Rabobank customers with more than EUR 100,000 in their account will pay 0.25 percent interest on their money from 1 August instead of 0.5 percent interest. The bank announced this on Friday. Rabobank is implementing this rate hike because European banks will soon have to pay 0.25 percent instead of 0.5 percent to deposit their money at the European Central Bank (ECB).
The ECB announced a series of interest rate hikes for banks on Thursday, the first of which is to be implemented in July. The central bank thus gives banks the opportunity to raise interest rates for individuals or to lower negative interest rates, which should ultimately counteract the peak inflation in the eurozone. In the Netherlands, inflation is 8.8 percent in May.
Also read this article about the possible consequences of the interest rate hike of the ECB
Rabobank is the first large private bank in the Netherlands to lower negative interest rates. ING announced earlier this week that it would abolish the negative interest rate for private savers in Belgium. The bank has not yet announced any measures for customers in the Netherlands.