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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

Previous logo.

Foundation

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

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

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. The group purchased the remaining share from T-Online International.[31]

Acquisitions

Even during the 2008 financial crisis, the business remained stable; the Comdirect Bank profited from the increase in transactions in securities trading.[32]

In 2009, the Comdirect Bank acquired the European Bank for Financial Services (ebase) from the Commerzbank,[33] doubling the number of managed securities accounts.[34] At the same time, the bank extended its position in financial services and asset management.[34] During the following years, the Comdirect Bank repositioned the European Bank for Financial Services as a business-to-business bank.[35] 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.[36][37]

In 2016, the Comdirect Bank announced the acquisition of the Onvista Group.[38] Both the Onvista Bank and Onvista Media, operator of a high-reach financial portal, became part of the Comdirect Bank.[39] With this investment, the Comdirect Bank strengthened securities trading and financial information business at the same time.[40] While the Onvista Bank merged with the Comdirect Bank, Onvista Media continued operations as a subsidiary.[41]

Digitalization

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.[42] It launched the “startup garage” for financial technology startups.[43][44] The company was the first bank in Germany to publish an Amazon Alexa skill, for example, and later added support for Google Home.[45] The Comdirect Bank also launched a robo-advisor named Cominvest.[46]

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.[47]

Merger with Commerzbank

In early 2020, Commerzbank successfully completed the acquisition of the remaining shares of comdirect, leading to a squeeze-out of the minority shareholders.[48] The legal merger of comdirect bank AG into Commerzbank AG was finalized in November 2020. Since then, comdirect has no longer existed as an independent legal entity but has been continued as a primary brand of Commerzbank.[49]

Under this two-brand strategy, Commerzbank continues to offer digital banking and brokerage services under the “comdirect” name. While the technical systems and the banking license were consolidated, the product portfolio and the specific online portal remain active for both existing and new customers.[50]

Structure

Onvista Media is a subsidiary of Comdirect bank in Germany.[39]

Products

comdirect bank offers current accounts, online brokerage and several types of credits and loans.[51][52][53][54]

Responsibility

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.[55] Its primary goal is to support knowledge of mathematics with a focus on young peogle to encourage a joy of numbers and calculation.[56] Johanna Wanka, former Federal Minister of Education and Research, is the patron of the Stiftung Rechnen;[57] Christian Rach, a star-rated chef and author, is one of its prominent ambassadors.[58]

Controversies

The Comdirect Bank accidentally reported 200 million euros to an account of a customer in 2012.[59] The bank justified the error with a technical problem on the sale of funds, which could not be seen before.[60] After the reversal, there was a negative balance, which caused lending rates that the Comdirect Bank had to reimburse.[61]

In 2016, a breakdown occurred after a software update:[62] A small number of customers of the Comdirect Bank were able to view account balances of other customers for a very short time.[63] However, third parties were not able to do wire transfers.[64] 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.[65][66]

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.[67][68]

See also

References

  1. ^ “Factsheet” (PDF). comdirect. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 14, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  2. ^ “Impressum” (in German). comdirect. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  3. ^ “Größte Direktbanken in Deutschland im Jahr 2016 nach Kundenzahl (in 1.000)” (in German). Statista. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  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 13, 2026.
  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 13, 2026.
  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. Archived from the original on December 20, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  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 13, 2026.
  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). Archived from the original on December 20, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  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. ^ “T-Online stößt Anteil an Comdirect Bank ab”. Börsen-Zeitung (in German). July 27, 2005. p. 4.
  32. ^ “Comdirect profitiert von Börsen-Turbulenzen”. Handelsblatt (in German). August 8, 2008. p. 30.
  33. ^ “Comdirect übernimmt Ebase”. Handelsblatt (in German). April 8, 2009. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  34. ^ a b “Comdirect kauft Ebase”. Börsen-Zeitung (in German). April 9, 2009. p. 5.
  35. ^ “Geschichtlicher Überblick” (PDF) (in German). Commerzbank. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  36. ^ Finextra. “Comdirect offloads ebase to FNZ for EUR151 million”. www.finextra.com.
  37. ^ “FNZ completes ebase acquisition from Comdirect”. Finextra.com. July 17, 2019. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  38. ^ Brächer, Michael (December 9, 2016). “Comdirect schluckt Onlinebroker Onvista”. Handelsblatt (in German). Archived from the original on April 18, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  39. ^ a b “Comdirect verleibt sich Onvista ein”. Börsen-Zeitung (in German). December 10, 2016. p. 1.
  40. ^ Baumgartner, Thomas (March 14, 2017). “Die Zukunft der Geldanlage ist digital”. Frankfurter Neue Presse (in German). p. 5.
  41. ^ Müller, Karsten (December 9, 2016). “Direktbank jetzt mit Finanzportal: comdirect kauft Onvista”. DAS INVESTMENT (in German). Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  42. ^ “Comdirect Banking App erlaubt fremde Konten”. Appgefahren (in German). September 16, 2010. Archived from the original on September 24, 2010. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  43. ^ Fehr, Mark (September 23, 2015). “Wir bieten Know-how für Start-ups”. WirtschaftsWoche (in German). Archived from the original on May 3, 2017. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  44. ^ “Comdirect startet Accelerator für FinTechs”. IT-Finanzmagazin (in German). September 29, 2015. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  45. ^ Mussler, Hanno (October 8, 2018). “Comdirect setzt auf Alexa und Google Home”. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  46. ^ Schneider, Katharina (May 18, 2017). “Robo-Advisor: Comdirect startet digitalen Anlage-Service”. Handelsblatt (in German). Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  47. ^ Sims, Tom; Seidenstuecker, Hans (December 30, 2019). “Commerzbank in talks to buy Petrus Advisers stake in Comdirect: source”. Reuters. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  48. ^ “Verschmelzung der comdirect bank AG auf die Commerzbank AG im Handelsregister eingetragen” (in German). Commerzbank. November 2, 2020. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  49. ^ “Direktableger: Commerzbank verzichtet auf volle IT-Integration der Comdirect”. Wirtschaftswoche (in German). September 29, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  50. ^ “comdirect – eine Marke der Commerzbank AG” (in German). comdirect/commerzbank. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  51. ^ “Comdirect hält an kostenlosem Girokonto fest”. Börsen-Zeitung (in German). April 28, 2016. p. 4.
  52. ^ Hagen, Jens (October 9, 2014). “Die besten Banken für Geldanleger”. Handelsblatt (in German). Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  53. ^ Groth, Julia (October 31, 2016). “Wo das Depot besonders günstig ist”. Handelsblatt (in German). Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  54. ^ Seibel, Karsten (April 28, 2016). “Bankchef wettert gegen hohe Dispozinsen”. Die Welt (in German). p. 13.
  55. ^ “Stiftung Rechnen gegründet”. Hamburger Abendblatt (in German). October 28, 2009. p. 17.
  56. ^ “Stiftung Rechnen gegründet, Unterstützer gesucht”. Coburger Tageblatt (in German). October 28, 2009. p. 16.
  57. ^ “Mathematik soll verbindend wirken”. Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). September 16, 2016. p. 14.
  58. ^ “Kopf des Tages: Mathe-Botschafter”. Rheinische Post (in German). October 28, 2010.
  59. ^ “Millionär durch ein Versehen”. Nürnberger Nachrichten (in German). May 4, 2012. p. 21.
  60. ^ Hagen, Jens (May 3, 2012). “Wie ein Comdirect-Kunde über Nacht zum Millionär wurde”. Handelsblatt (in German). Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  61. ^ “Comdirect muss Zinsen erstatten”. Börsen-Zeitung (in German). May 4, 2012. p. 3.
  62. ^ “Schwere Panne: Datenleck bei Comdirect”. Deutsche Welle (in German). July 18, 2016. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  63. ^ Röder, Jürgen; Dowideit, Martin (July 18, 2016). “Heftige Panne: Fremde Kontostände bei Comdirect einsehbar”. Handelsblatt (in German). Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  64. ^ “Comdirect: Was Sie über die Datenpanne wissen müssen”. WirtschaftsWoche (in German). July 18, 2016. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  65. ^ Brächer, Michael; Dowideit, Martin (July 20, 2016). “Comdirect leistet Abbitte”. Handelsblatt (in German). p. 33.
  66. ^ Nebel, Erik (July 27, 2016). “Comdirect will Vertrauen zurückgewinnen”. Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). p. 9.
  67. ^ “London Investor Blitzes Commerzbank”. Handelsblatt. Archived from the original on July 18, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  68. ^ “BRIEF-Petrus Advisers to hike Comdirect stake to over 5 pct”. Reuters. September 21, 2017. Retrieved April 13, 2026.