On 17 January 2022, the European Commission published its response to letters it had received from the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) regarding the interpretation of the Payment Accounts Directive (PAD) and charging negative interest rates on payment accounts.
In its letter the Commission states that it leans towards a conclusion whereby negative interest rates are not to be considered as “fees” in the sense of the PAD and do not therefore need to comply with the “reasonableness” criteria in Article 18. However, the final assessment of this question and the final interpretation of PAD lies with the European Court of Justice.