Starting in July 2004, Postbank will process the German domestic and parts of the foreign payment transactions for Deutsche Bank. An agreement on this was signed today. For both institutions, this cooperation is a step in the implementation of their strategic objectives: Postbank is continuing to expand its Transaction Banking business. Deutsche Bank will be able to concentrate even more on its core businesses. For the banks' clients, nothing will change. Their accounts will continue to be kept, as before, with their respective banks.

Postbank is already one of the market leaders in payment transactions with approximately 10 million transactions per day. Based on today's agreement to handle Deutsche Bank's payment transactions, along with Dresdner Bank's payments, agreed upon in March, Postbank will have a market share of over 15% of the domestic payments in Germany. Postbank intends to continue to expand the role it plays in transaction banking by offering its services to other credit institutions. “Thanks to our streamlined structures and our modern technology, our partners can reduce their costs in payments and we can generate additional revenues. Our objective is a standardized payment transaction platform in which other client banks can be integrated," emphasized Professor Dr. Wulf von Schimmelmann, Chairman of the Board of Management of Deutsche Postbank AG.

In return, Postbank will transfer to Deutsche Bank its U.S. dollar clearing business and its worldwide foreign transaction banking outside of the EU. Deutsche Bank is thus strengthening its core competencies in offering global cash management solutions and the settlement of foreign payment transactions, in particular for institutional and corporate clients. Hermann-Josef Lamberti, member of the Board of Managing Directors and Chief Operating Officer of Deutsche Bank: “As part of the cooperation on transaction payments, we will contribute approximately 1.7 billion transactions per year. At the same time, we are expanding our leading position in global cash management and clearing. As a result, both parties are advancing by taking concrete steps to achieve joint synergies in transaction banking.”

In implementing the contract, the company “Betriebscenter für Banken Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG” (BCB) will acquire DB Payments AG effective on July 1. With registered headquarters in Frankfurt am Main, BCB is a 100% subsidiary of Postbank and will provide Deutsche Bank with payment transaction services in the accustomed high quality.

The agreement signed today is still subject to the approval of the regulatory authorities.