Anyone who does not agree to negative interest rates for higher deposits is threatened with bank termination. Many financial institutions have already kicked out wealthy clients. But the big wave may still be coming – for small savers.

Now many banks are taking action: a year after the Stadtsparkas Düsseldorf, other financial institutions have also eliminated wealthy customers who did not want to accept negative interest, so-called custodial fees for credit balances in their accounts. For example, Postbank terminated business relationships with several customers who had balances in excess of EUR 50,000.

According to a Deutsche Bank spokesperson, these are a few isolated cases. “To our regret, we have to terminate the bank relationship with certain clients who, after completing a multi-stage approach process, did not wish to agree on a suitable investment option or a custodial fee with us,” he said. said. tagesschau.de, He did not want to give the exact number of customers affected. However, an amicable solution has been found with most of the customers so far.

PostBank and Dortmunder Sparkse terminate individual customers

Sparksey Dortmund has also terminated over a dozen clients because of custody fees. “Handelsblatt” reports 15 cases. A year ago, the Stadtsparkas Düsseldorf kicked out two dozen wealthy customers who did not want to accept penal interest on current and call money accounts.

Other institutions are threatening to terminate their customers. For example, ING is considering measures for customers who do not accept the new terms and conditions on custody fees in the next few weeks. A Direct Bank spokesperson said, “In case of less than four digit numbers, which have not been agreed to even after repeated reminders, we will now take this step and terminate them with a reasonable period’s notice in April. ” requests of tagesschau.de, Other financial institutions such as Commerzbank or Berliner Sparkasse are still waiting and relying on amicable solutions.

Consumer advocates warn of unprofitable alternatives

Consumer advocates warn of “expensive and risky alternatives so that no custody fees are payable”. The products offered are often not tailored to the needs, says Niels Nauhauser, financial specialist at the Consumer Center in Baden-Württemberg. “Most of the time they are too expensive due to the high cost, so that hardly any positive returns can be expected in the current interest rate environment.” Nauhauser: “Financial institutions use the alarming backdrop of custodial fees and recently high inflation rates to sell investment products such as compound funds, standardized asset management and private pension insurance to advisors, for which they receive high commissions.” is.” If you want to avoid negative interest rates, you will quickly fall into the trap of banks’ commissions.

More and more banks and savings banks are demanding custody charges from their customers. According to a recent assessment, 449 out of about 1,300 institutions are now carrying negative interest. With some amount on call money or zero account. Consumer advocates consider the custody fee unacceptable. Two courts have agreed with him. The district court of Berlin and the district court of Düsseldorf also declared the detention fee inadmissible under certain conditions. On the other hand, the regional courts of Leipzig and Tübingen have no objection to the custody fee. Hence the legal position is still unclear.

No more custody fees soon?

Of course, a possible change in interest rates too soon could make the discussion unnecessary. Several institutions have announced that they will end their custodial fees if the European Central Bank (ECB) eliminates penal interest for banks. “As soon as the ECB ends its negative interest rate policy, we will roll back custody fees for our private clients,” promised Ing. It’s also not difficult, says consumer advocate Nauhauser. In many custody agreements, the custody fee is linked to the interest rate of the ECB. “If the ECB interest rate drops to zero, the custody fee is automatically waived.”

“The situation may soon ease when it comes to custody fees,” believes banking expert Hans-Peter Berghoff of the University of Stuttgart-Hohenheim. On the other hand, there should be a large number of terminations by customers who do not accept the new terms and conditions (GTC) of banks, following the Federal Court of Justice’s (BGH) decision last year on reimbursement of fees. ) “Banks will not fight for their custodial fees, but even more so for their normal terms and conditions,” Berghof said. tagesschau.de,

Many small savings are now in danger of liquidation

In many banks, currently only 70 per cent of customers agree to the new terms and conditions. Now they work on the remaining 30 percent. When an acceptance rate of 85 to 95 percent has been reached, banks will announce termination, says Oliver Mihm, head of banking consulting firm Investors Marketing. He feared an increase in layoffs. But it won’t be a huge, brutal wave of layoffs, he says.

Some institutions are still waiting. For example, Postbank is offering its GiroPlus customers who have not yet agreed to the terms and conditions as of June. A Deutsche Bank spokesperson said that a mid-five-digit number of Postbank customers with Giro-Plus accounts have received a new product offering that is “more expensive than our previous product offerings with the same service, account number and IBAN”. Not there.” tagesschau.de request, The spokesman stressed that so far more than 90 percent of Postbank, Deutsche Bank and Norrisbank customers have agreed to the new terms and conditions.

Overall, however, there should be a lot of movement in the German private client business over the next few months. “Many customers will switch banks,” predicts bank expert Berghof.