Bundesbank board member Franz-Christoph Zeitler said German banks discriminated against some women after KarstadtQuelle refused to issue a credit card to his wife "whose lack of income put her in the same credit class as a tramp", Euro magazine reported.
Zeitler had criticised the "general practice of German creditors" that was belittling and biased against mothers and housewives, Euro said, citing a letter from the central banker to the German bank association.
Karstadt department store's bank rejected Renate Zeitler's MasterCard application on grounds that the "tramp clause" applied to her case even after several written and oral requests from Zeitler, Euro said in a preview of an article faxed to Bloomberg.
"Generally, people cannot get a credit card if they don't have an income," Karstadt spokesperson Joerg Howe told the news wire from Essen. "You can get a card with access to your partner's account; that is the normal procedure."