Danish bank Spar Nord announces minus 0.75% interest on deposits

Danish lender Spar Nord on Thursday announced a minus 0.75% interest rate on deposits by corporate and private clients, mirroring similar moves by peers Sydbank and Jyske Bank. "It is now clear, that negative rates are not a passing phenomenon," CEO Lars Moller said in a statement.

"We believe it is both natural and in line with the monetary policy intentions of the ECB and Denmark's Central Bank that negative rates to a larger degree also materialize on the deposit side," Moller said. Last month, Denmark's central bank cut its key deposit rate to minus 0.75%, a record low among developed economies.

Earlier the same day, the European Central Bank cut interest rates and resumed buying bonds. Spar Nord's new rate will apply from Jan. 1 2020 to accounts holding more than $110,000. It currently charges zero interest on accounts for individuals and minus 0.5% on corporate accounts.

Spar Nord is Denmark's sixth-biggest bank. 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)