Deposits with Savings Banks up slightly in 2022

Total deposits with savings banks grew slightly last year by 2.7 per cent to 1,154 billion euros. “On average, Savings Banks customers came through the crisis well. We are seeing no crisis-driven increase either in the use of retail loans or of overdrafts,” said Helmut Schleweis, President of the German Savings Bank Association (DSGV), at the Financial Press Conference of the Savings Banks Finance Group in Frankfurt/Main today.

For the first time in years, there were significant increases in fixed-term deposits and own issues, especially of savings banks certificates. “Investment products designed for the medium term are already benefiting again from slowly rising interest rates,” added Schleweis. However, given high inflation, the only current way to preserve value in the long term was to pursue a well-considered strategy of diversified investment. Investment savings had a particularly important role to play in this mix.

The culture of investment in securities had advanced considerably in Germany in recent years. Schleweis: “The securities business of Savings Banks demonstrates that customers were very clear-headed in reacting to the turbulence in the markets.” At +29 billion euros, net issues, i.e. purchases minus sales, rose significantly year on year, almost equalling the best-ever volume notched up in the Covid year 2021.

In the lending business, Savings Banks experienced two very different six-month periods. After business boomed in the first half-year, there were big declines in the second, especially in home loans to private customers. In loans to enterprises and self-employed persons, Savings Banks committed new loans amounting to 106.6 billion euros in 1922. This actually exceeded the record-breaking levels achieved in the previous two years.

By contrast, new business with retail loans for home-building fell by 12 per cent overall. “We can see from the initial figures for this year that we are not yet out of the woods. Nevertheless, we do not expect the current lull in building to last long,” observed Schleweis. Given the shortfall in housing, a six-digit figure, new homes must urgently be constructed. And to achieve the climate targets, substantial modernisations are needed in the housing sector to improve energy efficiency. Finally, there is an unwavering desire among people in Germany to own their own home. Schleweis: “It is not acceptable if today a young family with two adults earning a normal salary basically cannot afford to buy their own home. This needs to be countered by rigorous support measures. And promoting home ownership should not be forgotten simply because there is a need for climate protection in new-builds.”

The inflow from the deposit business and high positive net issue of securities enabled retail and business customers of Savings Banks to accumulate additional wealth amounting to 62.4 billion euros last year. “Even if this wealth accumulation does not equal the figures for the two pandemic years, in a longer-term comparison, this is a strong and gratifying value,” concluded Schleweis.