On the bank

Directly on the River West Günz is the Raifeisenbank branch office and on the opposite river bank the baker where I was picking up a late evening loaf of bread.

The glass window and the double horse head logo of the bank, reminded me of two Blip sisters who have been in many Blipers thoughts of late.

One can see the "Raiffeisen" Bank name can be seen in many countries in mainland Europe and was named after the original Swiss founder of a agricultural/rural banking cooperative. Today at least in Germany, they continue to be run as cooperatives and have a large market share (24%) but in terms of funds, are smaller (18%) basically reflecting their generally "lower income" customers. I am sure the UK must have a cooperative bank somewhere - the well known Co-Operative Bank in the UK isn't one!

Angie works for a German building society. It may seem strange but Germany has "truer" building society businesses than the UK where the building society movement originates, in Birmingham, England.

Here one elects a mortgage value and is expected to save for years, getting steady but low interest. Once one has achieved a given points target, a combination of time and saved value, the total mortgage value is paid out and one then pays back the balance not yet saved at an agreed "low" interest rate.

This helps to explain why Germans tend to own their first home later in age than many in the UK, as they have to have saved probably 50% of the mortgage value first. Also explains why Germans seldom move home once they have built. They generally don't have another mortgage plan being saved for, running alongside the one for the first build,

It does mean the house prices are not so volatile as in the UK but one has to say the very low interest rates of the last decade have now brought the building societies to their knees. The commercial banks can nowadays offer immediate mortgages at rates below the building societies.

An uncertain world.