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Wednesday, December 02, 2015

Hang on to Your Wallets, Bankers Are Coming After Your Cash

In uncertain times, “cash is king,” but central bankers are systematically moving to eliminate that option.

Remember those old ads showing a senior couple lounging on a warm beach, captioned “Let your money work for you”? Or the scene in Mary Poppins where young Michael is being advised to put his tuppence in the bank, so that it can compound into “all manner of private enterprise,” including “bonds, chattels, dividends, shares, shipyards, amalgamations . . . .”?

That may still work if you’re a Wall Street banker, but if you’re an ordinary saver with your money in the bank, you may soon be paying the bank to hold your funds rather than the reverse.

Four European central banks – the European Central Bank, the Swiss National Bank, Sweden’s Riksbank, and Denmark’s Nationalbank – have now imposed negative interest rates on the reserves they hold for commercial banks; and discussion has turned to whether it’s time to pass those costs on to consumers. The Bank of Japan and the Federal Reserve are still at ZIRP (Zero Interest Rate Policy), but several Fed officials have also begun calling for NIRP (negative rates).

The stated justification for this move is to stimulate “demand” by forcing consumers to withdraw their money and go shopping with it. When an economy is struggling, it is standard practice for a central bank to cut interest rates, making saving less attractive. This is supposed to boost spending and kick-start an economic recovery.

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

PNC bank already charges customers for having a savings account unless you keep a minimum deposit, i have a friend who lost three savings accounts for her daughters due to this policy!

Anonymous said...

Wait. Doesn't a bank make its profits by investing the deposits? Charging your depositors to keep money in your bank seems counter to that concept.

Anonymous said...

The Banks were able to borrow 7 times the amount of their deposits and now you will have to pay them to keep your savings accounts while they make money equal to 7 times your deposit? Does this only apply to your savings or does it include your checking. I believe my safe will be holding my cash to.