Frankfurt If banks and savings banks want to raise the fees for checking accounts, they now need the explicit consent of their customers – in writing, via online banking or by telephone. After a few weeks, 75 to 95 percent of customers often agree. Reaching the rest is considered difficult. Some savings banks have recently been trying to get a “yes” from the ATM as well.
This includes Berliner Sparkasse, the second largest German savings bank. The bank, which made checking accounts more expensive in July, is currently getting the approval of as many of its 1.3 million customers as possible. Among other things, it uses ATMs that customers can use to confirm their agreement to the new prices, as the head of the savings bank, Johannes Evers, recently said.
The Sparkasse Mecklenburg-Schwerin also relies on the ATM variant. “Online banking customers are addressed, for whom the current terms and conditions have already been placed in the electronic mailbox and whose approval is still pending,” explains the savings bank on request.
Volksbanks also use ATMs for agreeing to general terms and conditions
At the Stadtsparkasse Düsseldorf, which is also currently making current accounts more expensive, customers can find the General Terms and Conditions (GTC) in writing in the branches – and can agree to them on site by signing them or at the ATM. Three fields appear there: “Agree”, “Already done” and “Skip”.
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Neither the German Savings Banks Association nor its IT service provider Finanz Informatik (FI) can say how many savings banks use ATMs in total to increase approval rates. The option has existed since autumn 2021 and has since been gradually used by banks. According to the FI, the prerequisite is that they have previously sent the general terms and conditions to the customers.
The FI points out another possibility for savings banks: Customers could print out a mini form for approval on the account statement printer, sign it and hand it in at the branch or put it in the branch’s mailbox. The savings banks cannot rely on online banking alone, around 40 percent of their customers do not do their banking on a computer or smartphone app.
It is similar with the cooperative banks. Since the beginning of last week, the general terms and conditions have been accepted via self-service devices, i.e. also via ATMs. The cooperative IT service provider Atruvia (formerly Fiducia GAD) explains that any device that has the appropriate software version can be used by the bank as part of the general terms and conditions campaign to obtain outstanding customer consent.
BGH judgment makes price increases more difficult
The background to the efforts of the financial institutions is a ruling by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) from April 2021. According to this, financial institutions must obtain the express consent of their customers if there are changes to the general terms and conditions, for example price increases (Az. XI ZR 26/20). The Federal Association of Consumers had sued the Postbank, which had raised prices several times in recent years.
Up until the verdict, banks and savings banks had usually increased the fees via the existing terms and conditions clauses. They assumed that customers would tacitly consent if they did not object to a change within two months. Since very similar general terms and conditions are used in the German banking industry, the BGH decision is considered to be decisive for the entire industry.
The financial institutions are now getting approval for fee increases that have just been announced. On the other hand, they need the customer’s consent to price increases in the past three years and are also adapting their general terms and conditions here.
However, some customers do not react, especially with regard to fee increases in the past. “Banks and savings banks have the problem that some customers do not agree to the terms and conditions. In the best case, it’s only about two or three percent of the customers, but for many banks it’s about more,” says Oliver Mihm, head of the consulting firm Investors Marketing.
While most credit institutions are still reluctant to terminate customers for this reason, Postbank recently did just that. Postbank, which belongs to Deutsche Bank, has started terminating customers who do not agree with the current terms and prices as of April 30.
Nevertheless, Postbank gives affected customers a little more time – and again relies on a kind of silent consent: If customers continue to use their account from May 1st, they automatically accept the current terms and conditions, Postbank explains in a customer letter. This can be done with a single bank transfer, card payment or withdrawing money from an ATM.
Other banks are likely to follow. If you continue to use the account, you assume that so-called implied action has taken place, i.e. if an action implies a declaration of intent. Advisor Mihm sees this as “a valid option to solve the problem of bank approval”.
In any case, consumer advocates are not taking action against it: “We have already seen this at Volksbanks and decided not to attack it,” says Niels Nauhauser from the Baden-Württemberg consumer center. However, it is important to ensure that the customers concerned have actually been informed about the new terms and conditions and prices.
More: Current accounts are becoming more expensive: Every second bank is raising prices