Published: April 27, 2021
As you may be aware, Euro Pacific Bank introduced interest charges on large EUR bank account balances on July 11, 2019, which was limited to balances in excess of €100,000. Starting June 1, 2021, the -0.60% annual interest charge will apply to all EUR bank account balances.
Why?
Euro Pacific Bank maintains the utmost conservative banking policies by keeping your funds in “overnight deposits” at our correspondent banks, with zero lending or proprietary trading. However, due to European Central Bank negative rates on all euro deposits globally, our correspondent banks have been charging us negative interest on euro deposits for years, and to date, we have been absorbing much of this cost on our clients’ behalf.
This year, we plan to introduce new improvements, services, and client markets to our product offering, while maintaining our non-lending policy and full-reserve status. In order to do that, we decided to normalize our fee structure.
Updated Interest Schedule
Starting June 1, 2021, the 0.60% per annum interest will apply to all EUR bank account balances, above and below €100,000. The negative interest will be calculated on your EUR account balance and debited daily.
| Threshold | Current Interest Rate (p.a.) | Starting June 1, 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| <€100,000 | 0.00% | -0.60% |
| ≥€100,000 | -0.60% | -0.60% |
What can I do to avoid this interest charge?
a. Lower your balance. You can try to keep your EUR bank account balance as low as possible to reduce the costs. Ultimately, the ECB negative interest policy disincentivizes the holding of euros.
b. Convert your funds. In addition to simply sending less euros to your account, you may also convert your existing euros to any other support currency.
c. Invest your excess funds. If you can tolerate some risk, you may utilize one of our numerous investment and trading products to diversify some of your euros into the markets, whether it’s in one of our mutual funds or precious metals.
Thank you for your understanding. We are continuously monitoring interest rates applied by the central banks, and if the negative interest rate environment changes, we aim to adjust our interest charges accordingly.