Consumer advocates have called for a price cap for the so-called basic account. ‘The costs for a basic account in Germany are by far the highest compared to other European countries,’ said vzbv boss Ramona Pop.
Consumer advocates have called for a price cap for the so-called basic account. “The costs for a basic account in Germany are by far the highest in a European comparison,” said the head of the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations (vzbv), Ramona Pop, to “Spiegel” according to an advance report on Saturday. Participation in modern social life is unimaginable without an account – politicians must therefore instruct the banking regulator Bafin to cap the amount of fees.
All people in Germany, including homeless people, asylum seekers and tolerated people, have the right to an account with basic functions. The law of June 2016 implementing the relevant EU law states that the fees for this should be “appropriate” and that user behavior and standard market fees must be taken into account.
According to “Spiegel”, which cited the vzbv investigation results, a basic account with normal use in Germany cost up to 27.83 euros per month in individual cases last year. The top price was significantly higher than in other wealthy countries such as Denmark (up to 13 euros) or Finland (up to ten euros). According to the evaluation, basic accounts were free in France, Ireland and Poland. 26 European countries were taken into account.
The German Banking Industry Association rejected a price cap for the basic account in Germany and pointed out that banks and savings banks were allowed to set the fees themselves. The account management fees are higher in other European countries – the basic account can also be offered cheaper there because it is cross-subsidized by other customers, the “Spiegel” quoted the association as saying. With caps, the average price of the basic account could even rise, he warned.
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