Anyone who overdraws their account will pay it back quickly – and in large sums. Current evaluations show which banks are charging high interest rates and what consumers should pay attention to today.
commission – at no extra cost to you! Further information
Anyone who overdraws their account often has to dig deeper into their pockets. Latest evaluation of comparison portals Verivox shows: The average overdraft interest today is 11.31 percent – in extreme cases, banks even charge up to 19.75 percent. This analysis is based on data sets from the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin).
Use an overdraft – or exceed it: That’s how expensive it can be
Banks charge an average interest of 11.31 percent for classic overdraft facilities. Banks and customers together decide how high an individual’s credit limit should be. But things get very expensive when this limit is exceeded: 44 percent of institutions then charge additional overdraft interest. On average, this additional cost is 4.26 percentage points.
“Even though savings interest rates have fallen significantly in recent months due to the European Central Bank’s loose monetary policy, bank customers still have to pay very high interest on their account losses,” said Oliver Maier, Managing Director of Verivox Finanzvergleich GmbH.
These banks charge the most fees
The 20 most expensive providers include twelve cooperative banks, seven savings banks and one national private bank.
VR-Bank Landsberg-Ammersee currently charges the highest overdraft interest in a national comparison at 15.31 percent. Behind him are Volksbank Nordharz (14.79 percent) and Abtsgmünder Bank (14.75 percent).
The situation became more drastic when the agreed overdraft limit was exceeded: at Bank Abtsgmünder, the interest rate then rose to 19.75 percent – the highest value in the entire study.
What you should consider
When choosing a checking account, consumers should not only pay attention to low overdraft and overdraft interest rates. Fees for managing accounts, bank cards or withdrawing money also vary greatly between banks and can be very large.
Therefore, the overdraft interest rate alone is not sufficient as a decision-making criterion. However, if you experience losses more often, you should choose a bank with low or at least reasonable interest rates. This can quickly save you several hundred euros over the years.
If the overdraft facility is used infrequently and for a short time, the costs are kept under control. For example, if you are in the red zone of 500 euros for ten days, you will only pay 1.57 euros with an average overdraft interest rate of 11.31 percent. At the most expensive interest rate of 15.31 percent, that is 2.13 euros – 56 cents more. The more frequently an overdraft facility is used, the more important it becomes to have a low interest rate.
