A German bank tax for the first time the deposits of its customers – Le Figaro

The Bavarian cooperative bank Raiffeisenbank will tax of 0.4% for deposits of its customers in excess of 100,000 euros. This is for her to restore its margins eroded by the negative rate policy practiced by the European Central Bank (ECB) for two years.

individuals soon they will pay to entrust their money to a bank? The small Bavarian Raiffeisenbank Gmund establishment has decided to tax the deposits of its individual customers. According to Reuters, it will apply a tax of 0.4% on deposits over € 100,000, as of September. This is for her to compensate for the negative rate charged by the European Central Bank (ECB) for a little over two years.

By taxing its biggest depositors, the Bavarian bank hopes to convince them to put their money in the financial products it offers, rather than let him sleep. “We wrote to all our large depositors and have recommended them to change their investment strategy. If you do not create incentives to change things, then things do not change, “justified to Reuters Josef Paul, the owner of Raiffeisenbank Gmund. Of the 140 customers affected by the bank, which represent some 40 million euros deposited, some have indeed opted for an alternative investment in the bank, while others withdrew their money and place it anywhere, says the boss.

punctured Companies

The ECB requires in effect an interest rate of 0.4% to banks which home their excess liquidity. The objective of the Frankfurt institution is to encourage banks to lend to individuals and businesses, which in turn should be encouraged to consume and invest. But the flip side of this policy is that banks’ margins are thereby diminished, and they may affect one way or another these costs to their customers.

If the Raiffeisenbank Gmund is one of the first leading banks in the euro area to break the taboo of taxation of individual deposit accounts, many of them have already done the same with their business customers. In England, the RBS bank warned last week that it would proceed as if the Bank of England ventured in the wake of the ECB. In France, BPCE already invoice business deposits “case by case”, when the size of their cash is significiative. “Companies are able to understand that in the environment of negative rates, deposits can not be paid as in the past,” said François Perol, the president of the group.

Fees account management

The taxation of personal deposit accounts is another matter. If she had to spread like wildfire in the euro area, this practice could indeed push customers to withdraw their banks’ liquidity and store them under their mattress, which would endanger the financing of the economy. It is unlikely, however, that this assumption is true. In Germany, the Association of Cooperative Banks believes that the sisters of Raiffeisenbank not follow suit, highly competitive environment requires.

In France, such taxation is even less likely that the demand for highly dynamic credits within the Hexagon compensates the banks’ profitability. French institutions have also found other ways to improve their margins. Since the beginning of the year, most practice indeed nonexistent account maintenance fees before. And Societe Generale, BNP Paribas or LCL. The French Association of users of banks, which considers the imposition of these fees illegal, preparing a class action against two of these banks for the month of September.