Germany's network of savings banks has rolled out a new digital securities trading feature called S-Neo within its existing banking application, opening access to more than 21,000 financial instruments including exchange-traded funds for retail investors beginning this week.
The rollout immediately reaches roughly 20 million registered app users, about half of whom do not currently hold a securities account. Non-customers will be able to sign up around the turn of 2026 to 2027.
Pricing will vary across the network, as each of the 338 individual Sparkassen sets its own fees for the service rather than adopting a uniform fee structure. The move positions the publicly owned lenders to compete more directly with low-cost brokerage apps that have attracted younger investors in recent years.