- Around one in seven people have used an overdraft facility or overdrawn their account within three months.
- Almost one in ten feels unable to bear increased costs in the long term.
- Federal Association of Consumer Organizations (vzbv) calls for limits on the overdraft framework and free debt advice.
The increased cost of living is the main reason for an overdrawn account and the use of expensive overdrafts. This is the result of a representative forsa survey commissioned by the market observation agency of the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations (vzbv). Accordingly, around one in seven consumers used an overdraft facility from the beginning of September to the beginning of December 2022 - almost half cited the increased cost of living as the reason for this. The vzbv sees this as a risk of over-indebtedness for consumers and calls on politicians to take action.
“The increased cost of living poses a risk of over-indebtedness for consumers and is driving more and more people to take out overdrafts. However, this is far too expensive a loan to compensate for medium or long-term financial bottlenecks. Politicians must act here and protect consumers from the overdraft becoming a cost trap.”
vzbv board member Ramona Pop
Overdrafts cost a lot of money
Overdrafts are usually very expensive. According to a survey by the financial magazine Biallo from the end of 2022, the average interest rate was 10.07 percent - that is almost twice as high as consumer loans with a fixed interest rate of 1 to 5 years. These comparatively high interest rates lead to significant costs if used over the long term.
The vzbv calls on the federal government to encourage only short-term use of the overdraft facility, to avoid unjustified costs and to ensure effective help in the event of over-indebtedness. What is needed, among other things, is a limit on the overdraft limit, a ban on compound interest to prevent skyrocketing interest rates and easier access to free debt advice.
The survey results in detail:
- 14 percent of all respondents aged 18 and over have used their overdraft facility or overdrawn their account in the last three months.
- Almost half (48 percent) of those surveyed with an overdraft or overdraft stated that higher costs - for example for living expenses or energy - were the reason for this.
- 9 percent of all respondents aged 18 and over do not see themselves in a position to be able to bear the increased cost of living in the long term and have to go into debt.
- 14 percent of those surveyed with an overdraft or overdraft expect that their account will only be rebalanced after more than six months
The study method
Representative multi-topic telephone survey (December 8th to 12th, 2022) by forsa on behalf of vzbv. Base: 1,002 people aged 18 and over. Statistical error tolerance: max. ± 3 percentage points.
Additional information
- Limiting the dangers of overdrafts : vzbv's statement on the risk of over-indebtedness in the context of rising consumer prices
- Overdraft facility : Results of a representative forsa population survey commissioned by vzbv | December 2022
- Overdraft facility : Results of a representative forsa population survey commissioned by vzbv | December 2022
Source: vzbv
Already read? A Mimikama fact check: “Spanish study” raises fears about eating insects
Article image: Pixabay
If you enjoyed this post and value the importance of well-founded information, become part of the exclusive Mimikama Club! Support our work and help us promote awareness and combat misinformation. As a club member you receive:
📬 Special Weekly Newsletter: Get exclusive content straight to your inbox.
🎥 Exclusive video* “Fact Checker Basic Course”: Learn from Andre Wolf how to recognize and combat misinformation.
📅 Early access to in-depth articles and fact checks: always be one step ahead.
📄 Bonus articles, just for you: Discover content you won't find anywhere else.
📝 Participation in webinars and workshops : Join us live or watch the recordings.
✔️ Quality exchange: Discuss safely in our comment function without trolls and bots.
Join us and become part of a community that stands for truth and clarity. Together we can make the world a little better!
* In this special course, Andre Wolf will teach you how to recognize and effectively combat misinformation. After completing the video, you have the opportunity to join our research team and actively participate in the education - an opportunity that is exclusively reserved for our club members!
Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )

