The zero-rate policy of the European Central Bank has been weighing down banks' margins for several years. After undertaking cuts in staff and office closures, the sector at the beginning of the year launched a plan to increase customer loyalty, and thus achieve greater profitability for its part, or to charge a series of commissions that did not exist so far to compensate the maintenance of those that did not generate income.
The Covid-19 pandemic, poor economic prospects and the prospect that interest rates will remain unchanged for a long period of time have put the sector even more on the ropes. And, although during the validity of the state of alarm, it postponed or reduced some of the new linkage requirements due to ERTEs and the decrease in consumption, after the summer season is over and with the country installed in a new normality, banks are faced with the challenge to clean up its accounts by the end of the year. To do this, they recover the plans they had before Covid-19 put the world on edge.
An example of this is CaixaBank. The entity had planned to launch the Day to Day program on April 1, with the aim of, according to bank sources, "linking the client more" and offering all services without paying for it. However, the reality is also that those who cannot or want to comply with the conditions set by the entity, will pay a fee of 240 euros per year, compared to 60 euros for its star product, the Family Account, which required the same conditions as the new account. The pandemic ruined the implementation of this program, but CaixaBank already has a new date, next October 1.
Something similar happened to Unicaja. The entity had planned to start applying in spring commissions of between 84 and 60 euros for maintaining its current accounts to less connected clients. Then he also canceled his plans, which he recovers on September 1.
More information
- These are the bank accounts that still pay off savings
- Up to 240 euros in commissions for not being tied to the bank
- The measures that the bank has launched to help customers
The conditions of the two entities mentioned are similar: direct debit of payroll and direct debit of receipts or a specific expense with the cards. In addition, Unicaja requires the maintenance of a balance of at least 6,000 euros or the contracting of insurance.
In the case of Abanca, which also planned to modify its Zero Commissions program in March and finally began to apply it in June, the tightening of the conditions to access free products is greater. Those over 29 years of age must pay a commission of 100 euros per year unless, in addition to direct debiting their payroll and maintaining an average monthly balance in savings products, they meet one of the following requirements: make purchases with a credit card worth 2,000 euros per year, or for 1,200 euros per year and have taken out insurance; maintain an average monthly balance of 30,000 euros in savings products; have contracted two insurances; or maintain an average monthly balance of a minimum of 8,000 euros in off-balance savings products.
Temporary waivers
CaixaBank, Unicaja and Abanca were among the few entities that at the beginning of the year had not yet implemented this new link policy, which Bankia, Santander or Sabadell already began to apply between January and February. However, these entities took some steps back with the declaration of the state of alarm. Bankia, for example, which raised the requirements for the Easy Account to be free, established that those who met these new conditions in February would not be charged higher commissions even though they failed to comply with them since March. A measure that is still in force.
Santander, for its part, which stopped marketing Account 1,2,3 and raised commissions –from 96 to 144 euros a year– for not meeting the requirements of its new star product, the Zero Account 1,2,3, It also eliminated these charges to those who failed to comply with the requirements during this period. However, these exemptions are no longer in effect today.
The alternative of online accounts
- Bankia and Abanca. At the same time that they have tightened the requirements to obtain an account free of commissions or extended these, Bankia and Abanca have kept their 100% digital accounts free. The ON_Account of the entity chaired by Goirigolzarri conditions the zero cost to a remote operation since the client activates the notifications in the bank's application. For its part, the Abanca Clara Account also requests that the operations be carried out online and that the user inform the entity of their mobile number and email.
- Bankinter. The bank run by Dolores Dancausa is one of the few that has kept the conditions of its star product, the Payroll Account, unchanged. In addition, during the state of alarm, it maintained the great advantage of this product, a profitability of 5% APR during the first year and 2% during the second, although customers could not maintain the requirement to domicile a payroll of at least 1,000 euros a month.