Consumer advocates had filed a lawsuit against Berliner Sparkasse because of unannounced cost increases. The court ruled in the customers' favor. They can now demand money back.
Berlin – Anyone who is a customer of a savings bank usually has to pay a monthly account management fee. Under certain circumstances, additional costs may apply for transfers or account statements. Because various savings banks and banks have tinkered with these fees in the past without informing customers, the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations sued Berliner Sparkasse. Now the decision was made.
Court of Appeal upholds consumer advice center – repayments from the savings bank?
The result: a slap for the Berliner Sparkasse. “The Berliner Sparkasse was not allowed to introduce new items or increase them without the consent of the customers,” said Sebastian Reiling from the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations (vzbv). In a new judgment, the Berlin Court of Appeal confirmed the vzbv's view. Customers can now expect repayments as soon as the judgment is final (Az 26 MK 1/21).
Berliner Sparkasse had increased the costs several times without obtaining active consent from customers. "For example, at the end of 2016, it converted the 'Comfort current account' to 'Giro Flat Rate' and unilaterally increased the monthly fee by three euros," explained the vzbv. Because the savings bank refused to repay the excess amounts, consumer advocates launched a class action lawsuit. Around 1,200 customers joined this. However, the court assumes that the claims are time-barred, which is why consumer advocates are considering an appeal.
Other banks could also be affected
Now the ruling could also have consequences for customers who were not with Berliner Sparkasse. According to
Focus
, there were such unlawful increases at a large number of financial institutions. For example, Postbank implemented an increase in the Giro Plus account on October 1, 2020, Deutsche Bank tweaked the active account, and ING Diba introduced costs for the so-called free checking account. Customers of the Commerzbank premium account and the Sparkasse Ulm (current account) would also be affected.
To find out whether you as a bank customer are affected by such cost increases, you need to take a look at your account statement. Customers should check their own bank's monthly account statements from January 1, 2018. Anyone who finds an increase in the account management fee between January 2018 and (for example) April 2024 may be entitled to repayments. The consumer advice center provides a sample letter for this purpose - customers should send this to their bank in order to reclaim the money they have paid too much.
“The fee increases in recent years are simply ineffective,” said Niels Nauhauser from the Baden-Württemberg Consumer Center in Stuttgart. “Customers can request this money back from their bank or savings bank.” According to Nauhauser, the price list that applies when opening an account applies. However, customers would have to find out for themselves what this looks like.
With material from AFP