ABN Amro lowers savings interest to 0%

ABN Amro is lowering the interest rate on its savings accounts to 0 percent as of April 1st. Customers with more than 2.5 million euros in their saving accounts will face negative interest. The bank is the first of the large banks in the Netherlands to take this step, NU.nl reports.

The 0 percent interest applies to savings accounts containing amounts up to 2.5 million euros. People with more than 2.5 million euros in their accounts will pay 0.5 percent interest on their savings. At the end of last year, some 3 thousand private customers and around 2,200 business customers had a balance of over 2.5 million euros.

According to ABN Amro, this step is necessary for the bank to be able to keep affording savings accounts. Banks currently pay for money that they deposit at the European Central Bank.

Late last year, ABN Amro promised to not implement negative savings interests for customers with less than 100 thousand euros in their savings accounts. According to the bank, this is approximately 95 percent of its customers.

The interest on savings at ING and Rabobank is still +0.01 percent.