Fee increases by banks without consent are inadmissible!

Bank customers do not have to accept changes to general terms and conditions (GTC) so easily. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) ruled in favor of customers with the key statement: Silence is not consent. Accordingly, many fee increases of recent years are now not permissible and can be recalled.

Banks have often increased their fees in the past. This usually ran with a written notice to customers. "We have changed our terms and conditions. If you do not object to this, we consider this to be consent," was the content. But the Federal Court of Justice ruled that such changes in the T&Cs require explicit customer consent.

Details of the BGH judgment

On April 27, 2021, the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations prevailed against Postbank at the Federal Supreme Court (BGH). The association sued on the basis of certain clauses with which the bank could change its general terms and conditions (GTC). Because these are ineffective.

Often, customers do not even notice that the bank is changing its GTC, but register when billing that more costs are now incurred. For example, fees are now charged for services that were previously included. Customers have been informed by the bank, but very few read carefully what is written in the fine print. For example, it often says: "We'll send you a notice two months in advance. And if you don't object, then that counts as consent."

Because of the lack of transparency in these clauses, the German Federation of Consumer Organizations took the matter to court and was proven right. The BGH ruled in favor of consumers. In the view of the federal judges, such clauses are invalid as a whole, because consumers can be unreasonably disadvantaged. As a result of the ruling, numerous credit institutions must now modify their clauses and affected customers can reclaim wrongly paid fees.

Check whether you have paid account management fees to your bank since 2018 that you did not agree to when you opened the current account. Since these fees were paid without legal grounds, they can be reclaimed. However, your claim becomes time-barred after three years. That is why fees can be checked retroactively up to 2018 and reclaimed if necessary.

In addition to the overpaid fees, interest may be charged at a rate of 5 percentage points above the prime rate per year.

It does not matter which bank you hold your account with. All credit institutions use similar clauses and conditions in their general terms and conditions. That's why you should check whether you too can reclaim your fees.

In order to reclaim the overpaid fees, you must inform your bank in a letter that you are reclaiming wrongly charged fees. To do this, you need to send a letter to your bank with all the important information about the fee increases and the overpaid account management fees. CONNY's legal experts will gladly take care of this process for you.

SMS-TAN: Transaction numbers (TAN) are often sent by SMS for online banking authorization. Here, a flat fee may not be charged for each TAN sent. Only TANs used for transfers may be charged according to the BGH ruling (July 25, 2017, Ref. XI ZR 260/15).

Exemption orders: Consumers can have their investment income automatically exempted from tax with an exemption order. No fees may be charged for issuing, processing or deleting such an exemption order. (BGH ruling of July 15, 1997, Ref. XI ZR 269/96).

Re-creation of account statements: The production of a bank statement is generally free of charge. Should you ever need a second copy, the bank may charge a maximum of the costs incurred for this, such as printing and mailing. A fee for the process is not permissible. (BGH, judgment of December 17, 2013, Ref. XI ZR

Unrequested sending of account statements: No fee may be charged for the unrequested sending of account statements. (Judgment of the Frankfurt am Main Regional Court of April 8, 2011, Case No. 2-25 O 260/10).

Account overdrafts: The bank may charge an agreed interest rate for account overdrafts. However, additional charges for the overdraft are not permitted (Higher Regional Court of Hamm, judgment of September 21, 2009, Case No. 31 U 55/09).

Card blocking: The blocking of bank cards that have been lost, stolen or misused must be free of charge (Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court, judgment of July 19, 2012, Case No. I-6 U 195/11).

Replacement card: Only the costs incurred for bank cards ordered as replacements after loss or theft may be charged. An additional fee is not permissible (Celle Higher Regional Court, May 4, 2000, Ref. 13 U 186/9).

Processing standing orders: The creation, modification and deletion of a standing order must not generate any fees (BGH, judgment of September 12, 2017, ref. XI ZR 590/15)

Ann-Kathrin felt fooled by her bank

„I've had my checking account at the same bank for years, and my salary goes into it. When I suddenly got the message that I now have to pay €10.45 in account maintenance fees every month, I was stunned. What a cheek! That's when I turned to CONNY, who already helped me with an unauthorized rent increase back then. [...]“

Calculating and enforcing your claim can be unnecessarily complicated and time-consuming. Germany's largest consumer rights portal CONNY therefore offers to advocate for you.

1. Mandate CONNY to enforce your claim within a few clicks. For this we only need some information about you and your current account. All data is stored on our encrypted server and treated with the strictest confidentiality.
2. CONNY's legal experts will review your information and then calculate your specific claim. We then initiate the legal steps to reclaim the overpaid account management fees from your bank.
3. You can sit back and relax. Experience shows that banks stop collecting account management fees within a few weeks and repay the wrongly demanded fees as an interest-bearing sum.