Faced with galloping inflation, the government has asked the banks to make a new gesture for the portfolio of their customers. A global tariff freeze in 2023 was not unanimous. The consensus was for a tariff shield of a maximum increase of 2%. But some banks are hastening to promise a freeze on their rates for 2023.
All the banks have made a commitment not to increase their banking fees by more than 2% over the year 2023, launched the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire on Tuesday, after having met with the leaders of the BPCE groups. , Socit Gnrale, Crdit Mutuel, BNP Paribas, Crdit Agricole and La Banque Postale. There was an energy shield. We are therefore putting in place a shield on bank charges, which will not increase by more than 2% in 2023. That’s it for the announcement.
The press release from the French Banking Federation (FBF) agrees, although more cautiously, by adding the following statement: It is up to each bank on the FBF’s executive committee to make its decisions, in compliance with competition law. Shield, yes, but nothing is really set in stone.
Shield on bank tariffs: what the banks’ small gesture hides
Banks that have announced a 2023 price freeze
The minister wanted certain French banks to freeze their bank rates for the year 2023, for very common rates, recognizes the FBF in its press release issued on Wednesday, September 14. Which? For the time being, four banks have made it known publicly that they want to freeze their rates: Crdit Coopratif, LCL, La Banque Postale and BNP Paribas.
We want to go beyond [du plafond de 2% la hausse, NDLR] and announce this day the freezing of the prices of our products intended for our individual customers for 2023writes Benot Catel, director general of the Cooperative Credit, the first bank to announce a price freeze in a press release issued on 14 September. Will all rates be frozen at Crédit Coopratif, without exception, and not just the very common charges as mentioned in the FBF press release? Yes, confirms MoneyVox this bank which is part of the BPCE group: all 2023 banking tariffs for individuals will not increase in 2023.
Similar announcement from BNP Paribaswho undertakes freeze all of its bank rates for its individual customers, as announced by the director of the commercial bank in France, Marguerite Brard, on the Linkedin network. A press release from the brand also recalls past commitments (made by the entire banking sector), in particular on the monthly cap on incident costs of 25 euros.
Solicited by MoneyVox, the bank LCL get involved today [mercredi 14 septembre] freeze all bank rates of its particular clientele and this until September 2023. The subsidiary of Crédit Agricole added on September 15 in a press release that customers identified as fragile will also benefit from a total exemption from incident fees until September 1, 2023 (for the record, these are capped at 16.50 euros per months since February 2019).
Thursday, September 15 is The postal bank which, in turn, announced that it would freeze its bank rates: In this back-to-school period, marked by an unprecedented inflationary context, La Banque Postale is resolutely committed to its customers with the freezing of its rates for 2023 on all of its banking ranges, promises in a press release Philippe Heim, chairman of the management board of the banking brand. In accordance with the FBF’s commitment, the fragile customer offer (Simplicit account formula, used by 260,000 customers) will increase to 1 euro per month in 2023. And the bank recalls in its press release that it had frozen the price of its account formulas at the beginning of 2022 young people and its 1.6 million customers identified as being in financial difficulty.
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Banks that had already announced other fee moderation measures
The national confederation of Crdit Mutuel communicated on the evening of Tuesday, September 13, not to announce a freezing of costs but to recall the commitments of recent months, including the pricing of the fragile customer offer (OCF) already lowered 1 euro per month, a gesture on which the other banks have agreed to align Bercy yesterday.
Crdit Mutuel: the underside of the new 1euro bank account
Requested by MoneyVox, La Banque Postale recalls its commitment (…) to fragile customers and our pricing efforts in 2022: generalization of free instant transfers for all customers, freezing of standard borrower insurance prices, freezing of the prices of its account formulas in 2022 for young people and people in financial difficulty or the Pass Jeune service package.
Société Générale claims MoneyVox to have anticipated the subject by recalling that it announced a certain number of measures this summer: overall stability of tariffs in 2023 for banking services (card fee, account maintenance fees, etc.), the same goes for fragile customers. Finally, the red and black bank has already reduced – since the beginning of September – 1 euro per month in the offer dedicated to customers in a fragile situation. Finally, the bank points out that student loans are this year at cost price, that is to say without margin, and therefore cheaper.
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Those who are discreet (for now?)
Caisse d’Epargne, Banque Populaire… At this stage, these large banking groups have not reacted to the announcements of the commitments of the banking profession yesterday Bercy. It should however be specified that, like Crdit Mutuel, these networks are mutualist groups characterized by several regional entities. However, each federation or regional fund has its own tariff schedules. This may explain why taking a national position takes longer than in centralized networks.
Crédit Agricole: no incident fees for fragile customers
The Crédit Agricole was initially discreet on the subject… before issuing a press release on Wednesday, September 14 at the end of the day. The green bank is logically aligned with the ceiling of 2% increase, and with the lowering of 1 euro per month in the supply of fragile customers, in accordance with the commitment of the Bercy profession. The group’s only initiative going further than these commitments: until further notice, the bank is abolishing incident fees for holders of this fragile customer offer.
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