Bank fees at Sparkasse, Postbank and Co .: “Full three-digit” refunds beckon

The Federal Court of Justice puts a stop to bank charges through the back door.

The current practice is illegal.

Millions of Germans are now entitled to repayment.

Karlsruhe - Talking is silver, silence is gold: For banks and savings banks, silence has so far meant one thing above all else: more money. If lending houses wanted to increase their account fees, all they had to do was inform their customers in good time. If these did not explicitly contradict, the change was deemed to have been agreed. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has now declared this common practice to be unlawful. Experts describe the judgment as "quite a blast" - because it affects millions of consumers and, above all, means: there is money back.

The presiding judge said banks would unduly disadvantage their customers.

Fee increases would be tantamount to signing a new contract, according to the judgment.

This would require an amendment contract and not just tacit approval.

In the negotiated case, consumer associations had sued Postbank.

The judgment does not only affect Postbank, but all financial institutions in Germany, Stiftung Warentest is certain and declares "pretty much all fee increases by banks and savings banks" to be ineffective.

"Knaller" judgment: Postbank, Sparkassen and Co. have to repay bank fees millions of times over

According to the judgment, banks would now have to turn all fees back to the level at the time the contract was signed, according to Stiftung Warentest.

"In addition to account management, this also applies to transfer fees, card fees, fees that have been charged due to a minimum salary that has not been reached, or custody and order fees," explains Christoph Herrmann, legal expert at Stiftung Warentest, the

Handelsblatt

.

But what does that mean in concrete terms for consumers?

If you follow the explanations of Stiftung Warentest, banks that have increased their fees in the past without active consent - and almost all of them handle this - have to repay illegally acquired money.

Customers, on the other hand, only have to pay the prices agreed when the account was opened.

BGH: Postbank bank charges unlawful - Consumers must now pay attention to this

There is one restriction: amounts that were paid too much before January 1, 2018 are statute-barred.

Nevertheless, according to the Waiting Test Foundation, the repayments are likely to be in the "full three-digit" range.

Postbank does not want to comment on the effects of the BGH decision until the reasons for the judgment are available.

That should be the case in a few weeks.

Do banks and savings banks then automatically reimburse the contributions?

“It doesn't work that way,” fear the product testers.

The past has shown that bank customers always had to claim refunds - and often only succeeded with lawyers in tow.

The consumer advocates explain: "If you can easily calculate how much money your bank or savings bank has to reimburse with monthly flat fees, you can demand payment right away." Where it is more complicated, you can ask the banks to list the fees paid.

The foundation already offers sample texts for this.

Unlawful bank charges at Sparkasse, Postbank and Co.: the sore point for those affected

Tobias Tröger, law professor at Frankfurt's Goethe University, describes the BGH decision in the

Handelsblatt

as "very significant". Nevertheless, it should not be said that customers can actually claim back massive fees and charges. He refers to special features in civil law. Patrick Rösler, head of the Finanz Colloquium Heidelberg, also slows expectations: "Unfortunately, it currently looks like the effort in mass business for bank and customer will increase enormously, without the customer really benefiting from it in the end." Rösler puts a finger in the wound.

Because: The BGH ruling may allow reclaims and will protect consumers from rising fees through the back door in the future, but not from rising fees per se. The Stiftung Warentest assumes that most financial institutions will offer their customers new conditions for account management. And if customers would not get involved, the banks and savings banks would probably terminate. Then you have to look for a new, cheaper house bank. And you could do that before.

(Jonas Raab)