Dr. Wolfgang Klein will become the CEO of Deutsche Postbank AG on July 1. He will be succeeding Prof. Wulf von Schimmelmann, who resigned his office as of June 30. Klein sees it as his main responsibility to defend and expand Postbank's leading position in retail banking. "Over the next few years, competition for retail customers will be getting tougher since a lot of banks have rediscovered this long-neglected target group. Postbank has excellent prospects of winning this race for the benefit of the customer. Thanks to our unique platform – almost 15 million customers, competitive products, a comprehensive network of branch offices and the largest bank-assisted mobile sales operation we are the best equipped to do so."
The new head of Postbank expressly praised his predecessor, Wulf von Schimmelmann: "He is the architect of this stable platform that we will now extend." Klein is seeking to advance Postbank by evolution, not revolution: "Customers can find free checking accounts on every street corner. We will convince them that our product is the original," emphasized Klein.
Klein's roadmap is to further the development of Postbank's strategy within the next half-year, adapting it to the current challenges. "We will be intensifying our quality and service. We also want to focus more on the satisfaction of our customers, consistently making this the measure of our success," he continued. Thus, he wishes to continue Postbank's success of recent years on a sustainable basis and also win over the capital market as to its capabilities. He intends to steer the bank towards success by systematically addressing its enormous customer base. "The time has come to raise Postbank's treasure," announced Klein.
Portrait of Wolfgang Klein
Since joining Postbank in 2001, Dr. Wolfgang Klein (43) has been on the front line in shaping its success. As a Managing Board member, he was responsible for product marketing and mobile sales. As part of Postbank's IPO in 2004, Klein also played a key role in presenting the Bank to the capital markets. Not least, he also gained valuable experience as the Managing Board member responsible for integration following the acquisition of the BHW Group and the 850 branches of Deutsche Post.
After graduating from high school and training as a banker, Klein earned his Master of Business Administration in 1990 at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA. In 1991, he graduated as a Master of Economics from the private Witten/Herdecke University. Klein's professional career began in 1991 at McKinsey&Company Inc., Düsseldorf, as a member of the Financial Institutions group. In 1996, he transferred to Dresdner Bank AG, Frankfurt, as a department leader. There he was responsible for basic issues and strategic projects in the retail and investment consultancy customers division. In 1997, Klein was made an executive manager of Dresdner Bank's Direktbank subsidiary, responsible for marketing and sales. In 1998, Klein joined the Deutscher Sparkassen- und Giroverband (DSGV). As member of its management board, he was responsible for IT strategy, cards/e-Commerce, payments and risk controlling. Klein was born in Bottrop 1964. He is married and has one son.
Press photo of Dr. Wolfgang Klein:
www.postbank.com/klein
