Savings banks are taking their time repaying millions of customers - now there is a lot of trouble

Many Sparkasse customers can

look forward

to

fee repayments

after a groundbreaking BGH ruling

- but some banks are playing for time.

Bonn / Frankfurt - The savings banks are under pressure.

Banks owe repayments to a number of customers, but some of them don't seem to be in too much of a hurry to repay.

Now even the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bafin) has warned the reluctant credit institutions to implement the ruling of the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) from April.

In it, the highest civil judges ruled that banks must obtain the consent of customers in the event of changes to the general terms and conditions.

This also includes increases in account management fees *.

The ruling has the consequence that wrongly charged fees have to be reimbursed.

+

Numerous bank customers can now wrongly claim back increased account fees.

© Michael Gstettenbauer / Imago Images

Sparkassen: Bafin threatens "supervisory measures"

But a number of customers are still waiting for the repayments they are entitled to *.

BaFin is now calling for the banks to implement this quickly.

The ruling of the Federal Court of Justice affects almost every bank customer relationship, said the new Bafin boss Mark Branson.

“Fast, unbureaucratic, transparent implementation is all the more important.” Otherwise, the Bafin will examine “supervisory measures”.

According to the spokeswoman, the Bafin announcement is a first step.

If an institution “persistently and systematically” opposes the expectations of the supervisory authority, formal measures can also be considered.

The Bafin can ultimately oblige the banks to follow their instructions.

Two savings banks are threatened with further legal action

Klaus Müller, board member of the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv), sees the Bafin’s request as a “clear message” to the banks. But there are still two savings banks that are resisting the judgment. “Unfortunately, the Berliner Sparkasse and Sparkasse KölnBonn refuse to meet the legitimate demands of their customers in the opinion of the vzbv. That is why the vzbv is now taking further legal steps, ”explains Müller.

But why do these two savings banks of all people not see themselves affected by the judgment?

According to vzbv, they last increased their prices more than three years ago.

This means that they are not obliged to reimburse the amounts.

But the vzbv sees it differently, which is why it now wants to obtain a judicial confirmation that the time of the increase is not relevant.

*

.