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Jeden Monat nähern sich unsere Kolumnisten, die Berliner Filmemacher Dominik und Benjamin Reding, dem jeweiligen Heftthema
auf ihre ganz eigene Art und Weise. Geboren wurden die Zwillinge am 3. Januar 1969 in Dortmund. Während Dominik Architektur
in Aachen und Film in Hamburg studierte, absolvierte Benjamin ein Schauspielstudium in Stuttgart. 1997 begann die Arbeit an ihrem
ersten gemeinsamen Kinofilm „Oi! Warning“. Seitdem arbeiten sie für Fernseh- und Kinofilmprojekte zusammen.

Each month our columnists, Berlin-based filmmakers Dominik and Benjamin Reding, approach the respective issue-specific theme
in their very personal way. The twins were born on January 3, 1969 in Dortmund. Whilst Dominik studied architecture in Aachen
and film in Hamburg, Benjamin graduated in acting studies in Stuttgart. They started working on their first joint motion picture “Oi!
Warning“ in 1997. Since then they have tightly collaborated for TV and cinema film projects.

T ime flies. Every three days a new hairstyle (among the guys, the top knot, the lieve? He used to sit on the left side of the classroom, I on the right. He was good in
quiff, the taper fades, the French crop and the braids; for the gals, the choppy
maths, I wasn’t. Sometimes, he tutored me. He graduated from highschool the same
cut, French Bangs and the wolf cut); a new fashion trend (for instance the mono- year, studied national economics and international business in Freiburg, Paris and
chrome look, bra tops, XXL look, boho chic, vintage denim and, for the guys, letter Detroit, became chief economist in a significant private bank with headquarters in
print, chino pants, bubble jackets, cross gear, body bags, reflective wear and durags); Switzerland. Today, Dr. Karsten Junius ranks among the profound experts of the in-
new design ideas (yesterday still hygge, today already japandi, yesterday still shabby ternational financial scene, on television, in newspapers and on the internet, he gives
chic, now already granny look, yesterday still ascetic raw, today already neon-colour- advice on the current financial and stock-exchange developments. Good, if one had
ful neo-80s); a new trend in architecture (yesterday still out as metabolism, today in been at school with him – one doesn’t have to guess, to speculate, one can ask him.
as vertical village, yesterday out as living at the existential minimum, today in again And he was so friendly and answered. This much can be revealed at the start, maybe
as micro living) and a new way of flying into space (with Blue Origin and Mr Bezos, my grandma had been right after all: Time goes by at a rapid pace and we have to
with Space X and Mr Musk or with Mr Branson’s Virgin Galactic). Even my late keep pace with it! Dominik Reding: Will there still be branch-oriented private-client
grandma formerly used to proclaim when preparing bean stew at the kitchen table: banking in the future? Dr. Karsten Junius: Digitization will lead to a major reorganiza-
“Time goes by at a rapid pace. So, don’t stand still, we have to keep pace with it!” tion in all the banking activities. Already at present, a large part of the payment trans-
And she knew what she was talking about: When she came into the world, horse- actions is done digitally. In future, this part will further increase while cash money will
drawn carriages were still used; when she was ten years old, the Titanic sunk and the play a lesser role. Particularly in such a cost-conscious country as Germany, cost-ef-
newsboys were shouted it out; when she turned 16, the Emperor abdicated; on the fective payment-transaction models will therefore prevail. Major cost factors are room-
day she came of legal age, a loaf of bread cost five billion marks; when she grew to and staff intensive activities. This is exactly what is currently still offered in many bran-
be 25, films with sound tracks existed, people were ches. This is why I expect that the network of branches of
dancing the Charleston, even as a woman, one was we- all the banks will shrink considerably. It will therefore
aring a top hat (see photograph) as well; when she was soon be an image of the past that Sparkasse and Volks-
30 years of age, the man with the Chaplin moustache bank are located right in the market square or in the vil-
passed through the Brandenburg Gate; when she gave lage centre. DR: And if not, how will private-client ban-
birth to her first child, the first television sets flickered king then look and work? KJ: The largest part of the pri-
on the occasion of the Berlin Olympic Games; when, in vate-client business will be able to be provided digitally
1969, the first man stepped onto the moon, she was al- without the quality of the service suffering as a conse-
ready an elderly woman, and when she died at the age quence. On the contrary, the fact is that already today,
of almost 90, the reunification of Germany was already medium-sized assets, larger construction financing and
history, computers had long existed and the first mobile the financing of numerous companies can be offered un-
phones were ringing. “Time goes by at a rapid pace. So, complicatedly and efficiently. Personal consultation will
don’t stand still, we have to keep pace with it!” Even then focus on a smaller segment of very wealthy male
her saying was contemporary history: Something she and female clients to whom personal consulting is more
had heard in the Golden Twenties as a variant of the Foto: Benjamin Reding (2021) important than the cost-effective digital standard alterna-
Wilhelm Busch quote used as an advertising slogan. tive. The location of the service will play an increasingly
Time goes by at a rapid pace. That is how it is. Or isn’t lesser role in this, also because the clients are more mo-
it? Perhaps? Yes, definitely? Not so? When my grandma bile today. DR: Which architectural/design features
was a child, “electric light”, as she called it, had already been burning in the flats and should banks have in the year 2022? KJ: Especially younger clients will want to do
it burns to this day. As a young woman, she had owned a telephone, a radio, a photo everything on their cell phones. Some may still be in contact with their bank by tele-
camera and a hairdryer and these things are ringing, crackling, snapping and drying phone. In any case, these are all location-independent services which do not need im-
to this day. She got married in a white bridal gown, shot up rockets on New Year’s posing buildings or a specific location. The well-functioning website will thus replace
Eve, got a cake on her birthday, put up a decorated tree in the living room at Christ- the splendid buildings customary in former times. DR: Which ethics should banks and
mas and, as did everybody else, took her savings to the bank. And this is how most bankers follow in their business behaviour in the future? KJ: We are trying to convince
people do it until … stop! Bank? Which bank? Here, in my neighbourhood, there were, our clients that they can also use their invested money to contribute against the cli-
when I moved here, 12 bank branches; today there are just two left. Imposing finan- mate change by making their capital available to sustainable companies. But, of
cial institutes with counters, seating areas, safes, marble walls and hydrocultures be- course, ethical behaviour goes beyond the investment of money and, quite generally,
came two automatic tellers each with a consultation room at the back. One does read consists of honest and transparent consulting which results in in business deals in fa-
about it a lot a lot, there are rumours, conspiracy theories as well: That soon, bank vour of the clients. Every employee can contribute to this. Banks, like other compa-
branches will no longer exist, that banks will disappear completely, because the as- nies, are furthermore corporate citizens as well. They should behave in a responsible
sets of the superrich, their speculations, their interests, have turned into an unaccep- way in the context of their specific societies. In contrast, however, due to their finan-
table risk for the bankers. And that cash is to be abolished anyway. Of course not, ac- cing activities of other companies and households, they have an above-average influ-
cording to the conspiracy theorists, to make payment transactions easier but to ence on the overall economy and will therefore assume a special significance, for in-
achieve absolute control over the clients. Nasty rumours! But what should one be- stance in the financing of a climate-neutral economy.

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