DZ Bank and WestLB to Cooperate in the Payments Field
- WestLB plans to acquire shareholding in Transaktionsinstitut of DZ BANK
- Market share will rise to 25 per cent
WestLB AG, Düsseldorf/Münster, and DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral-Genossenschaftsbank, Frankfurt am Main, plan to cooperate in the domestic and international payments field. The two banks have signed an agreement to this effect setting out their cooperation and participation plans. Under the agreement, WestLB will acquire a shareholding in Transaktionsinstitut für Zahlungsverkehrsdienstleistungen AG (TAI), a wholly owned subsidiary of DZ BANK. Both banks will carry out due diligence proceedings at the beginning of 2004. Subject to approval by the responsible bodies, it is planned to launch a migration project in the second quarter of 2004.
The pooling of the two banks´ payments activities in the Transaktionsinstitut will lead to an annual processing volume of almost five billion transactions. As a result, the Transaktionsinstitut will expand its leading position in the German payments market to 25 per cent. Both banks will contribute state-of-the-art payments systems to the Transaktionsinstitut. The cooperation will enable the banks to achieve annual cost savings amounting to several millions of euros in the long term. As a full service provider, the Transaktionsinstitut offers its customers the entire spectrum of domestic and international payments services. The principal places of business will be Frankfurt am Main and Düsseldorf.
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If you have questions, please contact:
Hans Albers, Press Department, WestLB, Tel.: +49 211 826-3072
Sylke Grussendorf, Press Office, DZ BANK AG, Tel. +49 69 7447-2381
Michael Steinbach, Board Spokesman, TAI AG, Tel. +49 69 589993-60230