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Penalty interest: Banks in the district offer customers the prospect of easing

2022-05-19T03:57:14.440Z


Penalty interest: Banks in the district offer customers the prospect of easing Created: 05/19/2022, 05:40 By: Stefan Weinzierl If you have a lot of money in your account, you sometimes pay penalty interest. (symbol photo) © dpa The banks in the district of Munich are promising easing of penalty interest. But first the ECB must really take action. District – It is now common practice for banks


Penalty interest: Banks in the district offer customers the prospect of easing

Created: 05/19/2022, 05:40

By: Stefan Weinzierl

If you have a lot of money in your account, you sometimes pay penalty interest.

(symbol photo) © dpa

The banks in the district of Munich are promising easing of penalty interest.

But first the ECB must really take action.

District

– It is now common practice for banks to charge negative interest on investments – and this is not likely to change any time soon.

As reported by various banks when asked by Merkur, they want to adapt to changes in market interest rates, but as long as the European Central Bank (ECB) does not really take action, customers who store a lot in their bank account will continue to have to pay penalty interest.

High inflation and the turnaround in interest rates initiated in the USA have increased the pressure on the ECB to change interest rate policy as well.

But so far no one has taken action to stop the currency devaluation.

However, a decision by the direct bank ING, online market leader in Germany, makes people sit up and take notice: ING is increasing the exempt amount above which it demands a custody fee of 0.5 percent from the current 50,000 to 500,000 euros, which is equivalent to abolishing it.

The reason given by the ING is that the ECB is probably also aiming to end negative interest rates for banks in view of the return of inflation, probably in the summer.

The so-called deposit facility is still at minus 0.5 percent, where it has been since September 2019.

The rate was last at zero in 2013.

Kreissparkasse: allowance for private and business accounts 25,000 euros

The Kreissparkasse München-Starnberg-Ebersberg, for example, used this interest rate to justify the fact that it has been charging private and business customers a penalty interest rate of 0.5 percent plus a 0.1 percent administration fee since the turn of the year – from the first euro.

At least that has now been moved away.

As reported by the bank, the exempt amount for private and business accounts as of May 2 is 25,000 euros, for public interest accounts 100,000 euros.

There is also no longer any talk of an administration fee of 0.1 percent in the price-performance index.

Otherwise, adjustments to the allowances are "currently not planned," the savings bank announced.

However, should the ECB lift the negative interest rate, "there will be an immediate impact on our customers," the bank promises.


VR Bank München Land eG has an allowance of EUR 100,000 for customers.

In addition, 0.5 percent penalty interest will be charged.

"So we are currently only passing on the rate set by the ECB without calculating a Marche," emphasizes spokesman Peter Wein.

As soon as there are changes, for example in the ECB's deposit rate, you will be guided by them.

HypoVereinsbank charges a custody fee

Jochen Lindner, sales manager of “meine Volksbank Raiffeisenbank eG”, which operates bank branches in the south-east of the district, also expresses the same thing.

"In the past, our bank has always followed the decisions of the ECB in a timely manner," says Lindner.

We will continue to do that.

“If necessary, we will also make changes here at short notice.

We owe that to our customers,” says Lindner.


HypoVereinsbank, which only charges custody fees by individual agreement and exclusively on sight deposits from EUR 100,000 at an interest rate of 0.5 percent, is keeping a low profile.

"Basically, we cannot comment on any hypothetical future market developments and will then decide according to the market environment and inform our customers personally and in good time if anything should change in current practice," says a spokesman.

More news from the district of Munich can be found here.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-05-19

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