Your money in the bank. From the 100,001st euro, you have no legal claim.
Up to €100,000 per customer, per bank, you have a legal right to compensation. For everything above that there are only voluntary promises the banks make to one another. If a bank goes into resolution, that money can even be used to cover its losses.
NewVolksbank Brawo needs up to €723 millionUpdated on · Michael Jung, Broker specialising in tangible assets
September 2026
What happened at Volksbank Brawo?
A cooperative bank from Braunschweig and Wolfsburg. Regional, member-owned, to its customers the very picture of safe. Then a loss of €608 million. The bank held around 400 stakes and subsidiaries: a brewery, restaurants, gyms, villas on Mallorca. On 15 September 2026 it became known that the other cooperative banks have to support it with up to €723 million.
The customers lost nothing. This time.
The other banks paid, out of a pot they fill voluntarily. No saver has a legal claim to that money. The claim applies only up to €100,000.
- up to €723 million
- Support for Volksbank Brawo (Braunschweig/Wolfsburg) from the protection scheme of the German cooperative banks: €473 million in guarantees and up to €250 million in capital. The largest known case at a cooperative bank.
- €608 million
- Loss at Volksbank Brawo before the support. 96% of the write-downs came from business outside banking, mainly property.
- ≈ 400
- stakes and subsidiaries of Volksbank Brawo, including a brewery, restaurants, a gym chain and villa projects on Mallorca
Not a one-off
Is this an isolated case? No.
Since the start of 2024, ten cooperative banks have needed help. Almost every time it was about property. The four largest cases:
- Volksbank Brawo, 2026up to €723 million
- VR-Bank Bad Salzungen Schmalkalden€560 million
- Raiffeisenbank im Hochtaunusover €500 million
- Volksbank Dortmund-Nordwest€134 million
Your balance
How much of your money is protected by law?
Enter each bank separately. Current account, instant-access savings, fixed-term deposits and passbook savings at the same institution count together.
Your banks and balances
Limit €100,000 · protected €100,000 · without a claim €150,000
- Total balance
- €250,000
- Protected by law
- €100,000
- Without a legal claim
- €150,000
For €150,000 you are relying on voluntary promises from the banks. You cannot go to court for this amount.
Simplified, per customer, per bank. Securities in your custody account belong to you anyway and do not fall under this limit. Not legal advice.
Of €250,000, €100,000 is protected by law. For €150,000 there is no legal claim.
How far above the limit are you? Just ask:+49 170 7676706Free of charge, no appointment needed. Consultations in German and English.
The same calculator with its own address, to pass on and to print: deposit protection calculator.
Bail-in
What happens when a bank is resolved?
Since 2015 the rule has been that taxpayers do not pay first. Everyone who gave the bank money does. In this order. Covered deposits up to €100,000 are expressly excluded.
- 1
Owners
Shareholders and members lose their stakes.
- 2
Creditors
The bank's bonds are written down or swapped for shares.
- 3
Deposits above €100,000
As the last step, your balance above the limit as well.
It has happened before. Cyprus 2013: deposits above €100,000 at Bank of Cyprus were converted into bank shares at 47.5%. Savings banks and cooperative banks aim to prevent a resolution with their own protection scheme, as is happening now at Volksbank Brawo. That works as long as the other banks can pay and want to.
What you can do
Three steps. No panic, but now.
01
Spread it
No more than €100,000 per bank. The simplest protection, and it costs nothing.
02
Ownership, not a claim
Gold and silver in bars or coins belong to you, not to the bank. They are not a deposit and are not caught by a bail-in.
03
Have it checked
Michael Jung looks with you at where your money sits and which part of it is really protected.
04
A second legal system
In the USA 250,000 US dollars are protected per person and bank. What an account there asks of you, and what speaks against it, is on the page US account.
More on all the risks in the asset protection overview, more on an account in a second currency under US account.
Common questions
Answered briefly.
Is my money at the Volksbank safe?
Up to €100,000 per customer, per bank, by law. Above that, the protection scheme of the German cooperative banks (BVR) applies, a voluntary system run by the banks. By its own account it has prevented every failure so far, most recently at Volksbank Brawo. You have no legal entitlement to it.
Does the €100,000 limit apply per account?
No, per customer, per bank. All accounts at the same bank count together: current account, instant-access savings, fixed-term deposits and passbook savings.
What applies after a house sale or an inheritance?
Then the statutory protection can rise to up to €500,000 for six months, for example for the proceeds of the home you lived in yourself. After that, the limit of €100,000 applies again.
Read on
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Several banks, joint accounts and the six-month case, calculated in one go. Result as a link or on paper.
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All heirs with their shares, and the family home you live in. Result as a link or on paper.
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Written and reviewed by
Michael Jung
Broker specialising in tangible assets · Insurance broker
- 1996Certified Insurance Specialist (Geprüfter Versicherungskaufmann, IHK)
- 2003Certified Finance Specialist (Geprüfter Finanzwirt, bbw)
- 2005Master Consultant in Finance
- 2016–17Senior Consultant, precious metals advisor (Edelmetallberater, GG-Akademie Berlin)
- 2021Certified under DIN 77230, the German standard for financial analysis (DEFINO)
- 2023Florida Premium Real Estate certification
Insurance broker licensed under § 34d GewO · German register of intermediaries D-5D7P-3694H-28 · Last reviewed on
Free initial consultation
How much of your money sits above the limit?
Michael Jung works it through with you, bank by bank. Free and without obligation, by phone too.
Consultations in German and English.