Belfius tells customers with negative-interest loans to keep quiet

Belfius Bank has written to a number of mortgage customers warning them not to give out details of the interest on their loans or risk losing the advantageous conditions, Het Laatste Nieuws reports.

The clients had taken out variable-interest mortgages, with interest rates that – unlike fixed-interest mortgages – fluctuate depending on the market. In current conditions, they have turned out to be negative-interest loans.

Instead of paying interest on the sum outstanding, customers pay what is referred to as negative interest, which means the bank actually pays them. Similarly, on the money markets where governments borrow towards the national debt, Belgium has been able to raise funds on terms of negative interest for some time.

However, while the government’s borrowing is a matter of public interest, Belfius is imposing a vow of silence on clients benefitting from negative interest, threatening them with a loss of their conditions if they speak out, the paper reports.

Johan Klaps, a member of the federal parliament, said he was “shocked” at the bank’s approach; Belfius is majority-owned by the state. The bank said it was within its legal rights, though it admitted that the tone of the message could have come across as “cold and hard”.

Photo: Spotter2/Wikimedia