Holger Schmidt, 56, is the chairman of the Skatbank in Altenburg and a passionate Skat player.
Image: Dominique Wollniok
A small bank in Thuringia was the first to introduce negative interest eight years ago – and suddenly it was known throughout the country. Today her boss is happy that the experiment will probably come to an end soon.
Holger Schmidt will listen very carefully when Christine Lagarde appears in front of the press next Thursday. If there are no more surprises, the President of the European Central Bank (ECB) will then announce that the ECB will no longer purchase additional paper as part of its bond purchase program. And in all likelihood, it will give a clear indication that the central bank will most likely begin to finally abolish negative interest rates in July.
Schmidt, a cheerful 56-year-old from East Thuringia, and the ECB have a special history. Even if in Frankfurt’s Ostend, where the twin towers of the central bank stand, probably very few have heard of the man. The Thuringian is also active in the banking business, and has been for many years. Since 2002, as CEO, he has been managing the fortunes of VR-Bank Altenburger Land, which only at first glance appears to be a completely normal Volksbank. Because this Volksbank with a manageable balance sheet total of around 800 million euros also includes a direct bank, which suddenly gained nationwide fame in 2014. Her name: Skatbank. Its unique selling point: it was the first German bank to introduce negative interest on savings deposits in 2014. Instead of receiving interest, customers above a certain amount had to pay interest to the bank.