With a view to combating the phenomenon of so-called “bank exclusion”, the Belgian government has decided that from next year the banks will have the obligation to permit all citizens to open current accounts on payment of a minimum non-refundable deposit of 12 euros per year. The provision, the first of its kind in Europe, is aimed at putting an end to the difficulties of tens of thousands of unemployed persons, or those on low incomes, or invalids, whose application to open an account is each year turned down by the Belgian banks due to their inability to produce guarantees of solvency.
