Frankfurt and Berlin
Frankfurt has the European Central Bank, the Deutsche Bundesbank, Deutsche Börse and the head offices of the largest German banks. Berlin, the capital, has the federal government and 189 active fintechs according to the Investitionsbank Berlin, more than Munich and Frankfurt together. Direct ICE trains connect the two cities in about four hours.
For a fintech from Berlin, Frankfurt is where its supervisors and many of its bank partners sit. The ECB grants every banking license in the euro area from Frankfurt, BaFin supervises from Bonn and Frankfurt, and Berlin has no financial supervisor of its own.
Banking licenses for Berlin neobanks
Since November 2014 the European Central Bank has granted and withdrawn the licenses of all banks in the euro area, including the neobanks from Berlin. N26 received its full banking license in 2016, Solaris followed in 2017, and Trade Republic obtained its license from the ECB in 2023.
The day-to-day supervision of these banks lies with BaFin and the Bundesbank. In October 2021 BaFin limited N26 to 50,000 new customers per month because of shortcomings in IT and outsourcing risk management, and it lifted the limit with effect from 1 June 2024. The ECB Banking Supervision in Frankfurt directly supervises only the largest banks of the euro area.
Laws from Berlin, supervision from Bonn and Frankfurt
The Federal Ministry of Finance has worked from the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus on Wilhelmstraße in Berlin since 1999. It drafts the German financial market laws, oversees BaFin and sends its bills to the Bundestag, which passes them in Berlin.
BaFin has two seats, in Bonn and Frankfurt, and its securities supervision works from Frankfurt. A fintech from Berlin applies for a payment, e-money or crypto license with BaFin and deals with the supervisors in Bonn or Frankfurt, depending on the license.
How Frankfurt took over from Berlin
Berlin was the leading financial center of Germany until the Second World War. After the division of the city the role passed to Frankfurt: the Bank deutscher Länder, the forerunner of the Bundesbank, was founded there in 1948, and Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Bank moved their head offices to Frankfurt in 1957.
In the Global Financial Centres Index of September 2026 Frankfurt ranked 29th overall and Berlin 45th. The Berlin financial center rose nine places in the fintech ranking of the same index to 21st, while Frankfurt came 45th there.
Fintech hubs and banks in both cities
The House of Finance and Tech Berlin counts Deutsche Bank, Solaris, Qonto and N26 among its first members and held its kick-off with Mark Branson, the President of BaFin, as a guest. Its CEO Sebastian Schäfer ran TechQuartier in Frankfurt for eight years before he moved to Berlin.
J.P. Morgan SE, the Frankfurt-based EU bank of JPMorganChase, launched its digital bank Chase on 20 May 2026 from Berlin, where more than 150 experts work for it.
Upcoming finance and fintech events in Frankfurt and Europe
Does BaFin have an office in Berlin?
BaFin has no office in Berlin and supervises banks, payment institutions and investment firms from its two seats in Bonn and Frankfurt. In Berlin sits the Federal Ministry of Finance, which oversees BaFin and drafts the laws that BaFin applies.
Is Berlin or Frankfurt the fintech capital of Germany?
Berlin has more fintechs, with 189 active firms counted by the Investitionsbank Berlin, and it ranked 21st for fintech in the Global Financial Centres Index of September 2026. Frankfurt ranked 45th for fintech but 29th overall, ahead of Berlin, because it has the central banks, Deutsche Börse and the largest banks.
Frankfurt contacts for teams from Berlin
Finance Loop is a professional network for emerging technologies in finance with more than 4,000 members, built in collaboration with Frankfurt Main Finance and TechQuartier. Finance Loop started in Frankfurt and holds events in Berlin as well, so founders from Berlin meet banks, asset managers and supervisors from Frankfurt at the same table.
A team from Berlin can meet Frankfurt banks at events such as Frankfurt Digital Finance and get personal introductions from the Finance Loop team. Anyone working in finance, IT or AI can sign up for the free Network Membership.
Frankfurt, Berlin and Finance Loop
Finance Loop started in Frankfurt and holds events in Berlin, Munich and Hamburg, and its Bitcoin for Investors masterclass takes place in Berlin. Founders from Berlin meet the Frankfurt banks and supervisors they sell to or answer to at Finance Loop events in both cities.
Finance Loop is a professional network and has the goal of driving the institutional use of emerging technologies in finance, such as AI, tokenization, stablecoins, and DeFi. Finance Loop helps its members build skills and personal networks in these fields: Investment & Digital Assets, Payments & Digital Money, Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty, and Risk & Compliance.