In order to avoid negative interest on savings, small entrepreneurs open new accounts with different banks. This is what he writes fed After a tour of Dutch banks.

Over the past year, banks have introduced a negative interest rate for people with a certain account balance. In most banks, interest must be paid for amounts over 100,000 euros, while some banks have a maximum limit of 150,000 euros. For someone with $200,000 in the bank, that could mean paying $500 in interest at the end of the year. To prevent this, entrepreneurs began to distribute their money to different accounts.

ING has received 20 percent more applications for a business account this year than in 2020. According to the bank, 3 percent of new customers are aiming to distribute the funds, though the company also says many customers don’t say exactly why. Close an account, a new account.

According to de Volksbank, the company behind the SNS and ASN brands, there is a large group of customers who just want to open a savings account. The waiting time for the new account has increased. Only Rabobank says it doesn’t recognize the trend and sees only a slight increase in interest in opening business accounts.

stimulating the economy

Banks choose to charge negative interest due to ECB policy. It has lowered interest rates in recent years to stimulate the economy, and has imposed negative interest rates on banks that deposit money with the central bank.

Banks say they have no choice but to pass that interest on to customers.