Bank customers are asked to pay more for account fees, transfers or when withdrawing money. This was the result of a study by the magazine “Finanztest”. Free checking accounts are the exception.
In the meantime, consumers can expect appreciable interest rates for overnight or fixed-term deposits in savings accounts. But many accounts also cost customers more: account fees or costs for cash withdrawals or telephone banking have an impact. The completely free checking account has become a rare exception.
175 institutes with 460 account models
Stiftung Warentest, which operates a free website for checking current accounts on behalf of the state, evaluated the conditions of salary and pension accounts valid until August 31 at 175 banks. The evaluations are published in the current issue of “Finanztest”. All nationwide institutes as well as direct and church banks, all Sparda and PSD banks as well as the largest savings banks and cooperative banks in each federal state were examined.
The result: There are fewer and fewer completely free checking accounts or accounts that the experts consider to be “cheap”, i.e. with annual fees of up to 60 euros.
Free or cheap only a handful of accounts
According to “Finanztest”, only nine of the 460 account models examined are free for online customers without any conditions. These include five free accounts for branch customers. A year earlier, a total of twelve free accounts were found.
Stiftung Warentest defines it as free of charge without conditions: no basic fee, no fee for account statements, bookings, Girocard and when withdrawing money from machines in the bank’s own pool, as well as no conditions such as regular receipt of money and salary in a certain amount.
According to the test, only 74 account offers were cheap (up to 60 euros in fees per year), compared to 79 in the previous year. On average, the account holders paid 117 euros in fees per year. The most expensive account management evaluated was 307.86 euros per year. The basis for the evaluation was a model person who draws a regular salary, keeps the account online and uses it on average.
Fees for all kinds of transactions
Institutes often offer low basic prices for account management, but there are fees for the Girocard or costs for direct debits or credits. The execution of transfers and standing orders also costs money with many providers. Transfers by receipt, phone banking or cash deposits are also potential cost factors. With online banks, a paper transfer can cost up to five euros.
According to “Finanztest” expert Heike Nicodemus, the problem is often in the details: Volks- und Raiffeisenbanken in particular offer models in which account management becomes cheaper the more you use other offers from the institute, for example conclude a loan agreement. This can be worthwhile for some customers, but it is not easy to keep track of things.
No new free wave in sight
According to Nicodemus, the days of free checking accounts will not come back for the time being: “There are currently no signs that credit institutions are trying to attract new customers with free checking accounts on a large scale,” says the expert. “I’m more likely to expect a further decline. Many institutes have cut jobs. They probably wouldn’t be able to cope with a rush of new customers to free checking accounts.”