Penalty interest: "The wave is rolling" - Which banks and savings banks are now tightening the reins

Penalty interest for bank customers is controversial.

Nevertheless, more and more banks and savings banks are tightening the reins.

Berlin – If you put money on the high edge, you have to pay more and more often: the list of banks that charge penalty interest*, if the balance exceeds a certain amount, is growing almost every day.

According to a recent evaluation by the comparison portal Verivox for Merkur.de*, 429 banks are currently demanding so-called “custody fees” from their private customers.

Penalty interest: trend from the previous year continues

Most financial institutions are based on the negative deposit rate of the ECB and charge minus 0.5 percent.

For example, if you have 50,000 euros in your account, you have to pay 250 euros a year.

Since the beginning of the year, 15 banks have introduced negative interest or tightened their conditions: A list by the comparison portal Verivox shows which ones - the allowances are given for overnight money accounts.

Penalty interest or custody fee from as little as 5,000 euros

For the evaluation, Verivox compared the conditions for call money, giro and clearing accounts on the websites of around 1,300 banks and savings banks.

However, not all banks publish their interest rates freely accessible on their website.

So there is a dark figure.

The portal estimates that there are probably well over 429 banks charging negative interest.

Verivox Managing Director Oliver Maier says: “The wave of negative interest rates will continue to roll across the country in the new year.

At least 165 banks are now charging negative interest on total balances of EUR 50,000 or less.

At some institutes, savers have to pay negative interest on the account from as little as 5,000 or 10,000 euros.

This trend towards lower and lower allowances is likely to continue in the coming weeks and months.”

Consumer advocates are suing the custody fee

The custody fee is very controversial and has been sharply criticized by consumer advocates.

They are of the opinion that the banks are illegally cashing in on their customers and have been sued by several courts.

In January, the district court of Düsseldorf overturned the penalty interest regulation * in the case of the Volksbank Rhein-Lippe.

However, the judgment is not yet final.

Bank customers do not have to put up with custody fees on their savings.

Those affected can contact the consumer advice center.

*Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.