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Penalty interest: more and more banks are cashing in - what consumer advocates advise

2021-05-13T04:58:10.464Z


More and more German banks are collecting penalty interest from their customers and referring to the ECB. Consumer advocates consider the justification flimsy.


More and more German banks are collecting penalty interest from their customers and referring to the ECB.

Consumer advocates consider the justification flimsy.

  • Since the summer of 2014, banks in the euro zone have had to

    pay

    penalty interest

    to the ECB

    for their customers' excess capital

    if they do not use the funds for their own business, such as lending.

  • More and more German

    savings banks

    ,

    Volksbanks, Raiffeisenbanks

    and

    private competitors are

    passing

    these burdens

    on to their

    customers

    .

  • Consumer advocates consider the procedure “not permissible” and accuse the banks of collecting money from their customers twice.

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Munich - The bilateral contract of the Sparkasse Dillingen-Nördlingen is quite harmless.

"It is agreed," it says in the customary legal German, "that up to a balance of 0.00 euros for the sum of all balances (total balance) no custody fee will be charged (total allowance)."

Anyone who agrees to the conditions and still has more than zero euros in their current account or savings book will have to pay with them in the future - for their own money.

After all, the bankers from Bavarian Swabia want to charge 0.5 percent for stashing their customers' money.

Penalty interest: more and more banks are cashing in

The Sparkasse Dillingen-Nördlingen is by no means an isolated case.

Nationwide, more and more banks are asking their customers to cash in for balances on current accounts, overnight money, fixed-term deposits or savings accounts.

According to a current overview of the comparison portal Verivox, 314 banks nationwide are now calling up the so-called custody fees, as banks like to whitewash their penalty interest.

That is a good 130 more than at the beginning of the year.

And an end to the wave of penalty interest rates is hardly in sight.

"Currently," says Verivox managing director Oliver Maier, "more banks are being added almost every day." Consumer advocates see it similarly.

“The subject of penalty interest should continue to pick up speed in the next few months,” warns Sascha Straub, head of the financial services division at the Bavarian Consumer Center (VZBayern).

This applies not only to the number of banks with penalty interest, but also to the corresponding tax exemption.

Penalty interest: more and more banks, ever smaller tax exemptions

Because instead of charging larger balances of 300,000 or 500,000 euros with the new fees, as was customary at the beginning, the bar is now falling rapidly at many credit institutions.

Instead of the now widespread tax exemption limit of up to 100,000 euros, more and more banks are now holding their hands on balances of 50,000 euros or even less.

Some institutes such as Sparkasse Dillingen-Nördlingen, Sparkasse Ingolstadt or VR-Bank Neuburg-Rain have now let go of any reluctance and courageously take action from the first euro - or turn the interest rate screw.

The Sparkasse Bamberg, for example, charges 0.6 percent penalty interest from a balance of 25,000 euros, the VR-Bank Erlangen-Höchstadt-Herzogenaurach takes the 0.6 percent from 20,000 euros (see table).

But the PSD Bank Rhein-Ruhr shoots the bird.

The comrades from Düsseldorf let their customers from a - comparatively high - credit of 500,000 euros with a penalty interest of one percent to the vein.

Penalty rates: banks refer to ECB policy

The financial institutions are not aware of any guilt.

In view of the ECB's guidelines, there is hardly any other choice, the industry says with a shrug of the shoulders.

According to the will of the monetary authorities, banks must park their customers' money with the ECB if they do not use the capital for their business - and pay for it.

The corresponding interest rate - called the deposit facility in ECB parlance - is currently 0.5 percent.

Many credit institutions are now simply passing this burden on to their customers.

Penalty interest: German banks transfer around 2.7 billion euros to the ECB

Industry observers consider the banks to be very positive that their starting position has recently deteriorated. Because many people spent significantly less during the Corona * crisis, bank balances rose sharply. According to calculations by the financial specialist Deposit Solutions, savings deposits in the euro zone climbed by a good half last year to 585 billion euros. In view of this development, the German banks alone had to transfer a good 2.7 billion to the ECB last year, estimates Deposit.

But consumer advocates do not want to allow the banks' arguments to apply.

After all, the first banks had already increased their fees for checking accounts as early as 2014 and justified this step with the ECB regulation on the deposit facility.

"Now the banks also want penalty interest on credit balances and are collecting a second time for the same reason," complains VBZB man Sascha Straub.

Penalty interest: "Not legally permissible"

There are also very fundamental considerations.

Because from a legal point of view, the so-called custody fees are “not permitted”, judges Straub.

Corresponding legal proceedings were already in progress.

In essence, the justification for the lawsuits boils down to two considerations: In the case of sight deposits - i.e. current and overnight accounts - the keeping of credit balances is not the business purpose, but rather their quick availability, explains Straub.

And with savings deposits - i.e. fixed deposits and savings books - the focus is on building up assets.

To levy “custody fees” on the corresponding credit balances stands in diametrical opposition.

"This means that there is a clear loss of the basis for the business," says Straub.

What customers can do to avoid penalty interest, what consumer advocates advise

1. Contract

A bank cannot make material changes to the terms and conditions without the consent and consent of its customers.

This also applies in particular to the collection of possible “custody fees” on deposits, explains Sascha Straub from the Bavarian Consumer Center (VZ Bayern).

If customers receive a corresponding letter from their bank, they should therefore check it carefully and, if necessary, seek advice from a lawyer or other expert, advises Straub.

2. threat of dismissal

In order to get their customers to give in, banks and savings banks often threaten to terminate the planned introduction of custody fees.

"If in doubt, talk to your bank advisor," advises Straub.

It could well be that the banks improve the conditions or even refrain from terminating them altogether if customers want to completely relocate their business relationship to a competitor.

Important: Bank customers should also prepare for a possible termination of the business relationship at the same time and have a possible alternative, Straub recommends.

3. Exemption

Even if customers want to stay with your bank, for example because there is no competitive alternative in the country, customers should take a few basic things to heart.

This is especially true for the exemption limit up to which your credit balance with a bank remains untouched.

In the vast majority of cases, exemption limits of 500,000 euros should be sufficient, with the deposit insurance only taking effect up to 100,000 euros per person.

With lower exemption limits, customers should calculate precisely.

Often it can be enough to transfer part of the credit to another account at your house bank, for example to the account of your wife or partner.

Opening a further account connection with another bank can also help to stay below the exemption limit - provided that the exemption limits and account costs at the new bank can also be adhered to.

4. Alternative investments

In order to circumvent the exemption limit, many banks offer their customers alternative investments, for example in funds from bank-owned investment companies such as Deka of the Sparkassen Group, says Straub.

However, the costs of actively managed funds, where fund managers make the investment decision, are usually up to three [ST1] percent per year.

Straub advises those who want to get under the exemption limit in order to avoid penalty interest and at the same time make provisions for old age, should instead use inexpensive index funds (ETF).

For example, an ETF on the Dax spreads the risk over 30 companies and several industries such as automobiles, chemicals, technology or insurers - but only costs 0.1 to 0.2 percent fee per year.

Penalty interest: banks collect double payments for ECB guidelines

Straub also does not consider the banks' reference to their own costs to the ECB to be valid.

Because, like many private customers at their bank, the commercial banks at the ECB also have a significantly higher allowance recently.

The effect of this is that the actual interest burden on banks by the ECB “according to experts' estimates is more between 0.2 and 0.3 percent,” says Straub.

The interest rate difference between the income from the penalty interest of their customers and the interest burden by the ECB is "pocketed by the banks".

* Merkur.de is part of IPPEN.MEDIA.

List of rubric lists: © imageBROKER / Michael Weber via www.imago-images.de

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-05-13

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