By Kate Connolly in Berlin (Filed: 06/12/2005)
A bank for women is being launched in Germany with the
aim of liberating female customers from dealing with patronising,
traditional bank managers. Its founder, Astrid Hastreiter,
a 41-year-old information technology specialist, said women
wanted more thorough advice from their bank managers and more
understanding about career breaks. Frauenbank, in Munich,
has been set up, to begin with, as a financial advisory service
on everything from investments to retirement plans for women.
Miss Hastreiter has to raise around £7 million before she
can secure a bank licence, after which she plans to offer
full banking services. Support for her idea is growing. Her
Munich branch has 300 customers so far. Next year she plans
to open further branches in three other German cities, and
by 2007 hopes to be able to offer credit for the first time.
At a period when Germans are saving more than ever and women
are the most averse to taking risks, Miss Hastreiter believes
Frauenbank has a big future. "It is extraordinary how many
German women avoid talking about their money and what to do
with it, simply because they are not keen to sit opposite
a sharp-suited banker who has little understanding of their
needs," she said. Frauenbank's customers are typically university-educated
women between 30 and 55. There is also "a handful" of male
clients. "We are women friendly,
but that does not mean that we are hostile to men,"
Miss Hastreiter said.
