Negative interest rates for wealthier customers have been an ongoing topic among German savers for months. Last year, for example, the Stadtsparkasse Düsseldorf began to close the first customers’ accounts if they did not want to agree to negative interest rates. Like the news now reportedthe Dortmund counterpart has apparently terminated 15 customers because of the custody fees.
According to reports, Postbank has also apparently acted in a similar way in the past few weeks and has terminated customers with a balance of more than 50,000 euros who did not agree to the negative interest rates. A spokesman emphasized here to the Tagesschau, however, that there were only a few isolated cases – they did not want to give an exact number.
The DKB is also considering “customers who have not agreed even after repeated reminders” to terminate the account. Competitors such as Berliner Sparkasse or Commerzbank, on the other hand, want to wait and see and find amicable solutions for their customers.
Sparkasse, Postbank and Co.: More and more banks with negative interest rates
As the Tagesschau writes, 449 of 1,300 German financial institutions are now demanding custody fees from a certain balance – and the trend is rising. However, many banks have also announced that negative interest rates could be dispensed with in the future if the ECB discontinued penalty interest rates for the institutes. “If the ECB interest rate rises to zero, the custody fee is automatically waived,” says consumer advocate Niels Nauhauser.
However, small savers could also face significantly more account closures in the future: At many banks, only 70 percent of customers have apparently only agreed to the new terms and conditions with negative interest rates. If an approval rate of 85 to 90 percent is reached, terminations could follow for smaller assets, predicts Oliver Mihm, head of the banking consulting firm Investors Marketing.