Occasionally, I'll discuss business or economic news in Germany. I noticed over the weekend....banking changes from the folks at Stadtspakasse banking.
They'd sent out a updated letter with the new fees and rules to soon be implemented.
You can still have a free bank account with them.....but only if you maintain an account of 1,750 Euro (roughly $2,000 American). The previous minimum was 1,250 Euro (roughly $1,500 American). Some people might whine about this because it's putting a fair amount of money into a daily account and remember.....that's a minimum level, so to avoid the new fee (4.95 Euro a month) for account maintenance.....you probably will have to carry 3,500 in your account to cover the various transactions you will be shuffling around.
The Giro card fee? The Giro card is the direct-from-your-account credit card with a chip, It'll cost you 7.50 Euro monthly. A lot of Germans now use this for normal purchases (gas, groceries, etc) instead of cash.
The use of the self-service desk at the bank to handle a number of transactions (payments, etc)? It'll be some flat fee of 2.50 Euro for you to walk in and use their terminal.
Some people will whine about this because there are fewer and fewer clerks to handle issues at the bank. Some Germans will admit that they haven't faced an actual bank teller in a decade....while doing all of their business via their home computer and ATM machines.
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