• Duchess of Waves@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    23
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    And another thing were Europeans are better. Paying “fines” for overdrawing your banking account are illegal as are “fines” for failed withdrawals. We had them in the past for a while but the courts smashed that scheme to pieces. On the other hand, often banks do not even allow overdrawing. You hit Zero? End of the Line. Good Customers often get a credit up to some thousand Euro. I have specifically asked to limit my credit frame to €100. Because even while I don’t pay a fine for “overdrawing” I still pay absurde interest rates for overcharging - around 0,03% per day = 12,5% per year.

    Then there is another thing, two of the five largest banks for end users in Germany are “cooperative banks” which means they are not allowed to make a profit. They are practically owned by their customers. They aren’t exactly “the banks with the best interest rates” but overall a lot more relaxed than the competitors. On the other hand… they don’t accept every customer. Mostly small businesses and farmers.

    Also all banks are forced to cooperate a lot more than US banks which is why credit cards and their often absurd costs are mostly unknown around here.

    Edit, I just checked if my bank also offers to refill my daily account from my other accounts if it reaches Zero… in fact it DOES. For Free.