Raiffeisenbank Gmund, a small cooperative bank in the Bavarian Alps in Germany has started charging wealthy customers for deposits they keep with the bank in pursuance of the European Central Bank’s decision to allow to negative rates. The bank said it will levy a custody charge of 0.4% to sight deposit accounts over 100,000 euros ($111,500.00) from September. Such accounts allow depositors to withdraw their money at any time. Several German banks have passed on the ECB’s negative deposit rate to large commercial customers such as companies and institutional investors. Cooperative direct bank Skatbank has applied negative rates on deposits over 500,000 euros since 2014, while ecological lender GLS Bank, also part of the cooperative system, is asking customers for a ‘solidarity contribution’ to help offset negative interest rates.
