Postbank integrated the previous year’s acquisitions in its operating business. In order to reinforce its sales organisation and leverage synergies, investments were made in the IT systems that facilitate customer advice and selling activities, and in the modern multi-channel architecture. Other spending took place in connection with the supervisory regulations governing risk capital requirements (Basel II) and the establishment of a loan factory at BHW Bausparkasse. In line with our aim to develop and establish Postbank as the premier bank for small and medium-sized businesses, we extended the corporate banking strategy in the credit business. We also refined the branch concept and tested it in eight locations. The goal is to make the branches more appealing. In this way, we aim to retain and acquire customers, and improve the cross-selling ratio with existing clients. In transaction banking, we have established a payment transaction platform with multi-client capability and are developing a solution for archiving our own and third-party data.