Bank Austria, Erste Group and VKB want to abolish the “custody fees” that they have levied on corporate customers above a certain account balance.
Bank Austria has levied a custody fee on large deposits from institutional customers, customers in the public sector and corporate customers. This should expire “soon”. Erste Bank no longer wants to charge the fee, which came into effect from a tax-free limit of 100,000 euros, “soon”. VKB wants to set the custody fee for corporate customers to zero on August 1 until further notice. According to a spokesman, the custody fees of the Volksbanks will probably disappear in the medium term.
With the latest interest rate hike by the ECB, negative interest on funds parked at the central bank has disappeared. Some banks passed these on to corporate customers in the form of custody fees on credit balances. Negative interest rates for private savers are prohibited in Austria.
Source: Nachrichten
