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Ever-increasing account fees

Published on February 23, 2021 by Pierre Belhache - 3 mins reading time
Bank watch
According to the latest study by the Observatoire des tarifs bancaires, which compared price trends at 109 establishments between December 31, 2020 and January 5, 2021, further increases have been applied to a number of services. Account maintenance fees continue to rise year after year.

Account management fees up sharply

The trend has been the same for the past 10 years: whereas in 2011, more than half of all banks charged little or no account maintenance fees, today only 12 of the 109 banks included in this study charge no fees at all. Of these 12, 7 are online banks and 5 are Crédit Agricole regional banks.

Account maintenance fees are one of the bank charges to have risen the most. The increase was 3.96% between the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020, and 1.53% between the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021. The average annual rate for account maintenance fees thus rose from 20.74 euros on December 31, 2020 to 21.06 euros on January 5, 2021. At December 31, 2019, it stood at 19.95 euros.

On average, banks charge between 10 and 30 euros a year for this service. The lowest rate found by theObservatoire des tarifs bancaires survey, excluding banks that still offer this service free of charge, is 10.65 euros, while the highest rate is 71.80 euros.

Between the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021, 80 banks out of the 109 included in the panel did not apply any increase in account maintenance fees. 27 banks increased their fees, while 2 lowered them. Overall, the increase in bank charges in 2021 remains moderate.

Costly deposits for banks

While account maintenance fees are rising year on year, it should be pointed out that only a minority of customers pay them directly. In fact, this service is often included in bank packages, and is rarely billed separately.

What's more, even when account maintenance fees are clearly indicated, the bank doesn't always charge for the service, at least not at the posted price, and often offers discounts. In the end, only 20-30% of customers pay these fees directly.

Banking institutions are facing two phenomena that are impacting their results.

  • On the one hand, interest rates on loans are extremely low, even negative.
  • On the other hand, customer deposits cause banks to lose money, with excess liquidity placed with the European Central Bank subject to 0.5% penalties.

Banking institutions are therefore seeking to generate more income, either by increasing certain banking fees or by charging for services that were previously offered free of charge. This is the case, for example, with BNP Paribas, which offers a fee-based banking advisor specialized in wealth management.