The SozialBank AG is a specialized commercial bank for companies, institutions and organizations from the areas of health, social services (support for the elderly and disabled people, child and youth services) and education which is located in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. SozialBank is owned by the holding company "BFS SozialFinanz AG".

Ownership

The bank was founded in March 1923 at the urging of the Reichsarbeitsministeriums (federal ministry of labor) as financial institute of the ''Freie Wohlfahrtspflege'' (free social welfare services) and operated in the beginning under the name ''Hilfskasse gemeinnütziger Wohlfahrtseinrichtungen Deutschlands G.m.b.H.'' In 1929 it became the ''Berufsgenossenschaft für Gesundheitsdienst und Wohlfahrtspflege''. Still today

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of corporate stock refers to an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the ...

s of the bank are

umbrella organization An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and iden ...

s of the free social welfare and its

foundations Foundation(s) or The Foundation(s) may refer to: Common uses * Foundation (cosmetics), a skin-coloured makeup cream applied to the face * Foundation (engineering), the element of a structure which connects it to the ground, and transfers loads f ...

. Stockholders are the '' Deutscher Caritasverband'' and the foundation ''Kronenkreuz'' (

Diakonisches Werk The Diakonie Deutschland is a charitable organization of Protestant churches in Germany ( Protestant Church in Germany), Austria as well as numerous free churches. Its Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catho ...

) with each 25,5%, ' (labor welfare association) with 7,9 %, ' (parity welfare association) with 3,6 %,

German Red Cross The German Red Cross (GRC) ( ; DRK) is the national Red Cross Society in Germany. During the Nazi era, the German Red Cross was under the control of the Nazi Party and played a role in supporting the regime's policies, including the exclusion ...

with 2,4 % and ' (Jewish welfare association) with 0,7 %. The rest is free float.

Business mission

The SozialBank offers all services and products of a

universal bank A universal bank is a type of bank which participates in many kinds of banking activities and is both a commercial bank and an investment bank as well as providing other financial services such as insurance. These are also called full-service ...

. However, it is a specialized commercial bank in regards to its limited range of

customer In sales, commerce, and economics, a customer (sometimes known as a Client (business), client, buyer, or purchaser) is the recipient of a Good (economics), good, service (economics), service, product (business), product, or an Intellectual prop ...

s. The

consulting A consultant (from "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice or services in an area of specialization (generally to medium or large-size corporations). Cons ...

is focused on the traditional business and includes not only banking specific aspects but also financing terms and conditions of health and social management. Those are especially shaped by

social insurance Social insurance is a form of Social protection, social welfare that provides insurance against economic risks. The insurance may be provided publicly or through the subsidizing of private insurance. In contrast to other forms of Welfare spend ...

s and social legislation. In addition, the bank offers branch specific products such as social economic mezzanine fonds, online- factoring and

services Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a ...

for donation-based organizations. Services like production site and competitor analysis for care homes,

feasibility studies A feasibility study is an assessment of the practicality of a project or system. A feasibility study aims to objectively and rationally uncover the strengths and weaknesses of an existing business or proposed venture, opportunities and threats pr ...

, collateral value assessments and valuation reports, a wide-ranging seminar program as well as publications and presentations on the latest legal and economic issues in the health and social management sector are also on offer at SozialBank. SozialBank operates in 16 locations in Germany (

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

) and runs a

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an office in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

BFS Service GmbH

BFS Service GmbH was founded in 1989 as a subsidiary of the Bank for Social Economy. It is based in Cologne's Rheinauhafen. The purchase of receivables (factoring) is the main business area of BFS Service GmbH. Customers include outpatient nursing services, rescue services, patient transport, hospitals and rehabilitation clinics that pre-finance their services through BFS Service GmbH. In addition, the company has specialized in the areas of consulting and analysis as well as the preparation of reports (mortgage value reports, traffic and market value reports) for the health and social economy.

Key figures

Anti-Semitism accusation

The

Simon Wiesenthal Center The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is a Jewish human rights organization established in 1977 by Rabbi Marvin Hier. The center is known for Holocaust research and remembrance, hunting Nazi war criminals, combating antisemitism, tolerance educati ...

listed the bank in its annual list of the ten worst global

anti-Semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

incidents (after 1945) in 2018. The reason was an account that it held which led to the European Jews for a Just Peace (EJJP). According to various sources, this group of

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and

Israelis Israelis (; ) are the Israeli citizenship law, citizens and nationals of the Israel, State of Israel. The country's populace is composed primarily of Israeli Jews, Jews and Arab citizens of Israel, Arabs, who respectively account for 75 percen ...

is linked to

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a nonviolent Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel. Its objective is to pressure Israel to meet what the BDS movement describes as Israel's ...

. The account was terminated, which in turn also attracted protests. Because of this event, the bank commissioned

Juliane Wetzel Juliane Wetzel (born 1957 in Munich) is a German historian. Wetzel is a senior researcher at the Centre for Research on Antisemitism, Technische Universität Berlin.Bergmann, Werner & Wetzel, Juliane. nbsp;, Center for Research on Antisemitism, ...

, a staff member of the Berlin Center for Research on Antisemitism, to examine whether or not the "Jewish Voice", a German EJJP member organization, was anti-Semitic. This also sparked protests: Iris Hefets, of the executive committee of the "Jewish Voice", revolted in January 2019 that her organization, consisting exclusively of Jews, on behalf of a German bank should be found as "guilty or acquitted of anti-Semitism by a German expert". In a press statement, the bank decisively rejected the reproach of the anti-Semitism. It has no business relationship with the BDS campaign, nor does it support its objectives: "Boycotting aimed at destabilizing the state of Israel is incompatible with our corporate policies. The BDS campaign would never get an account with us."

References

External links

Official Website

Official website of the holding BFS SozialFinanz AG
{{Authority control Banks of Germany Medical and health organisations based in Germany Banks established in 1923 German companies established in 1923