Bank charge

Bank charges is the colloquial term for all charges levied by banks for services from their customers.

General

Credit institutions undertakings the interest or fee-paid home services often ancillary services for which they charge separate fees. Entitlement to fees for both banking services, contracted, namely continuous obligations (such as checking accounts ) by reference the terms and conditions on the Price List of Bank.

Fees / Costs / Interest

A number of judgments of the Federal Supreme Court (BGH ) deals with the nature, calculation and amount of interest / fees / costs which are charged to bank customers. In this case, the Supreme Court recognizes that there is not only the general account management fees, the survey of bank charges for special services at present, but it shows clear limits on. In addition, the Supreme Court reminds us of the principle that banks prices and interest rates are unlikely to unilaterally restructure at the expense of consumers. Changes should be traceable. Moreover, it is the opinion of the chief judge permitted to charge a fee for services to which the banks are obliged to do anyway. Legally questionable interest rates / fees / costs violate either of the transparency requirement of § 307 paragraph 1 sentence 2 BGB or penalize the bank customers inappropriate ( § 307 para 1 and 2 BGB). The Supreme Court can in its decisions, according to Nobbe guided by five basic principles, which the disputes are subordinated to bank fees:

• A pricing of activities that are not a service for the customer is not permitted.
• Inappropriate to levy a charge for payments owed fringe benefits or for the fulfillment of duties to avoid secondary contractual claims is.
• For the fulfillment of legal obligations no fee may be charged.
• Of § 307, paragraph 1 and 2 of the Civil Code violated remuneration clauses that impose on the customer as a result of a liability without fault.
• Clauses excluding pro rata refund of a fee calculated by reference to a specific period in case of early termination of the contract, are critically evaluated.

Generally, a distinction is quite systematically between two scenarios. Impermissible a fee is whenever the bank with the activity

• Fulfills a legal duty or
• Perceives a predominantly self-interest in the underlying service.

Legal obligation

Due to some laws with financial implications arise contribution or performance obligations for credit institutions. Will they operate under these legal obligations, banks may not charge any fees for these activities. Expenditure incurred by banks to fulfill their relation to the state existing legal obligations, must bear financial institutions as part of their overhead costs. Thus, the charging of fees for cash deposits and cash withdrawals to and from your own account is prohibited. Banks need to offer at least five booking process a month free of charge. For the ATM withdrawal, however, the bank can quote a booking postal fee, since it provides the machines around the clock. Also, fees for changing and managing exemption requests can not be calculated. Similarly, the burden of a fee is not permitted for the issuing of a cancellation authorization referred to in loan repayment. Fees for the processing of account garnishments are not allowed.

Self-interest

If credit institutions mainly in their own interest and not for customer order, these services must not throw charges. Banks therefore need to investigate free of charge if a referral - even at the fault of the bank customers - was misguided and did not arrive at the receiver. Cost burdens for the redemption of debits and checks due to insufficient funds are ineffective. However, if the customer submits a bad check with his bank and this is drawn in vain with another financial institution, the cost of non-payment may be passed on to him. The credit institution must notify customers about the dishonouring of checks and direct debits, or non- execution of transfers and standing orders due to insufficient funds for legal or contractual reasons. As it so only fulfilled his duty to mitigate damages, it must also provide for no fee. Also typical banking services such as setting up or closing a current account must be charged. According to a judgment of the OLG Karlsruhe on 8 November 2011, confirmed in the last instance to the judgment of the Supreme Court of 7 June 2011, and account management fees for loan accounts are inadmissible because banks provide for originated loan account numbers (and thus accounts set up ) to make payments to assign unique. A payment for the lies exclusively in their self-interest accounting may not require the borrower and not set an account maintenance fee in their terms and conditions the bank. Banks may also charge any fees if they determine the value of a property for a mortgage. Apart from the existing statutory obligation to pursue this credit institutions largely own interests because of the determination of the mortgage lending value. Lender banks consider all offered to loan collateral and the consequences of collateral generally not in the customer, but only in their own interest.

Costs / expenses

The rules on reimbursement of expenses (No. 12 Conditions of banks or savings banks Conditions No. 18 ) must comply with the statutory indemnification claim of § 670 BGB. Hereinafter, a reimbursement of expenses by credit institutions may only be required where the bank customer could keep the expenses in the circumstances required, they were made for the purpose of performing the contract or match the real or presumed will of the customer. The Supreme Court also pointed out that it is settled case-law, those clauses that abwälzten the cost of activities of the credit institution in its own interest and for general operating expenses to the customer, the content control in accordance with § 307 paragraph 1 sentence 1 and paragraph 2, No. 1 BGB are subject. The provision, administration or realization of collateral successes primarily in the self-interest of a bank and not in the interest of the customer. For this reason, expenses / costs associated with loan collateral must be borne by the banks themselves.

Interest

Expressed in forms, interest rate clauses in the context of a savings or credit contract are in accordance with § 308 No. 4 BGB ( according to which the agreement of a change in power law of the clause adjuster is ineffective, if not the agreement of the change or deviation taking into account the interests of the user for the other party is reasonable ) void. Fictitious calculation of interest factors can only be accepted if it ignored the interests of the customer in an appropriate way - are taken into account - for example, by specifying the effective interest rate.

Value position clauses have often employed the case-law. They do not regulate the amount of interest, but the time at which enters the account movement for the interest calculation in each case to forming intermediate balance; by cash deposits into the account created already with the deposit - and not only with the credit or the value of position - debt securities of the customer against the bank. Your contractual obligation from the current contract must be inferred that the Bank only after completely when they temporally, that is worth positionally correctly in the current account adjusts the amount of the transfer. Only with the value date, ie the determination of the calendar day for which received the transfer amount in the relevant for the calculation of interest (interim) balance of the current account, the amount of interest may disproportionately affect. An exception applies, however, for credit of deposited checks that are made subject to the check cashing.

Since 1 January 2002, the Transfer Law in the Civil Code governs the time limits for credits for transfers, late interest and the reimbursement amounts unjustifiably abridged by the provisions of Articles 6, 7 and 8 of the " EU Transfer Policy". Thereafter, the payee's bank to transfer this amount upon receipt within the agreed period, in the absence of agreement within a period bank business day following the date of receipt to credit ( § 676g para 1 BGB). The text of the law attacks the Federal Supreme Court for value for incoming transfers to and further clarifies that the credit, even if they are made ​​in arrears, shall be such that the value position of the received amount to the account of the client is done with the date of the day on which the amount has been made ​​available to the lending institution. Only with the beneficiary company can bank take a different value date agreement.

Allows the bank that the agreed overdraft facility of the current account is exceeded, it is taking a higher risk of default. For the incurred additional expenses they may have a - charge interest premium in the form of an overdraft interest rate - the sometimes considerable.

Regulations through a levy on premature repayment of the loan prepayment penalty can be both surprising ( § 305c BGB) as to be observed even with the part of a content control ( § 307 BGB) transparency not be compatible. Vain are also interest calculation clauses in the terms and conditions of savings banks, " according to market situation " and " discretion " permits the calculation of charges. The clause harms customers inappropriate.

Criticism

Banks and customers are interested in, that the fees are charged pays basis. This is in Germany legally but not in every case permitted. An extensive, bank customer- friendly jurisdiction has declared a variety of fees, costs and interest clauses invalid.

This practice is, however, often criticized from the perspective of economics. Due to the fact that it is prohibited to calculate costs (eg for direct debit returns) pays basis, the total of all bank customers must endorse on higher rental charges, the cost of unethical behavior by individual. The positive tax effect of the charges omitted by it. Even the beneficiaries at first glance ( in the case of debit charges customers who overdraw their account) have thereby disadvantages, since a high incentive to terminate account relationships with customers that cause these costs.

Individual bank charges

• ATM fee
• Guarantee commission