Not even current accounts stay afloat. Rising inflation and the uncertain macroeconomic scenario raise costs.
It is not an easy time for savers. The international scenario keeps the markets stressed, preventing the development of a long-term perspective. Or even medium.
And if investments are affected, things are no better on the deposit front. Also because, in this case, it is the period of inflation that weighs, which does not reward the strategy of savings or that of investment. The problem is that the downturn period it could directly concern current accounts, in a historical moment in which the stipulation of contracts with credit institutions could hide the oil stain of commissions. A sort of astral conjunction unfavorable to savers, who could run into the direct effects of profitability under pressure due to the current economic situation. Parallel sectors, such as mortgages, also ended up feeling the effects of the crisis.
As far as current accounts are concerned, however, the situation is decidedly urgent. Suffice it to say that some banking groups, such as CheBanca, have discovered their own negative interest rates applied by the European Central Bank. Which forced the top management to a quick compensatory measure, which resulted in doubling the costs of managing bank accounts. The only changes concern the single relationship but, for the rest, there will be and will also be significant, given that the other credit institutions have also been forced to review the tariff settings of current accounts.
Current accounts, here’s the sting: how costs increase from bank to bank
To trace a picture of the (worrying) situation is Altroconsumo, which has identified the reasons put forward by the banks as an insufficient reason to raise the price bar. The fact is that the lenders had cited negative rates as the cornerstone for the increase in basic costs. To tell the truth, at the beginning of the year things took a far from good turn: with the entry of 2022, the widespread increases they also affected current accounts, especially as regards retirees, affected by an average increase of 13% on online accounts. Which, in theory, they should involve lower costs. For those at the counter, the increase was 5%. It was not even better for families, whose dose of price increases was characterized by + 12% on online accounts and + 2% on traditional ones.
Save, but only temporarily, the young people. For them there is still a reduction (about 5%), even if the general picture does not encourage optimistic views. Che Banca’s example is indicative but not the only one. A large credit institution like Unicredit, for one thing, has raised the costs of the MyGenius account by 33%, while Fineco may soon apply the feared breakdown of inventories exceeding 100 thousand euros. Basically, it will not amortize the costs deriving from the stagnation of money with the increases on current accounts but will use the shear on stagnant ones. Furthermore, for savers, it will also be necessary to pay attention to the payment systems of the PagoPa platform, practically almost mandatory for the Public Administration. The costs of the operations are around 1.56 euros. Anything but a savings.
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