Enlarge image
More and more penalty interest: Savings book (symbol image)
Photo: Daniel Karmann / dpa
After another ruling that bans negative interest rates for current accounts, the bank concerned is resisting the decision.
The bank announced that the Volksbank Rhein-Lippe had appealed against the judgment of the district court in Düsseldorf.
It is still assumed that custody fees and negative interest rates are permissible.
Previously, the Federal Association of Consumers (vzbv) had successfully sued against the so-called custody fees.
According to the vzbv, the Volksbank Rhein-Lippe charged negative interest of 0.5 percent per year on deposits over 10,000 euros for current accounts.
She introduced such penalty interest for new customers in April 2020.
The district court of Düsseldorf overturned this clause and argued that the fee disadvantaged customers was unreasonable and inadmissible.
Above all, the court took offense at the fact that the bank charged the custody fee in addition to the account management fees.
This is not compatible with the legal regulations on the giro contract.
The custody fee is not a selectable special service for the customer.
Consumer association wants to clarify the legal situation in principle
The consumer association is currently planning general action against such charges.
The verdicts are "just a stage win," said vzbv legal officer David Bode.
"We want to have the legal situation clarified in principle and have therefore sued several banks at different court locations." In a judgment at the end of October, the Berlin Regional Court had already declared Sparda Bank Berlin's custody fees for overnight money and current accounts to be inadmissible.
In the current case, the consumer association also appealed.
He wants the bank to be ordered to reimburse the custody fees.
429 banks charge penalty interest
Several hundred banks and savings banks are now charging some of their private and business customers negative interest rates. According to a recent survey by the Verivox portal, the figure was 429 banks.
Some camouflage this in a special fee for account management, for example, while others charge a custody fee above a certain amount.
The main reason is that numerous banks pass on the deposit rate of the European Central Bank (ECB) to their customers.
kig/afp
