Bitcoin-cautious Germany has seen its first bank demand that ordinary savers pay it to hold their money — even as little as €1. According to multiple local press outlets including the Süddeutsche Zeitung on Nov. 19, the Volksbank Raiffeisenbank Fürstenfeldbruck (VRF) in Northern Bavaria is now charging 0.5% negative interest rates on the smallest deposits. Bank on negative interest rates: “We had to” “We had to do it,” the publication quoted the bank’s management as saying. The reason, they said, was the cost of “parking” money at the European Central Bank (ECB). In Germany, negative interest rates previously ... (full story)