- Responsibility for deciding on terms and conditions lies with the local cooperative banks. However, the BVR does not believe that we in Germany will see negative interest rates in retail banking across the board – not least because of the fierce competition that prevails in the German banking market. In any case, the measures discussed do not relate to classic consumer business (Raiffeisenbank Gmund am Tegernsee said on Wednesday that it would charge a fee of 0.4 percent on deposits of more than €100,000 held in current accounts and instant-access accounts).
The trigger is the ECB’s disastrous policy of low interest rates, which is having an ever greater impact. The ECB’s extreme approach to monetary policy is particularly toxic to personal pension products, but also to the stability of the financial sector as a whole. We urgently need to return to market-based mechanisms.
Bundesverband der deutschen Volksbanken und Raiffeisenbanken e.V. (BVR) Bundesverband der deutschen Volksbanken und Raiffeisenbanken e.V. (BVR)