Germany’s savings banks, the Sparkassen, have started selling crypto inside their everyday banking app. Since Monday, Oct. 19, customers at the first participating banks can buy, sell and hold Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, Solana and Polygon in the app “Sparkasse,” through a service called “Krypto – powered by Deka.”
The rollout is gradual. Five savings banks went first: Frankfurter Sparkasse, Taunus Sparkasse, Sparkasse Karlsruhe, Sparkasse Rottal-Inn and Niederrheinische Sparkasse RheinLippe, according to the German banking newsletter Platow. The savings banks association, the DSGV, told dpa that 30 to 40 more banks should join each month. There is no single nationwide start date. Each savings bank decides for itself when to switch the service on.
How it works
DekaBank, the securities house of the Sparkassen, runs the trading, holds the coins and handles customer support. Customers open a separate crypto account at DekaBank inside the app. A securities account is not required. Each order costs €0.99, DekaBank said in its announcement.
The fee is not the whole price. DekaBank quotes a price based on a market reference price plus its own spread, and its published documents do not put a number on that spread, CryptoCompass reported after reviewing the bank’s price list.
Two details matter for anyone used to crypto exchanges. First, the coins sit in a shared “omnibus” wallet, and DekaBank holds the private keys in trust for customers, according to its product page. Second, coins can only be sent out to wallet addresses of certain licensed crypto service providers. Sending them to any other address, such as a personal hardware wallet, is excluded.
The banks are not pushing it. The offer is for customers who decide on their own: no advice and no broad marketing, the DSGV said. Customers are warned about sharp price swings and the risk of total loss, and crypto holdings are not covered by Germany’s statutory deposit insurance.
Why it matters
The Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe says it serves around 50 million customers. Platow reported that more than 200 of the roughly 340 savings banks are considering the offer. Joachim Schmalzl, an executive board member at the DSGV, told dpa the group wants a large share of the interested banks connected in the first half of 2027. He said customer demand and a “reliable European legal framework,” meaning the EU’s MiCA crypto rules, drove the decision.
For years the savings banks stayed away from crypto as too risky, while app banks such as N26, Trade Republic and Revolut offered it. Germany’s cooperative Volksbanken recently started offering crypto, too. Now the Sparkassen are in.
The coin list is worth noticing. Next to Bitcoin and Ether, the first five include XRP, Solana and Polygon. At about 8:18 a.m. ET Tuesday, XRP traded near $1.30, Solana near $104 and Ether near $2,383, each down roughly 1% to 2% over 24 hours, according to CoinGecko.
A practical note: the service only shows up in the app once your own Sparkasse has switched it on. If you don’t see it yet, your bank hasn’t joined.
Sources: DekaBank; Deka Krypto product page; dpa-AFX (via finanzen.net); Golem; Platow; CryptoCompass; DSGV; CoinGecko