NatWest paves way for introduction of negative interest rates | Business | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... rest-rates

I don't even know where to start with that, but I'm sure 'lessons will be learned'

And suddenly, all business accounts with NatWest transfer to different banks.

Mark

If they tried this with consumer accounts, people would just move. I'm not sure if businesses can move as easily.
But I'm curious about the maths, for retail banking at least.
Let's say current free banking died a death as the banks are making no money on deposits (hopefully that won't happen), and that you had a choice of 'paid for accounts' or new free accounts with negative interest. Let's assume that there's an average of £1000 in the current account over a month (wages come in, bills go out and excess cash is moved to savings accounts)

1) Paid for account. Offers 3% interest p.a. and free cash withdrawals, but costs a £10 fee per month to run.
3% of £1000 / 12 = £2.50 interest per month, so the cost is £7.50 per month or £90 per year.

2) Free account with a -1% interest rate and free cash withdrawals.
1% of £1000 / 12 = £0.83 per month, so the cost is £10 per year.

Okay, paid for accounts have other perks, but they're often useless, so I'll ignore them.
So you'd still be better off having a negative interest account than a paid for account. Even if the negative rate was -3%, you'd still be better off.