A new scandal shakes US banks in the middle of summer: they are accused of not paying their customers’ current accounts badly in 2023 and 2024: billions of dollars in losses…
Is the same possible in France? To answer your question, we need to understand what the SEC, America’s banking watchdog, is accusing several of the nation’s largest banks of.
She found it some banks placed money in accounts opened at the American Federal Banke, money that was paid at 5%. It is commonly referred to as the key rate on which all banking products are built. Both loans for the purchase of a car or apartment, and savings products.
Problem: while rates were very high, say 5%, tens of millions of Americans were paid little or nothing, at the rate of 0.5%, for the money sitting in their accounts. However, in the United States, a 1940 law requires banks to offer their customers the best investments when they exist. In fact, the SEC is criticizing them for not raising interest rates on interest-bearing accounts.
Such a gap in interest rates exists in France! : The ECB has been rewarding banks 4% for the money they put into it, 3.75% since June this year which is a completely risk-free investment, unlike, for example, the stock market, since these rates are guaranteed.
Knowing that, according to estimates, at least 500 billion euros are sitting in the current accounts of the French without any reward, i.e. €16,500 per family taxable in Francein the middle, of course, there really is a real question.
As in the United States, French law also requires bankers to advise their clients, although it is less prescriptive and precise. However, a customer with money lying dormant in an account that has not been contacted by the bank in the past two years to put money from their current accounts into a savings account can blame their bank for failing to advise them reasonable.
Risk for French banks is not neutral: if the 500 billion lying dormant in French accounts were rewarded at 2% in 2023, just to leave the bank with a 2% commission, they would have to pay €1 billion in interest to their customers.
For a customer with €16,500 of idle cash, we’re still talking about €660 in interest gone up in smoke.
Let’s be careful: Americans have an unfortunate habit of taking legal action on everything, especially everyday consumer issues.. Class actions have become well established, and law firms specialize in this type of business, for which they receive very high commissions, sometimes 30% or more: you only have to watch series like Suits to understand how the American justice system works.
On the other hand, in relation to French banks, we can ask ourselves the question of the relevance of paid banking services: in recent years we have all agreed to pay 5, 10, 15, 20, even 30 euros per month for + or premium banking services, allow you to have an authorized overdraft, insurance in case of theft of a bank card, etc.
These paid services are actually very profitable: they account for up to 50% of banks’ revenues. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear soon New People’s Front or a People’s meeting with a demand to lower prices, or even cancel paid banking services.