Deutsche Postbank, the banking services division of Deutsche Post, is to acquire Deutsche Bank's payments subsidiary, DB Payments, along with Dresdner Bank's transaction processing business, Dresdner Zahlungsverkehrsservice. Financial terms have not been disclosed.
Under the agreements, Postbank will provide payment processing services to both banks.
Postbank says it will become one of the leading payments clearing houses in Germany as a result of this deal.
Herbert Walter, chairman of the board of managing directors at Dresdner Bank, comments: "By taking this important step, we can structure our business operations more efficiently and concentrate fully on our clients."
All three banks also plan to develop a joint SAP-based platform. Postbank is currently moving its back office processes onto a SAP platform, which was developed to enable it to provide payment processing and administrative services to other banks.
Deutsche Post recently announced plans to sell a minority stake in its Postbank banking business in an initial public stock offering (IPO). Wulf von Schimmelmann, chairman of the management board, Deutsche Postbank, says the acquisitions are "an important component of the planned IPO".
"The capacity of our platform will be used more efficiently. Thus, we can present a win-win situation for everyone involved: our partners will be able to reduce their costs; we will be able to increase our revenues," adds Schimmelmann.