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MONEY

Why German bank customers could soon pay less for their account

A major German bank is set to scrap fees on large balances - and a number of others look set to follow. Here's why people in Germany may be paying less for their savings or current account in the near future.

Published: 12 May 2022 17:13 CEST
Woman with wallet
A woman looks in her wallet while grocery shopping. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild | Fernando Gutierrez-Juarez

What’s going on? 

Interest rates have been at rock-bottom levels for years, making it much harder for people to get returns on their savings.

In recent years, many banks have even been levying what’s known as negative interest rates on customers. If interest normally incentivises people to save by helping them to grow their money, negative interest basically does the opposite.

If you have a certain amount of money in the bank, your bank will charge you negative interest via a deposit holding fee, which will usually be a certain percentage of your balance.

With N26, for example, balances of over €50,000 are subject to a 0.5 percent fee each year. For a balance of exactly €50,000, that equates to €250 in bank charges just for keeping your money there. 

Some banks even charge a deposit holding fee for balances as low as €5,000 or €10,000 in a current account. 

On Tuesday, ING Deutschland became the first bank to announce that it would be scrapping negative interest rates for the vast majority of its customers.

From July 1st, new customers of ING will be able to deposit up to €500,000 in their account without being charged for it, while existing customers will automatically have the fee-free amount raised to €500,000 from the current €50,000. 

Now, it seems a number of other German banks are planning similar moves. 

Why is ING Deutschland ending the holding fee?

Not entirely out of the goodness of its own heart – though that doesn’t stop it being good news for customers.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is set to make a decision on interest rates in the bloc this July, and most people expect that the bank is poised to increase interest rates from minus 0.5 percent to zero. 

Since banks have basically been passing on the ECB’s fees to their own customers, a hike in the ECB’s interest rate would spell the end of most negative interest-rate accounts in any case. But ING Deutschland said it wanted to pass on the positive interest rate trend to its customers even earlier.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: How to save money on your taxes in Germany

“With the increase in the fee-free allowance for credit balances on the current and extra accounts, the deposit fee is no longer applicable for 99.9 percent of our customers,” said Nick Jue, chief executive officer of ING in Germany. “We were one of the last banks to introduce a deposit holding fee and one of the first to virtually abolish it.”

He added that the bank had already kept its promise to abolish the holding fee for almost all customers before the European Central Bank made its decision.

Does this have anything to do with that court decision on bank charges?

That’s definitely a factor. According to a decision in Germany’s Federal Supreme Court last year, credit institutions have to obtain the consent of their customers when making changes to their fees and conditions.

That means that financial institutions have to ask for consent to current fees retrospectively if they don’t want hoards of people trying to claim their money back.

If a customer doesn’t consent to the fees, the bank will usually close that customer’s account.

Man signs a contract

A man in a suit fills in an official form. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/Pixabay | hnw-Gruppe

According to ING Deutschland, the scrapping of negative interest rates on balances up to €500,000 may help to sway those customers who have not yet agreed to the latest terms and conditions – including the deposit holding fee.

Anyone who agrees to the Ts&Cs will automatically be given the higher allowance as of July 1st.

“ING Deutschland expects that the increase in the allowances will convince in particular those customers who have not yet agreed to the General Terms and Conditions including the holding fee, and that the bank will thus terminate fewer customers than last planned,” ING said in a press release. 

READ ALSO:

What other banks are planning to do this?

According to reports in Bild and Bialo, the other banks planning on ending negative interest rates (or raising the threshold for fee-free balances like ING Deutschland has done) include:

  • Deutsche Bank
  • Commerzbank
  • Deutsche Apotheker- und Ärztebank (Apobank)
  • Dortmunder Volksbank
  • Hamburger Sparkasse (Haspa
  • Frankfurter Sparkasse
  • Frankfurter Volksbank
  • Mittelbrandenburgische Sparkasse
  • Nassauische Sparkasse (Naspa)
  • Ostsächsische Sparkasse Dresden
  • Sparda-Bank München
  • Sparda-Bank Südwest
  • Sparda-Bank West
  • Sparkasse Hannover
  • Sparkasse Pforzheim Calw
  • Volksbank Stuttgart

What does this mean for my savings?

There’s good news and bad news.

The good news is that, from July, you’ll no longer have to pay exorbitant charges just to store your money in a safe place – and you won’t be penalised for saving more. The bad news, on the other hand, is that low interest rates aren’t going away anytime soon.

So while you won’t be losing money hand over fist, you won’t be earning much of a return on your savings either.

Banks in Frankfurt

Skyscrapers in the financial district of Frankfurt am Main. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild | Fernando Gutierrez-Juarez

“If the interest rate environment continues to develop positively, we will also let our customers participate in this development,” said ING Deutschland’s Nick Jue. “However, the low-interest phase will continue for the time being and broadly diversified investments will remain important.”

Getting a securities account where your money is invested is one way to try and grow your savings, as is investing in property.

Of course, people with mortgages and other loans benefit from the low interest rates – which could be why the German property market is currently booming. 

READ ALSO: Five ways Germany’s soaring inflation could affect your life

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PROPERTY

Who pays broker’s fees on property in Germany – and how much do they cost?

One of the major hidden costs of buying and selling property in Germany is the estate agent's commission, or broker's fee. We look at some of the unusual rules around it - and how much you can expect to pay.

Published: 17 September 2024 16:25 CEST
Who pays broker's fees on property in Germany - and how much do they cost?

There are many areas of life in which things in Germany function just that little bit differently – and buying a house is no exception.

Though the buoyant property market in the Bundesrepublik makes it an attractive place to buy, anyone looking to get their foot on the housing ladder should consider the hidden fees they might incur.

Beyond interest rates, taxes and fees for notaries and translators, one major outlay is the estate agent’s commission, which can sometimes stretch to thousands of euros.

Here’s what to know about these hefty fees and how you might be able to lower them. 

Who pays commission on property transactions in Germany?

If you come from another European country or somewhere like the United States, you may be used to a system in which the seller pays the broker’s fee. This intuitively makes sense because the estate agent is there to market the property, liaise with buyers and ultimately get the best price for the seller – so it makes sense that the seller should pay for these services.

Until recently, however, it was the buyer who was responsible for paying the entirety of the estate agent’s commission in Germany. That meant that these fees – which could be as high as seven percent of the purchase cost – were added to the mountain of extra costs buyers had to contend with, from notary fees to land transfer tax.

READ ALSO: The hidden costs of buying a house in Germany

Luckily for buyers (but less so for sellers), this was changed under a law that came into force at the end of 2020. Since then, costs are generally split 50/50 between buyers and sellers.

However, there are some details that are important to note here. If the seller commissions the estate agent to help them sell their home, they are technically liable for the costs but must pay a minimum of 50 percent. 

If the buyer commissions the estate agent to find them a home, the same rules apply the other way around: the buyer is liable for the costs but can obtain a maximum of 50 percent from the seller.

In each case, the side that commissioned the broker must prove they have paid their share before the other side is liable to pay theirs. 

How much do estate agents’ fees cost in Germany?

Commission on property sales varies from state to state but is generally set at between 5 and 7 percent of the purchase price.

According to online portal ImmobilienScout24, these were the standard rates that applied in each of the federal states in 2024, with the number in brackets representing a 50 percent share of the costs:

Baden-Württemberg: 7.14 percent (3.57 percent)

Bavaria: 7.14 percent (3.57 percent)

Berlin: 7.14 percent (3.57 percent)

Brandenburg: 7.14 percent (3.57 percent)

Bremen: 5.95 percent (2.97 percent)

Hamburg: 6.25 percent (3.12 percent)

Hesse: 5.95 percent (2.97 percent)

Lower Saxony: 4.76 – 5,95 percent or 7.14 percent, depending on the region. (2.38 – 3.57 percent)

Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania: 5.95 percent (2.97 percent)

North Rhine-Westphalia: 7.14 percent (3.57 percent)

Rhineland-Palatinate: 7.14 percent (3.57 percent)

Saarland: 7.14 percent (3.57 percent)

Saxony: 7.14 percent (3.57 percent)

Saxony-Anhalt: 7.14 percent (3.57 percent)

Schleswig-Holstein: 7.14 percent (3.57 percent)

Thuringia: 7.14 percent (3.57 percent)

If it’s hard to gauge how much this means in real terms, we can take the example of two properties: a €200,000 apartment and a €500,000 family home.

In the state of Hesse, a buyer splitting the broker’s fee equally with the seller would pay €5,940 to buy the €200,000 apartment and €14,850 to buy the €500,000 house.

In pricier Berlin, meanwhile, the same buyer would pay €7,140 on the €200,000 apartment and €17,850 on the €500,000 house.

READ ALSO: Is autumn 2024 the right time to buy a property in Germany?

Here’s where it gets more complicated, however: under German law, you are technically free to negotiate the commission with your estate agent.

That means that, especially in areas with stiff competition, you may be able to secure a better deal. 

Do I always have to pay commission in Germany? 

Not always. In fact, as a seller, you’re perfectly free to sell your property privately without enlisting the help of a real estate agent.

The benefit of this, of course, is that you can potentially save thousands of euros in fees, both for yourself and any prospective buyer. 

On the flip side, though, you will need to take the entire job of the estate agent on yourself, from marketing the property to liaising with potential buyers and finally closing the deal.

Real estate agent Germany

A real estate agent talks to prospective tenants at an apartment viewing. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Tobias Hase

There can also be some upfront costs involved in commissioning things like floor plans and professional photography, as well as the time you’ll need to invest in learning all the procedures and preparing relevant documents for notary – to name just a few examples.

Ultimately, though, it’s up to you to decide whether the expense of working with a professional broker is worth it in the end. 

As a buyer, there are also some situations where you’ll see the words ‘provisionsfrei’ – or commission-free – written in a property listing.

This is fairly common in new-build properties, where the developer may sell the homes directly to interested buyers. More rarely, an existing property may be listed without commission, making it a more attractive proposition.

In both cases, it’s possible that commission has been built into the purchase price, so you may not necessarily be getting a better deal.

Another case where you’re likely to be able to avoid commission as a buyer are so-called Kapitalanlagen – or buy-to-let properties. 

READ ALSO: Should you think about purchasing a buy-to-let property in Germany?

These tenanted properties are designed to be bought as investments: buyers can enjoy additional rental income over time and, ideally, will also make money when they come to sell the property several years later.

For this reason, costs are generally kept slightly lower for the buyer by eschewing the standard broker’s commission. 

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