“By achieving this robust profit, the German cooperative banks exceeded the targets that they had set for themselves. This is a sign of the trust placed in us by more than 30 million customers and 17.5 million members,” said Marija Kolak, President of the Bundesverband der Deutschen Volksbanken und Raiffeisenbanken (BVR) [National Association of German Cooperative Banks], commenting on the presentation of the results for the year. “Even in a sixth consecutive year of economic stagnation, the cooperative banks supported their customers – many of which are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – through challenging times.” 
Everything is pointing to continued uncertainty. According to Kolak, Russia’s war against Ukraine and the refocusing of US foreign policy were already putting Europe under a huge amount of pressure to adapt. “And now the war in Iran is making it clear to us how fragile the geopolitical situation is and how sensitive our trade and energy relationships are. Europe and Germany are being forced to reduce their critical dependencies and systematically renew their economic strengths,” explained Kolak. Free trade agreements and the savings and investments union (SIU) could play a key role in this regard. However, the BVR President is not in favor of eurobonds or of prolonged high debt levels in Germany. “Rather than resolving structural problems, additional debt will restrict future headroom,” she said. 

Against this backdrop, Kolak believes that the prospects for business in Germany are mixed. There is cause for optimism because the economy may well emerge from its lengthy phase of weakness in 2026. The federal government has taken important steps with its package of investment in infrastructure, climate change mitigation, and defense. It is now the job of the coalition partners to tackle the structural renewal that is needed and to “finally act resolutely to create the right conditions for a new form of competitiveness”. In the long term, however, it is vital to remain vigilant because there is significant variation across Germany’s rural areas in terms of sectoral structures, demographics, skilled labor, infrastructure, and real estate markets. Forecasts for 2035 that the BVR has drawn up in collaboration with the Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (IW) [German Economic Institute] underline the need for targeted, nuanced regional policy. “The future viability of Germany’s business landscape is now being renegotiated in each administrative district. Economic policy does not yet adequately reflect reality. More than 70 percent of the population live in towns with fewer than 300,000 residents, which is why there needs to be a focus on expanding financial support to include rural areas and medium-sized towns and ensuring that it is geared to their requirements,” added Kolak. In major conurbations, by contrast, the top priority is more housing.
In terms of the German banking market, the BVR President considers the cooperative banks to be broadly positioned. “We want to deliver what tomorrow’s customers will expect from banking,” emphasized Kolak. She explains that the Cooperative Financial Network has developed new products and services aimed at young and tech-savvy customers, such as investment account models and cryptotrading, and has initiated strategic projects relating to current accounts and brokerage for this target group. The network is also forging ahead with expanding its digital offering and streamlining its digital transaction and service processes. The cooperative banks see artificial intelligence first and foremost as an opportunity. Analysis from Atruvia shows that more than 90 percent of young people now use digital channels. By 2030, roughly half of their interactions with banks will be entirely digital. That is why the Cooperative Financial Network’s center of excellence for AI is coming up with answers of relevance to the customer interfaces of tomorrow. At the same time, the cooperative banks and amberra are making inroads into new areas of business relating to homes, health, sustainability, and regional business. To this end, a total of €100 million in innovation capital has been placed into the first amberra fund. 

A year of growth for customer business
Lending and deposit volumes went up at an almost identical pace in 2025: Loans and advances rose by 3.8 percent to €827 billion while customer deposits swelled by 3.7 percent to €925 billion. The combined total assets of the cooperative banks grew by 2.7 percent to €1,240 billion. Net interest income climbed by 5.1 percent to €21.5 billion, thereby hitting a five-year high. This was due to a fall in interest expense of 14.0 percent, whereas interest income declined by 2.1 percent. Net fee and commission income rose by 2.0 percent to €6.7 billion. As in previous years, this income was predominantly attributable to payments processing, intermediary business, and securities business. General and administrative expenses advanced by 2.9 percent in the reporting period. This was primarily driven by staff expenses, which increased by 4.6 percent to €9.8 billion owing to collectively negotiated pay rises. The number of employees grew by 1.9 percent to 139,500. The ratio of trainees to total employees reached 8 percent, thereby setting another record. Competition for talented young workers remains fierce in the financial sector because banks are increasingly having to strengthen their skills and expertise in fields such as digitalization and AI.

Operating income went up by 6.9 percent to €10.7 billion. The cost/income ratio improved to 62.1 percent, compared with 63.0 percent in the previous year. Operating profit before gains and losses on valuation advanced by 6.3 percent to €11.7 billion, while fair value gains and losses came to a high net loss of €2.2 billion but remained stable. Impairment losses of €0.2 billion were recognized on securities, above all due to the change in interest-rate levels. The equity reported on the cooperative banks’ balance sheets rose by 3.7 percent to €69 billion as at December 31, 2025. Reserves swelled by 3.3 percent to €50 billion, while cooperative shares – i.e. subscribed capital – grew by 4.8 percent to €19 billion. Particularly given the high level of investment needed among SMEs, such as for energy efficiency improvements and digitalization, this strong equity base is important as it allows the lending business to continue to grow. Regulatory own funds climbed by 5.8 percent to €125.3 billion. Affected by the introduction of the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) III, the common equity Tier 1 capital ratio edged down by 0.28 percentage points to 16.07 percent. Profit before taxes rose by 10.1 percent to €9.5 billion. A sum of €4.5 billion is expected to be transferred to the fund for general banking risks. Taxes of €2.8 billion were paid, giving a likely profit after taxes of €2.3 billion.