Hellenic bank is applying new charges on accounts and cuts all the interests which were very low anyways. For those that have over 100k there is a 0.6% negative interest plus other fees every three months to maintain your account. I am personally keeping only BoC and Revolut. What are your thoughts? Don’t you think that government should do something about it?
https://www.philenews.com/oikonomia/kypros/article/1325930
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So when you go to a restaurant and they charge you more for lets say a burger, than the restaurant next door you expect the government to do something? It is exactly the same thing. Nobody is forcing you to maintain a bank account with them.
For example Bank of Cyprus charges more than Hellenic bank on swift payments and swift investigations (they can do it) . As explained on the article Hellenic is the first to make that move.this is to battle negative profit. And make no mistake the bank answers to its shareholders which they invested in the first place. They have to find ways to make profit. This goes to all financial institutions globally.
I guarantee you all the other banks will follow. Each bank has its own policy regarding financial approaches like crypto currency and customer acceptance. Each bears its own risks. Hellenic knows the risks that go with increasing charges regarding maintaining an account with them, like they did when they gave negative interests on business accounts two years ago.
Edit:Revolut is not a bank, its an EMI. (electronic money institution) based in Lithuania which many European countries respective Central banks consider a high risk country due to the lack of aml practises.
It seems it’s only for new basic accounts. Existing accounts won’t be affected. Right?
Thanks for the heads up, when I move back I’ll go with bank of Cyprus.
Keeping your bank account in Cyprus is usually not a preferred option. The fees are high compared to other European countries but controls and restrictions of your holdings and international transactions might be higher: [How to open a bank account for a Cyprus company](https://www.cypruslimited.com/help/community-faq/q/open-bank-account-cyprus-company)
A good alternative in 2021 is offered by Wise (Transferwise). For example, their business account is free of monthly charge, but the standard online transfers are about 25-30 cents. Depending on the destination bank, the money usually arrives on the same day. Included are a Belgian IBAN and a free business debit credit card.