst of the dot-com bubble hit the financial industry. The Comdirect Bank was also affected and as a result, growth slowed.[19][20] After several successful years, the bank announced losses in 2001.[21] As the Comdirect Bank slipped into financial difficulties, the board launched a savings program.[22] At the end of 2001, the Comdirect Bank announced to focus on Germany and the United Kingdom. The company places its loss-making branches at disposal; the subsidiaries in France and Italy were sold and closed.[23][24] Finally, in 2004, the Comdirect Bank sold its British subsidiary, too.[25]

From then on, the Comdirect Bank exclusively focused on its home market in Germany.[26] The company accelerated the expansion of its product range and, in particular, cared more about customer advisory services.[27] The new strategy stabilized the business.[28] The first dividend was distributed in 2004 and in 2005,[29] the German retail banking of American Express was acquired, which helped to grow the customer base significantly.[30]

To profit more from the performance of the Comdirect Bank, the Commerzbank increased its investment to almost 80% in June 2005.[31] The group purchased the remaining share from T-Online International.[32]

Acquisitions

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Even during the global financial crisis from 2007, the business remained stable; the Comdirect Bank profited from the increase in transactions in securities trading.[33]

In 2009, the Comdirect Bank acquired the European Bank for Financial Services (ebase) from the Commerzbank,[34] doubling the number of managed securities accounts.[35] At the same time, the bank extended its position in financial services and asset management.[35] During the following years, the Comdirect Bank repositioned the European Bank for Financial Services as a business-to-business bank.[36] In July 2018, comdirect agreed to sell ebase to London-based financial technology provider FNZ Group to focus more on the core business and completed the sale in July 2019.[37][38]

In 2016, the Comdirect Bank announced the acquisition of the Onvista Group.[39] Both the Onvista Bank and Onvista Media, operator of a high-reach financial portal, became part of the Comdirect Bank.[40] With this investment, the Comdirect Bank strengthened securities trading and financial information business at the same time.[41] While the Onvista Bank merged with the Comdirect Bank, Onvista Media continued operations as a subsidiary.[42]

Digitalization

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In recent years, the Comdirect Bank invested heavily in digital technologies. For example, the company published the first online banking app with support for accounts from other institutions.[43] It launched the "startup garage" for financial technology startups.[44][45] The company was the first bank in Germany to publish an Amazon Alexa skill, for example, and later added support for Google Home.[46] The Comdirect Bank also launched a robo-advisor named Cominvest.[47]

In late 2019, Commerzbank entered into talks with Petrus Advisers to buy its 7.5% stake in Comdirect and take over the entire online bank.[48]

Structure

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Onvista Media is a subsidiary of Comdirect bank in Germany.[40]

Products

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comdirect bank offers current accounts, online brokerage and several types of credits and loans.[49][50][51][52]

Responsibility

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In 2009, the Comdirect Bank and the Stuttgart Stock Exchange founded the Stiftung Rechnen, a non-profit foundation with a registered office in Hamburg and headquarters in Quickborn.[53] Its primary goal is to support knowledge of mathematics with a focus on young peogle to encourage a joy of numbers and calculation.[54] Johanna Wanka, former Federal Minister of Education and Research, is the patron of the Stiftung Rechnen;[55] Christian Rach, a star-rated chef and author, is one of its prominent ambassadors.[56]

Controversies

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The Comdirect Bank accidentally reported 200 million euros to an account of a customer in 2012.[57] The bank justified the error with a technical problem on the sale of funds, which could not be seen before.[58] After the reversal, there was a negative balance, which caused lending rates that the Comdirect Bank had to reimburse.[59]

In 2016, a breakdown occurred after a software update:[60] A small number of customers of the Comdirect Bank were able to view account balances of other customers for a very short time.[61] However, third parties were not able to do wire transfers.[62] Though there was no financial or material damage, the company regretted the mistake, apologized to all affected customers and informed them about the extent of third-party access.[63][64]

Since 2017, the bank is being targeted by activist investor Petrus Advisers. The investor is questioning the cost structure (cost-income-ratio is over 70%), the governance and incentive structure, and the management quality among others.[65][66]

References

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  1. ^ "Factsheet" (PDF). Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  2. ^ "comdirect bank Aktiengesellschaft". Federal Financial Supervisory Authority. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  3. ^ "Größte Direktbanken in Deutschland im Jahr 2016 nach Kundenzahl (in 1.000)" (in German). Statista. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  4. ^ "Commerzbank mit Direktbank". Horizont (in German). February 24, 1995. p. 4.
  5. ^ a b Schnell, Christian (June 6, 2000). "Geglückter Einstand von Comdirect". Handelsblatt. p. 31.
  6. ^ Hartwig, Dierk (February 17, 1995). "Das Standing der Commerzbank". Börsen-Zeitung (in German). p. 1.
  7. ^ a b "Company Register". Bundesanzeiger Verlag. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  8. ^ "Neue Direktbank der Commerzbank". Börsen-Zeitung (in German). February 23, 1995. p. 4.
  9. ^ "Commerzbank schickt Direkttochter ins Rennen". Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). February 23, 1995. p. 14.
  10. ^ "Comdirect ist nicht nur Discount Broker". Handelsblatt (in German). February 23, 1995. p. 40.
  11. ^ "Commerzbank verdoppelt Ergebnis". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). July 29, 1995.
  12. ^ "Comdirect strebt ins Ausland". Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). April 22, 1999. p. 14.
  13. ^ "Neue Allianz im Internet-Banking". Die Welt (in German). February 18, 2000. p. 1.
  14. ^ Zimmermann, Ralf (June 6, 2000). "Comdirect startet mit Kurssprung am Neuen Markt". Financial Times Deutschland (in German). p. 1.
  15. ^ "Comdirect Bank im Nemax 50". Hamburger Abendblatt (in German). July 14, 2000. p. 20.
  16. ^ "comdirect bank Aktiengesellschaft". Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  17. ^ "Comdirect baut auch Investmentbanking auf". Financial Times Deutschland (in German). November 28, 2000. p. 23.
  18. ^ "Comdirect verdoppelt Belegschaft". Berliner Zeitung (in German). August 12, 2000. p. 34.
  19. ^ "Comdirect fallen auf neues Allzeittief". Handelsblatt (in German). November 16, 2000. p. 30.
  20. ^ "Comdirect enttäuscht mit Eckdaten". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). January 16, 2001. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  21. ^ "Comdirect kündigt Verluste an". Handelsblatt (in German). March 16, 2001. p. 47.
  22. ^ "Comdirect: Sparprogramm angekündigt". Hamburger Abendblatt (in German). September 6, 2001. p. 25.
  23. ^ Löding, Torge (March 22, 2002). "Comdirect verkauft französische Tochter". Heise Online (in German). Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  24. ^ "Comdirect schließt italienische Tochter". Börsen-Zeitung (in German). February 26, 2002. p. 16.
  25. ^ "Comdirect verkauft britische Tochter". Handelsblatt (in German). June 17, 2004. p. 22.
  26. ^ "Comdirect: Letzte Auslandstochter verkauft". Die Welt (in German). June 17, 2004. p. 13.
  27. ^ "Comdirect will Kunden besser beraten". WirtschaftsWoche (in German). April 22, 2004. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  28. ^ "Bei Comdirect zahlt sich der Sparkurs aus". Handelsblatt (in German). March 14, 2003. p. 21.
  29. ^ Seibel, Karsten (February 13, 2004). "Comdirect: Online-Broker schüttet erstmals Dividende aus". Die Welt (in German). p. 14.
  30. ^ Lebert, Rolf (October 21, 2005). "Comdirect kauft American Express 45.000 Privatkunden ab". Financial Times Deutschland (in German). p. 18.
  31. ^ "Commerzbank stockt Comdirect-Anteil auf". Handelsblatt. July 26, 2005. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  32. ^ "T-Online stößt Anteil an Comdirect Bank ab". Börsen-Zeitung (in German). July 27, 2005. p. 4.
  33. ^ "Comdirect profitiert von Börsen-Turbulenzen". Handelsblatt (in German). August 8, 2008. p. 30.
  34. ^ "Comdirect übernimmt Ebase". Handelsblatt (in German). April 8, 2009. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  35. ^ a b "Comdirect kauft Ebase". Börsen-Zeitung (in German). April 9, 2009. p. 5.
  36. ^ "Unternehmensprofil" (in German). European Bank for Financial Services. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  37. ^ Finextra. "Comdirect offloads ebase to FNZ for EUR151 million". www.finextra.com.
  38. ^ "FNZ completes ebase acquisition from Comdirect". Finextra.com. July 17, 2019. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  39. ^ Brächer, Michael (December 9, 2016). "Comdirect schluckt Onlinebroker Onvista". Handelsblatt (in German). Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  40. ^ a b "Comdirect verleibt sich Onvista ein". Börsen-Zeitung (in German). December 10, 2016. p. 1.
  41. ^ Baumgartner, Thomas (March 14, 2017). "Die Zukunft der Geldanlage ist digital". Frankfurter Neue Presse (in German). p. 5.
  42. ^ Brächer, Michael (September 12, 2016). "Perspektivisch brauchen wir nur eine Banklizenz". Handelsblatt (in German). Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  43. ^ "Comdirect Banking App erlaubt fremde Konten". Appgefahren (in German). September 16, 2010. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  44. ^ Fehr, Mark (September 23, 2015). "Wir bieten Know-how für Start-ups". WirtschaftsWoche (in German). Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  45. ^ "Comdirect startet Accelerator für FinTechs". IT-Finanzmagazin (in German). September 29, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  46. ^ Mussler, Hanno (October 8, 2018). "Comdirect setzt auf Alexa und Google Home". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  47. ^ Schneider, Katharina (May 18, 2017). "Robo-Advisor: Comdirect startet digitalen Anlage-Service". Handelsblatt (in German). Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  48. ^ Tom Sims and Hans Seidenstuecker (December 30, 2019), Commerzbank in talks to buy Petrus Advisers stake in Comdirect: source Reuters.
  49. ^ "Comdirect hält an kostenlosem Girokonto fest". Börsen-Zeitung (in German). April 28, 2016. p. 4.
  50. ^ Hagen, Jens (October 9, 2014). "Die besten Banken für Geldanleger". Handelsblatt (in German). Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  51. ^ Groth, Julia (October 31, 2016). "Wo das Depot besonders günstig ist". Handelsblatt (in German). Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  52. ^ Seibel, Karsten (April 28, 2016). "Bankchef wettert gegen hohe Dispozinsen". Die Welt (in German). p. 13.
  53. ^ "Stiftung Rechnen gegründet". Hamburger Abendblatt (in German). October 28, 2009. p. 17.
  54. ^ "Stiftung Rechnen gegründet, Unterstützer gesucht". Coburger Tageblatt (in German). October 28, 2009. p. 16.
  55. ^ "Mathematik soll verbindend wirken". Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). September 16, 2016. p. 14.
  56. ^ "Kopf des Tages: Mathe-Botschafter". Rheinische Post (in German). October 28, 2010.
  57. ^ "Millionär durch ein Versehen". Nürnberger Nachrichten (in German). May 4, 2012. p. 21.
  58. ^ Hagen, Jens (May 3, 2012). "Wie ein Comdirect-Kunde über Nacht zum Millionär wurde". Handelsblatt (in German). Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  59. ^ "Comdirect muss Zinsen erstatten". Börsen-Zeitung (in German). May 4, 2012. p. 3.
  60. ^ "Schwere Panne: Datenleck bei Comdirect". Deutsche Welle (in German). July 18, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  61. ^ Röder, Jürgen; Dowideit, Martin (July 18, 2016). "Heftige Panne: Fremde Kontostände bei Comdirect einsehbar". Handelsblatt (in German). Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  62. ^ "Comdirect: Was Sie über die Datenpanne wissen müssen". WirtschaftsWoche (in German). July 18, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  63. ^ Brächer, Michael; Dowideit, Martin (July 20, 2016). "Comdirect leistet Abbitte". Handelsblatt (in German). p. 33.
  64. ^ Nebel, Erik (July 27, 2016). "Comdirect will Vertrauen zurückgewinnen". Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). p. 9.
  65. ^ Handelsblatt. "London Investor Blitzes Commerzbank". www.handelsblatt.com.
  66. ^ "Petrus Advisers to hike Comdirect stake to over 5 pct". www.reuters.com.
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