The increases in current account management costs in the last 5 years were described by consumer associations as “unfair” and “disproportionate” increases. Expenditures are even above the level of inflation, which recorded a growth of 11.6% in the said period, I would even say quite a lot. So how much did current account interest rates increase?
Increasingly expensive current accounts
Before answering this question, it is worth remembering that, according to Bankitalia data, the cost of managing a current account in a bank branch in 2017 was 79.4 euros. Five years later, in 2022, it reached 104 euros. According to Codacons’ report, accounting fees have increased by 31% in five years; This rate is well above the 11.6% recorded by inflation.
Above all, fixed costs, which account for around 70% of the total, increased from 52.8 euros to 72.8 euros (+37.9%). Variable expenses amounted to 31 euros, down from 26.6 euros (+16.5%); The main reason for this was that the number of operations increased, while commissions remained almost unchanged.
Using only the year 2022 as a reference, there is an increase of approximately 9 euros in accounting: 5.9 euros in fixed expenses and 3.4 euros in variable expenses. Taking into account the payment of stamp duty, the total expense of current account management reaches 119.9 euros, since 15.9 euros of the deposit tax must be added to 104 euros (17.4 euros in 2021).
“Completely unfair increases”
Saying that these are “completely unfair increases”, Assoutenti underlines that president Gabriele Melluso said, “Current transactions costs increased by +9.8% on an annual basis in 2022. It is a very strong increase and the reason for which cannot be understood.” “The digitalization of banking services and the increased use of online accounts, applications and home banking by users has actually led to an overall reduction in costs for banks, which should have led to a consequent reduction in the costs imposed on citizens. On the contrary, expenditure on the management of current accounts has come to the detriment of users.” , we are witnessing a very strong increase that seems objectively unfair and is worthy of investigation.”
The National Consumers Union (UNC) also agrees and defines this as a “disproportionate increase”! An unfair jump of 9 euros and 30 cents with an increase in prices of 9.8%, well above the average inflation rate in 2022. It was equal to 8.1% for both the Nic index and the tobacco-free Foi. Particularly most unacceptable is the increase in fixed expenses, which has grown to 5.9 euros in 2022 and has already increased by 2.8 euros. 4.3 euros in 2021 and 2020, costs that indiscriminately burden even those with low-level operations and those who run a small number of operations,” concludes president Massimiliano Dona.
Is an online account or a traditional account more convenient?
The Bank of Italy’s 2022 survey on current accounts shows that the cost of an online account is still “significantly” lower than a traditional account. Compared to a 104-euro account in a physical bank, the cost of an online account in 2022 was 33.7 euros; With an increase of only 0.7 euros compared to the previous year, this is an increase compared to +9.30 euros on the traditional account. The cost of managing mail accounts increased from 58 euros to 59.6 euros.
Source: Today IT

Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.