The giro card will soon be cashed

Anyone who thought that in times of custody fees and inflation it couldn’t get much worse for their own money has done the math without ING. The direct bank wants to see money for the checking card every month – and is practically doing away with the free checking account.

ING customers are asked to pay for a giro card

ING Germany’s new pricing is likely to be a real bang: From March 2022, what it claims to be the third largest bank in Germany will be one ask for a monthly fee for checking cards. The plans apply to new and existing customers alike. 99 cents per month are then incurred for all account holders who do not want to – or cannot do without – a giro card.

In fact, the ING, which has been actively promoting its free current accounts for years, creates precisely these, as can be seen from the condition for the current account (source: Finance scene). Although there are still no account management fees in the actual sense of the word, those who want to use a giro card will have access to the ING from March onwards no other option than to pay extra.

What you have to credit the ING: From a monthly incoming payment of 700 euros or more, these are virtually hidden account management fees still low compared to other banks – but no longer at zero euros.

Up to now, the normal case was that a giro card was simply part of the account – at no extra charge. This is what the ING itself writes: The giro card is “Included until 02/28/2022, thereafter € 0.99 per month”it says on the ING website. After the almost industry-wide introduction of custody fees, “the next taboo” at ING is falling, according to the finance portal. The giro card as we know it is becoming more and more obsolete.

After all: Existing customers have to change the terms and conditions actively agree. Anyone who opens a new current account can test the current card for three months free of charge before the 99 cents are charged from March.

If you want to save money at the moment, you have to get creative – we show you how it works with online shopping in the Video:

the Girokarte can be canceled in the futureso that ING’s current account would remain free of charge, provided the other conditions are met. But that just means: no more card payments when shopping. In order to withdraw money from ATMs, you have to find another solution: This is possible with the ING Visa card, which according to its own information works free of charge at 97 percent of German ATMs. It should continue to belong to the current account free of charge.

Paying giro card: 35 million euros extra per year

When asked, a spokesman for ING confirmed that the custody fee of 0.5 percent from 50,000 euros for new and existing customers would also be due at the same time as the change in the current account. The bank wanted theirs Contact customers by the end of November, to adjust contracts accordingly. Those who do not agree will sooner or later no longer be attractive to ING as a customer.

The giro card has only just overtaken cash as the most popular means of payment in Germany for the first time – against this background, not so surprising that one would like to earn money with it. As the financial scene calculates, the ING stands at 99 cents per giro card an annual increase of 35 million euros into the house – if all customers participate.