Sparkasse freiburg may not charge its customers for certain services. This was the decision of the federal court of justice (BGH), which declared several additional fees charged by the sparkasse to be invalid.
Banks must base certain prices on actual costs incurred, karlsruhe ruling says. Among other things, it was about five euros for postal notifications, for example, about rejected bank transfers. (az.XI ZR 590/15)
The karlsruhe judges considered this to be an unreasonable disadvantage for consumers. The savings bank had thus passed on costs to its customers that were not related to the actual notification of a non-executed payment order.
The bank may not demand a fee even for the suspension or cancellation of a standing order. According to the karlsruhe judges, this was a revocation which, by law, must normally be processed free of charge.
In an earlier ruling, the german federal court of justice (BGH) had already determined that a lien protection account should not cost more than a normal account. Also against it the savings bank had died until 2012.
Jorg schadtler of the protection association for bank customers, which had sued the savings bank, advised consumers to now reclaim overpaid fees. Meanwhile, the freiburg bank said it would reconsider its fee policy. "The amount that the savings bank is now missing is bearable", said jorg frenzel of the savings bank freiburg. "Nevertheless, due to the current interest rate policy, every euro pays for itself."
