Introduction - Genossenschaftsverband Bayern

kilometres to the next branch office of a Bavarian Volksbank and
Raiffeisenbank. For big banks, it is more than six kilometres. The
Bavarian cooperative banks ensure the supply of the population and
SMEs with banking and financial services in cities as well as in rural
areas. Over 70 per cent of the customers appreciate branch office
banking. For them, personal advice and guidance is elementary in
their relationship to their bank.
Different from the branch offices of bank groups, cooperative
banks act locally autonomous as independent enterprises that are not
subject to directives from a central institute. Therefore, they are able
to adapt well to local conditions and requirements of their region.
This is reflected in the business strategy and service range specifically
designed to suit the market. Local and regionally-rooted business
structures ensure the state-wide supply of all parts of the population
with financial services.
4 Corporate citizenship
Through their socio-political orientation as branch offices in the
region for the region, the Bavarian Volksbanks and Raiffeisenbanks
play a central role for the economic development and stability of the
rural areas in Bavaria. Combining the cooperative support mandate
and the membership-oriented business principle, human beings are in
the centre of business activities. The Bavarian cooperative banks
show this also by their engagement for charity, sports and non-profit
purposes. Since the year 2000, the Bavarian Volksbanks and Raiffeisenbanks
have allocated about 21 million Euro for social purposes.
Another 660,000 Euro were allocated by the Raiffeisen/Schulze-
Delitzsch Foundation for the upkeep of Bavarian cultural assets. The
payout of the Gewinnsparverein Bayern e.V. serves non-profit, social
and charitable purposes. The Gewinnsparverein, which is the lottery
of the Bavarian Volksbanks and Raiffeisenbanks, has the ambition to
promote the savings propensity of the people by selling lottery
tickets and simultaneously act for the public interest. Between the
26 III Business principles