Question 1

What is Steyler Bank?

Accepted Answer

Steyler Bank is Germany's first ethical and sustainable bank, founded by the Steyler Missionaries (Society of the Divine Word). It is a private credit institution operating as a limited liability company (GmbH) with share capital of approximately €2.5 million.

The bank specializes in ethical investment, wealth management, and deposit services for private and institutional clients. As a church-affiliated bank, it invests exclusively according to strict social, ecological, and ethical criteria based on Christian values.

Question 2

When was Steyler Bank founded?

Accepted Answer

Steyler Bank was founded on December 4, 1963, under the name Steyler Missionssparinstitut Sankt Augustin GmbH. The bank was officially registered in the Commercial Register on February 13, 1964, and began operations immediately thereafter.

Prior to 1964, the Steyler Missionaries had been managing funds entrusted to them by supporters, using the interest income for missionary work. When German banking regulations no longer permitted this arrangement, the order decided to establish a proper banking institution. The bank was founded by the Steyler Missionaries (Divine Word Missionaries), a Catholic missionary order established by Saint Arnold Janssen in Steyl, Netherlands in 1875.

In 1999, the bank changed its name to Steyler Bank GmbH to reflect its expanded focus on securities and wealth management alongside traditional deposit services.

Question 3

Where is Steyler Bank headquartered?

Accepted Answer

Steyler Bank is headquartered in Sankt Augustin, Germany, located in the Cologne/Bonn metropolitan area of North Rhine-Westphalia. The bank's headquarters is situated at Arnold-Janssen-Straße 22, within the Steyler Mission complex.

Sankt Augustin is positioned between Bonn and Siegburg, making it easily accessible via the S-Bahn line 66 (station: Sankt Augustin Kloster) and the A560 motorway.

Question 4

Where does Steyler Bank operate?

Accepted Answer

Steyler Bank operates throughout Germany, with customers located across the entire federal territory. While approximately 25% of its roughly 16,000-18,000 customers come from the greater Cologne/Bonn region, the bank serves clients nationwide with a particular concentration in southern Germany (Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg).

The bank previously operated a branch in Austria at Mission House St. Gabriel in Maria Enzersdorf (opened in 2002, later relocated to Vienna in 2018). However, the Austrian branch was closed on December 31, 2017. Since January 1, 2018, the bank has offered banking products in Austria only through cross-border services (Freier Dienstleistungsverkehr).

Question 5

What services does Steyler Bank offer?

Accepted Answer

Steyler Bank offers a comprehensive range of ethical banking services:

Deposit Products: Current accounts (Fair 4 Girokonto), savings accounts, fixed-term deposits (Umwelt Sparbriefe), and time deposit accounts with market-competitive interest rates.

Investment Services: Securities accounts, ethical investment funds (Steyler Fair Invest Fonds for equities and bonds developed with M.M. Warburg & CO), asset management, and investment advisory services. All investments follow strict ethical, social, and ecological criteria.

Financing: Residential mortgage financing (Baufinanzierung) and consumer loans.

Foundation Services: Trust foundation management and advisory services. As of 2013, the bank managed 197 trustee foundations.

Digital Banking: Online banking platform and banking software provided through Atruvia AG's agree21 core banking system. The bank is a member of the CashPool network, giving customers access to over 2,000 ATMs throughout Germany for free cash withdrawals.

Insurance: Insurance products that meet the bank's ethical standards.

Question 6

What makes Steyler Bank unique?

Accepted Answer

First Ethical Bank in Germany: Founded in 1964, Steyler Bank was Germany's first ethical and sustainable bank, pioneering values-based banking decades before it became mainstream.

Catholic Missionary Bank: It is the only bank in Europe owned by a missionary order and the only Catholic order bank in Germany. All profits are directed to the Steyler Missionaries' humanitarian projects in approximately 80 countries worldwide. Over €100 million has been donated to these projects since the bank's founding.

Rigorous Ethical Investment Criteria: The bank applies comprehensive exclusion criteria based on justice, peace, and environmental protection. Investments exclude companies involved in child labor, nuclear energy, weapons manufacturing, animal testing, and environmental destruction. The bank employs a global "ethical scouting" network of human rights researchers in 80 countries who investigate corporate practices in developing nations.

Independent Ethics Committee: Since over 10 years, an independent ethics committee comprising experts from finance, academia, and civil society advises and monitors the bank's sustainability practices.

Customer Choice Donations: Customers can choose to donate a percentage of their interest earnings to support Steyler mission projects, with the bank matching these contributions.

Transparency: The bank publishes detailed reports on its sustainable investments and regularly receives awards from independent sustainability rating agencies like ECOreporter and adheres to the German Sustainability Code (Deutscher Nachhaltigkeitskodex - DNK).

Question 7

What type of financial institution is Steyler Bank?

Accepted Answer

Steyler Bank is classified as a credit institution (Kreditinstitut) under German banking law and is registered with the European Banking Authority (EBA) with entity type CRDCREINS.

It operates as a private bank (Privatbank) in the legal form of a limited liability company (GmbH). More specifically, it is a church-affiliated ethical bank (Kirchliche Bank) owned by the Society of the Divine Word (Steyler Missionaries).

The bank is supervised by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) and participates in the German deposit guarantee scheme operated by the Entschädigungseinrichtung deutscher Banken GmbH (EdB), which protects deposits up to €100,000 per customer.

Question 8

What is the Steyler Bank's connection to the Steyler Missionaries?

Accepted Answer

Steyler Bank is wholly owned by and serves the mission of the Steyler Missionaries (Society of the Divine Word, abbreviated SVD from the Latin Societas Verbi Divini). This Catholic missionary congregation was founded by Saint Arnold Janssen on September 8, 1875, in Steyl, Netherlands, during the German Kulturkampf when religious orders faced persecution.

The Steyler Missionaries are one of the largest international missionary congregations in the Catholic Church, with approximately 6,000 priests and brothers serving in over 80 countries. The order's core values—justice, peace, and preservation of creation—directly inform the bank's ethical investment criteria and business practices.

All profits generated by Steyler Bank support the missionaries' humanitarian and development projects worldwide, including schools, hospitals, social justice initiatives, and environmental conservation programs. Saint Arnold Janssen was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2003.

Question 9

How has Steyler Bank performed financially?

Accepted Answer

In 2023, Steyler Bank managed total assets of €228.58 million, representing a 2.74% decrease from 2022. Customer deposits totaled €203.6 million, while loans to customers were €91.2 million. The bank generated a net profit of €681,746 in 2023, a 151.44% increase compared to 2022.

The bank has faced challenges from the prolonged low-interest-rate environment in Europe. In 2012, the bank managed €409.4 million in customer assets and generated €0.32 million in profit. Together with customer interest and capital donations, the bank transferred €3.37 million to Steyler mission projects that year.

By 2017, the bank's profit had declined significantly to €36,000 due to compressed interest margins and rising administrative costs. However, recent performance suggests recovery with improved profitability in 2023. Despite financial pressures, the bank maintains its commitment to ethical investing and continues to support missionary projects globally.

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About Steyler Bank in Germany