Online Broker Comdirect Allies With German Web Portal To Bring In More Custom

Philip Morton, Investors Offshore.com

09 March 2001

As the online broking war heats up in Europe, German online broking giant Comdirect is linking up with German Internet portal Web.de to try and win more customers. Comdirect already has an alliance with T-Online International, which is not expected to be affected by this latest announcement.

Comdirect will offer what it hopes will prove to be an incentive of 100 euros worth of Web.de shares to get the Web firm's 3.5 million users to open securities trading accounts. The brokerage is anxious to maintain its dominance in a market where many firms are vying for business. Earlier this week, the German Savings Banks Association (Deutscher Sparkassen-und Giroverband, or DSGV) said it was to take over Dusseldorf-based broker pulsiv.com in order to really gain a foothold in the online marketplace. And several regional German banks, including the Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg, are building their own platforms.

Of its new alliance with Comdirect, Web.de said in a statement: 'This cooperation allows all parties to profit. Comdirect wins new customers and Web.de generates significant new sales'. Comdirect will give 50 euros worth of Web.de shares when a user of the Internet portal opens an account and a further 50 euros if they carry out five trades in the following three months. It will also pay Web.de an undisclosed commission.

A Comdirect spokesman said the company was also working with T-Online, putting together a new version of their "Surf and Trade" product, which they hope to launch in the next few weeks. "Surf and Trade," introduced last year, offers incentives, such as waiving T-Online's monthly fee if customers carry out a certain number of trades per month.

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