ABN Amro and ING to refund customers €200 million for too-high interest charges

ABN Amro and ING set aside almost 200 million euros extra to compensate customers who paid too much interest in the past. Financial complaints institute Kifid ruled that the banks had to compensate customers for the overpaid interest and reimburse the interest on the interest they missed out on, NOS reports.

ING dedicated another 75 million euros to this compensation, on top of the 180 million euros it already set aside. ABN Amro added another 120 million to its previous compensation amount of 340 million euros.

The compensation is for customers who, in the past, paid a variable interest rate on consumer credit. The interest rate was supposed to rise and fall with the market interest rate, but in practice fell more slowly than it should have. As a result, the customers paid more interest than they should have.

ING and ABN Amro already promised to repay the overpaid interest but refused to also reimburse the missed interest. They’ll now follow Rabobank’s example and refund that amount, too, after the Kifid ruling.

Customers who already agreed to the first compensation proposal will get a call with details about the interest-on-interest compensation, the banks promised.

ING is still negotiating with the consumers’ association Consumentenbond about compensating customers who used payment installments on credit cards and overdrafts. ABN Amro is still working on how to compensate customers with a Flexible Mortgage Credit.