According to ECB deposit rate -0.5%
The account holder has to pay interest to the bank
Deutsche Bank Headquarters Twin Towers in Frankfurt, Germany. / Photo = Yonhap News
[아시아경제 임주형 기자] It is reported that large German banks are encouraging customers to leave their deposits to other banks in the aftermath of so-called’negative interest rates’, which is drawing attention.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), an economic media outlet on the 1st (local time), leading German banks such as Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank applied an annual interest rate of minus 0.5% to deposits of new customers over a certain amount from last year. I’m doing it. This means that the bank account holder should pay interest to the bank instead of receiving interest.
This is due to the standard interest rate policy of the European Central Bank (ECB), which plays the role of the eurozone’s central bank. Germany, which is part of the euro zone that uses the euro, follows the ECB’s interest rate policy, which has already frozen the deposit rate applied to bank deposits at -0.5% for several years.
However, German retail banks have responded by raising fees, fearing customer backlash if the actual deposit rate is negatively applied.
However, as the liquidity released by the Corona 19 crisis, which began last year, began to flock to banks, the burden of interest expenses increased, and eventually the number of German banks applying negative interest rates for deposits increased, WSJ said.
According to the actual price comparison site’Verivox’, there were only 57 German banks that charged negative interest rates on individual customers’ deposits as of March last year, but now they have increased more than four times to 237.
As a result, it is reported that banks are also encouraging customers to move their deposits to other banks. In fact, in the case of Deutsche Bank, it is known that it provides an online interest rate comparison service so that customers can easily transfer their deposits to other banks.
Reporter Lim Joo-hyung [email protected]