Hope for bank customers: Negative interest on deposits may soon become history. Some financial institutions have announced that they will end custodial fees as the ECB acts.

Bank customers are allowed Expected change in interest rates Duty cuts expected in Europe “as soon as possible” European Central Bank Having said goodbye to their policy of minus interest rates, we will no longer charge custody fees for private clients, announced ING Germany CEO Nick Xu in “Handelsblatt”. “It’s a promise.” There is another term for the term “custodial fee”. penalty interest,

Commerzbank’s CFO, Bettina Orlop, previously announced the changes: “If interest rates are raised in the euro area as well, we will adjust the credit charges little by little.” But first we have to wait and see if the European Central Bank (ECB) strike.

Economists expect interest rates to change in the current year

Since June 2014, commercial banks in the euro area have had to pay interest on deposits in the ECB. This deposit rate – known in technical jargon as the deposit facility – is currently minus 0.5 percent (Here you can read more about it) Many financial institutions pass on the costs to their clients.

Given persistently high inflation, many economists are now expecting a change in interest rates in the euro area in the current year. Xu admits that the ECB will monetary policy so tight that negative interest For banks, the first quarter of 2023 may be a thing of the past.

“The time will be when we cancel custody fees for our customers,” said the ING Germany boss. Direct Bank currently requires a so-called custodial fee from its customers of up to 50,000 credits per account.

Co-operative Bank: “At the moment we are still speculating”

The Federation of Co-operatives, which represents Volksbank and Raiffeisenbank in all federal states with the exception of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, also does not expect the institutions to maintain custody fees in the long term. “No bank has a vested interest in these custodial charges,” said Siegfried Mehring, the association’s vice president, in Neu-Isenberg on Friday.

He expects it to be refunded when the interest rate landscape has changed. “Theoretically, I would expect it,” Mehring said. “But at the moment we are still speculating about a change in interest rates, we still have a negative interest rate environment.”

As per the current data of the comparison portal varivox 436 banks and savings banks in Germany solicit “custodial fees” from private customers for call money, gyro or clearing accounts. Consumer Portal Biallo Comes With 561 Institutions, Private Customers negative interest Calculation.