Postbank will begin charging clients for services which up to now had been free. The change has been forced on the Swiss retail lender by looming regulations.
From next year, future customers with more than 7,500 Swiss francs ($7,550) in their Postbank account will have to pay a monthly fee, Postfinance said in a statement on Wednesday. The fee will also, depending on the product, be applicable to clients with assets of more than 25,000 francs.
The fees are necessary, the institution said, since the regulations will make it impossible to generate income elsewhere. Therefore «customary sector» prices will be introduced.
Government Help
«Postfinance finds itself in a difficult economic and regulatory environment. The persistently low and even negative interest-rate levels are eroding profit margins», the Postfinance subsidiary said. «One reason for this is the postal organization rules, which forbid Postfinance from issuing credit and mortgages.»
The Swiss Federal Council, or cabinet, last month agreed a change to the law, which will permit the state controlled bank to issue credits, as finews.com reported. However there is resistance to the idea in the rest of the banking sector, and it remains to be seen whether the change in legislation will be passed.
