Negative interest: who has to pay and is that even allowed?
Created: 04/11/2022, 09:21
By: Janine Napirca
More and more banks and savings banks are demanding negative interest rates.
© IlluPics/Imago
According to an evaluation by Verivox, more and more credit institutions are charging negative interest – but is that even allowed?
Many people in Germany
save
their
money
by taking it to the
bank
.
There was a time when this practice paid for itself in
interest
.
But that's long gone.
According to
Sparkasse.de
, most banks and savings banks now charge
negative interest
– at least
above a certain amount
.
If customers save larger amounts, such as from 25,000 euros or 50,000 euros in a current or call money account, negative interest may be due.
You can find out how you can avoid negative interest rates and the current situation for 2022 here.
How do I avoid negative interest rates?
According to a report by the comparison
portal Verivox
, banks can
not unilaterally introduce negative interest rates in current contracts
, which is why the new conditions initially only
affect
call money accounts
and
current accounts .
According to the company, if existing customers are to pay negative interest, the bank must agree this individually with those affected.
“Savers should look for alternatives at the latest when their own bank wants to introduce negative interest rates.
The market comparison shows that it is also possible without negative interest.
Even with German banks, savers can still find overnight money offers with a positive interest rate.”
Oliver Maier, Managing Director of Verivox Finanzvergleich GmbH
In order to avoid negative interest rates, you should either
change banks
or spread your
money over several credit institutions
so that you do not exceed the allowances.
Or you decide not to save your money but to invest it differently, like two out of three women who want to invest more in 2022.
According to Verivox's statement,
overnight charges are also de facto negative interest rates
.
The evaluation showed that at 22 banks and savings banks, savers have to pay a fee for the call money account, which is normally free of charge.
Thirteen of the banks and savings banks mentioned also charge negative interest.
"From the savers' point of view, this results in de facto negative interest, after all, the balance in their account is reduced, even if the bank has a nominal interest rate of 0.00 or 0.01 percent."
Oliver Maier, Managing Director of Verivox Finanzvergleich GmbH
In the first quarter of 2022, 499 banks will charge negative interest
According to the analysis by Verivox, the number of banks and savings banks that charge customers with negative interest rates
continued to rise
in the first quarter of 2022 .
According to the report,
449 credit institutions are now demanding negative interest rates
from their private customers.
At the end of 2021 there were still 423 credit institutions, a year ago only 281. In addition, the allowances are getting smaller and smaller.
“If the ECB penalty interest rate on bank deposits is removed, many credit institutions are likely to follow suit and gradually abolish the negative interest rates for savers.
At the moment, however, no one can say exactly when and how quickly the ECB will raise interest rates.”
Oliver Maier, Managing Director of Verivox Finanzvergleich GmbH
Recently,
several banks had promised an end to negative interest rates as soon as the European Central Bank (ECB) let their negative interest rate policy expire
, according to the comparison portal Verivox, however, this is still "future music".
The interest rate policy of the ECB is decisive for the further development of negative interest rates
According to Verivox, most banks are guided by the negative deposit rate of the ECB when it comes to the amount of the custody fee.
According to the company, credit institutions themselves have to pay 0.5 percent penalty interest to the central bank on part of their excess deposits.
According to the evaluation, 19 banks go beyond this ECB penalty interest rate and charge at least some of their customers custody fees of 0.55 to 1 percent.
Source: Verivox
Who is affected by negative interest rates?
Due to the fact that the allowances are being reduced more and more, it is not only wealthy bank customers who are affected by negative interest rates.
Here are three things you should avoid if you want to get rich.
According to the evaluation by Verivox,
some credit institutions already charge negative interest from a credit balance of 10,000 euros or even just 5,000 euros
.
"For a long time now, it has not only been particularly wealthy bank customers who have to pay negative interest rates, small and average savers are also increasingly affected."
Oliver Maier, Managing Director of Verivox Finanzvergleich GmbH
Are negative interest rates even allowed?
According to the company, it
has not yet been finally clarified
whether banks and savings banks are allowed to charge negative interest at all, because the courts do not agree.
There have been two cases in which German regional courts declared the custody fees of individual banks to be illegal.
Other courts ruled that banks could charge negative interest under certain conditions.
However, according to Verivox, the judgments are not final, as a decision by the highest court is still pending.
(jn)