Icon: enlarge
Headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt: Germans are parking ever higher sums in their accounts during the corona crisis
Photo: Boris Roessler / DPA
Saving no longer generates interest, it even costs money in many places.
More than 200 banks and savings banks already charge private customers with large amounts of credit on current or overnight accounts so-called custody fees of usually 0.4 or 0.5 percent.
With corporate customers, even more than 300 institutes collect such negative interest from a certain plus.
This is shown in a survey by the comparison platform Biallo among 1,300 financial institutions.
According to the website, there are usually certain allowances, but they are constantly being reduced.
In some places the limit is only 5,000 or 10,000 euros, and individual institutes are already closed from the first euro, at least for overnight money.
Why is that so?
Germans hoard
more than 1.6 trillion euros
in current and overnight money accounts.
It is money that the banks can and must work with after deducting a safety buffer - for example by granting loans.
If this does not succeed, the financial institutions have to book these balances as so-called surplus reserves with the European Central Bank (ECB).
However, the ECB calculates a negative deposit rate of minus 0.5 percent above a certain level.
Because she wants the money from the banks to flow into the economy and not into ECB accounts.
Read more with Spiegel Plus
More perspectives, more understanding.
Your advantages with SPIEGEL +
Icon: Check
SPIEGEL as a magazine
as an app, e-paper and on the e-reader
Icon: Check
All articles on SPIEGEL.de
Exclusive texts for SPIEGEL + readers
Icon: Check
Try one month for free
Cancel anytime online
A price
only € 19.99 per month
One month for € 0.00
Try now for 0.00 € Buy nowArrow to the right
Already have a digital subscription? Register here
Restore iTunes subscription
SPIEGEL + is processed via your iTunes account and paid for with a purchase confirmation.
24 hours before it expires, the subscription is automatically renewed by one month at the current price of € 19.99.
You can cancel the subscription at any time in the settings of your iTunes account.
In order to use SPIEGEL + outside of this app, you must link the subscription to a SPIEGEL ID account immediately after purchase.
With the purchase you accept our general terms and conditions and privacy policy.
