Negative interest rates – why a small Raiffeisenkasse nationwide a stir – Süddeutsche.de

• The Raiffeisenkasse Gmund has written 139 private customers who have invested more than 100,000 euros in the short term.
• The customer should either change the form of investment or accept the penalty interest rate the ECB itself.

It was in June, when for Josef Paul it was clear that it can not continue. “For every million bring me customers, figure I in 4000 euros more,” says the boss of Raiffeisenbank Gmund. More and more it was last brought the customer. Money that he can not lend or invest better interest. He must at the European Central Bank (ECB) park, and the demands for some time a negative interest rate of 0.4 percent, also called “penalty rate”.

the end of June wrote Paul then those 139 private customers, who more than EUR 100 000 short-term investments with him. Overall, it comes to a sum of 40 million euros. “We talk to these customers as we make liquidity more meaningful,” Paul puts it. The Bank could no longer bear alone the negative interest anyway. Therefore, he offers them to switch to other, more profitable for the bank investment instruments – or to pay the 0.4 percent even. Who does not want to, had just left the bank.

Raiffeisenbank am Tegernsee is the first retail bank in Germany, which passes on the negative ECB interest rates to private customers. Until now, negative interest rates only for companies that have preserved a lot of money at the bank or for individuals with very high capacity – for example, at Commerzbank, DZ Bank, or at the Skatbank, the Internet subsidiary of a cooperative bank in Thuringia. Now think of another domino, and many bank customers are wondering if they will soon have to pay negative interest on their savings. Therefore, the case Gmund aroused nationwide attention

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Reserve Chairman Paul understands the excitement not quite. “This is in my eyes an entirely normal process that we pass on the costs that we ourselves have, according to the polluter pays principle,” he says. Incidentally, it disturbs the term “penalty rate”, he prefers to speak of a “Verwahrentgelt”, he calls it “a kind of parking charge”. If you abstelle his car in the garage, one must eventually pay, and the more so the longer you stay in it. And he emphasized that “customers like you and me” would not be affected.

“Of course, other banks to talk about it, which is one or the other make the safe as well.”

Pauls office lies within view of Lake Tegernsee, the straight leads flood after heavy rain of recent days. The picture also fit to his bank, finds the boss: “There is too much liquidity there.” In recent years, many wealthy people had come with their money to him. This firstly has to do with the area, select Many rich and famous as a living or retirement home. In addition: “We keep the money apparently for safe because cooperative banks own insurance fund,” says Paul

Until recently, he could create this customer money in German government bonds, and got three percent interest. , But that it’s over, and the yield on government bonds is negative. As loans to corporate Paul can not lend the money. “We only have food and crafts around the lake,” he says. The largest employer, the banknote printer Giesecke & amp; Devrient, who operates a paper mill in Gmund, wrap his money transactions do not have the small Raiffeisenbank from 45 employees.

And so it happens that in Gmund 115 million euros of customer deposits compared to only 75 million lent loans. Makes an overhang of 40 million euros, the Paul costing EUR 160 000 Negative interest in – and a profit of EUR 250 000, to the bank in 2015 auswies. “We can no longer bear even that, we have the business model’s torn,” the bank chief

Therefore, he wrote to those 139 customers. they represent exactly the deposit surplus of 40 million euros. By the end of August, they will have time to decide. The action to bear fruit. “Ten million euros have already left,” says Paul. Part’ll redeployed in equities, savings contracts or other products, but it’ll also provides that customers leave the bank. “One is left with two million Euro to Sparkasse, I can not imagine that is happy,” says Paul.

The banking associations emphasize Gmund, a single case. “We are no other banks are known which calculate a reimbursement of expenses for deposits of individuals,” reads the Genossenschaftsverband Bavaria. Uwe Fröhlich, head of the Federation BVR, said in June: “The threshold to go into negative territory compared to the private customers, is very, very high.” The competition was tough, the company feared losing customers. Paul, the bank chief from Lake Tegernsee, but says: “Of course, other banks to talk about it, one way or another will make it safe as well.”