For a long time, it was common for banks and savings banks to charge their own customers higher account management fees without their express consent. Since 2021, however, this is no longer allowed. But the financial institutions no longer want to accept this and are working hard to return to the old model.
This should be possible again without customer consent.
In April 2021 , the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) made a groundbreaking judgment : Banks and savings banks must not simply raise the prices for current accounts and hope for tacit approval from their customers. Since then, it has been necessary for customers to give their express consent in order for higher account management fees to take effect (Az. XI ZR 26/20). However, this is encountering increasing resistance from financial institutions. They complain about the high level of bureaucracy and are preparing a big rebellion behind the scenes. This is reported by the “Handelsblatt” .
BANKS AND SAVINGS BANKS WANT TO REACTIVATE PRICE INCREASES WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF CUSTOMERS
The clear goal of the industry is to overturn the approval requirement for fee increases again. To this end, an amendment to the Civil Code is being sought, according to a position paper by the German banking industry (DK), which is available to the “Handelsblatt”. Should the banks and savings banks prevail with their request, price increases for current accounts would in principle be possible again without the explicit consent of customers.
From the point of view of the financial institutions, the model that has been in use for two years is not suitable for the masses. They classify the obligation to give their consent – which is understandable from their point of view – as a “superfluous impertinence” for customers. In fact, the usual procedure is more of a nuisance for the banks. In fact, some customers are stubbornly refusing to accept the recently announced price increases. Up to ten percent do not agree to the new terms and conditions, even after numerous requests from the banks.
ANYONE WHO DOES NOT AGREE MUST EXPECT TERMINATION
The result: Customers who are unwilling to agree to changes to the terms and conditions must expect their bank and savings bank accounts to be terminated. In a letter to its customers, for example, DKB threatened (to) “terminate the business relationship or parts thereof” if consent is not given. The Sparkasse Köln Bonn even officially announced on Wednesday that it would be terminating around 38,000 customers. Customers are still missing the approval for a change to a new current account model. However, you still have until March 20th to subsequently agree to the new GTC. Then the dismissal will be revoked. 10,000 cancellations had already been sent out by the Sparkasse Nuremberg at the end of last year .
Whether the advance of the German banking industry will actually be implemented remains to be seen. At the request of the “Handelsblatt”, the Federal Ministry of Justice announced that it was still examining whether an amendment to the general terms and conditions law would be advisable in light of the BGH ruling. According to reports, it is also conceivable that at least price increases for current accounts that are already subject to a fee may be made again without the consent of the customer. In the opinion of the banks and savings banks, this is not an unreasonable disadvantage for consumers.
If the banks are actually allowed to increase some of the prices without the express consent of the customer, this should quickly lead to many financial institutions actually having to pay higher account management fees for customers. Because of the high inflation in the euro area, according to industry rumors, numerous financial institutions are apparently already making adjustments to their own fees. However, many banks still shy away from final enforcement because of the high level of bureaucracy involved.
