Banks

Captive customers

The announcements of the banks did not suggest an improvement. We now have the certainty. After two consecutive years of decline, the bank charges imposed on the French by their banks will increase in 2016. This is the main conclusion of the comparative site study Panorabanques.com, based on 158 establishments and published in the daily Le Parisien.

The expected increase in banking fees for 2016 (+ 2.3%) will even bring consumers back to 2013 levels, ie an average of € 190.50 a year. However, the increase remains uneven between the establishments that frankly feed the rise in these rates and those who opt for the status quo. On the sample of Panorabanques.com, 102 banks push up the bill, 16 keep the same price and … 40 choose to lower the required bank charges.

A diversity that is explained by a dual reality: the vast majority of banks increase their account maintenance fees, but a minority, in return, make a tariff effort on other services offered to their customers, the Internet and cards. deferred debit in particular. Agios, on the other hand, remain globally stable, most banks already claiming the maximum allowed by law. Still, the effort required from the customer is based on products that are almost “mandatory” (the current account), where the declines are found on services that do not yet concern all users. Internet subscriptions are still shunned by 20% of customers. As for deferred debit cards (cost decrease of -0.5%), they are much less widespread than cards with immediate debit (which they even increase by 3%). And better not to interpret the decline in the cost of debit cards as a sign of generosity of your bank: interbank fees are higher with this payment mode.

Online banks on the lookout

However, rising fees are not necessarily such a good deal for banks. Of course, they guarantee a return of money. But they do so mainly to adapt to external constraints: “Banks are under pressure because of the constraints of the regulators who impose a limitation of their costs and a consolidation of their own funds. And, with low rates and customers renegotiating their credit, they earn less money on bank loans, “says Guillaume Clavel, president of Panorabanques.com. If you want to get instant approval loans click over here now gaoqiaocable.com Gaoqiaocable

An obligation to find other sources of income, therefore, which is a bit more likely to increase the annoyance of customers who will pay more for an equivalent service. A context that risks rolling out the red carpet to online banks that do not charge, they, almost any fees. Although they still only account for 5% of banking customers, they account for three-quarters of new account openings. “Online banks are rubbing their hands and will not hesitate to advertise to bounce back on rising bank charges. And over time, the banking clientele will be more mobile and more autonomous with computers and will have less and less need of a dedicated personal adviser, “predicts Guillaume Clavel.

As elections approach, populist parties shift the burden to foreign banks

Nothing is lost, everything is transformed. On Friday, 18 September, Croatia passed a set of laws to convert into euros the loans denominated in Swiss francs, held by 53,000 citizens. In the country, 38% of mortgages are denominated in this currency. They represent a total of 23.1 billion Croatian kunas in nominal value or 3 billion euros. These new provisions constitute a strong political choice: this amounts to charging the banks the cost of the soaring Swiss currency, which is currently trading around 1.10 Swiss francs per euro, 10% more expensive than the beginning of the year. The currency jumped in January when the Swiss National Bank (SNB) dropped its floor rate of 1.20 Swiss francs per euro.

The Croatian government, a center-left coalition, has pushed this law criticized by private and public financial actors, while in November must take place legislative elections, where right-wing conservatives are given favorites. Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic is killing two birds with one stone: he is helping indebted households and is keeping his promise to find a lasting solution to the difficulties caused by the soaring Swiss franc. ” Such legislation is being discussed especially in countries that are going through a period of political instability,” said Piotr Palenik, an analyst at ING’s Polish subsidiary of Bloomberg.

The after-sales service of the Croatian central bank

Banks, therefore, pay the bill: between 800 million and 1 billion euros (6 to 8 billion Croatian kunas). They have until mid-November to convert the loans and communicate to the borrowers their new monthly payments. The exchange rate for the payment of the loans is set at 6.39 kuna per Swiss franc since January against 6.99 kunas per Swiss franc for the current rate.

Embarrassed by this decision, the Croatian central bank will nevertheless have to provide after-sales service. On the one hand, she warned that the law would penalize the banking system, deepen foreign exchange reserves and weaken the Croatian currency. On the other hand, she tried to reassure investors that they had enough monetary instruments to limit the damage. But it is a snowball effect provided by the European Central Bank, worried about “the macroeconomic stability of the country.”

Foreign banks account for 90% of the Croatian market. Five of them (Erste Group Bank, UniCredit, Sberbank, Raiffeisen Bank International and Hypo Group Alpe Adria) want to sue the government. In a statement, they say that ” a forced conversion that does not take into account either the income or the ability to repay the customer is a serious retroactive interference on existing contracts .” Acerbe, the finance minister, Boris Lalovac, replied in front of an audience of journalists: ” It is not very smart to sue the government of the country where we do business. I hope that the banks want to continue to practice in Croatia, and that, for the first time in history, they will listen to the voice of the people. In the aftermath of the vote in Parliament, most banks in Croatia fell back on the stock market.