Pax-Bank

The bank was founded as a self-help organization by and for priests in 1917 in Cologne. The bank opened branches in Aachen in 1958, Berlin in 1992, Erfurt in 1992, Essen in 1958, Mainz in 1985 and Trier in 1980. In 2001 the bank opened a representative office in Rome in close proximity to the Vatican.

Since 2005 the bank annually awards the "Pax-Bank-Preis" (Pax-Bank-Award) for Interfaith dialogue and receives consulting for it by the "Georges-Anawati-Stiftung" (Georges-Anawati-Foundation). The €5,000 price is presented by the chief executive.

In 2017 the former German Federal President Christian Wulff was honored for his dedication and contribution to the intercultural-religious dialog.

In August 2009 it was made public that one of the bank's non-ethical investment funds held shares of a defense contractor, a tobacco company and of a pharmaceutics manufacturer, which also produces contraceptives. Immediately after this became public knowledge, the corporate management divested the affected papers. In addition, the control mechanisms were refined and the ethical alignment of all funds were checked. As the subsidiary "PBA Uerlichs + Finger Versicherungsvermittlungs-GmbH" offers Pax-Bank customers individual insurance products.

In 2018, Pax-Bank was the first church bank in Germany to offer a crowdfunding platform. Charitable and public Institutions and providers can present and circulate their project ideas on the platform and thereby generate the needed funds.