Bank of New York Mellon Adds Fee for $50 Million-plus Accounts

Most readers and investors know that it's a zany time, from a policy standpoint.

With the U.S. debt deal, Congressional leaders cut the federal budget -- one source of growth for the economy -- and now a segment of Congress expects the U.S. economy to grow at a faster rate, despite the fact that other segments of the economy -- businesses and consumers -- have not held up their end of the bargain.

And now there's a bank that will start charging customers for depositing their money.

You read correctly: you have to pay the bank to take your deposit. The bank involved? The Bank of New York Mellon (BK).

The fee applies to only very big depositors/customers: clients with current monthly deposits of $50 million or more starting August 8, thestreet.com reported Thursday.

A Fee for Giving the Bank Your Money

The fee will be 0.13 percentage points for cash deposits in excess of 110% of their average balance, The Associated Press reported Thursday.

Banks saw an inflow of cash from institutional investors and other asset management firms as a result of the U.S. debt deal crisis in which Democrats and Republicans were at loggerheads for the better part of two weeks over the debt ceiling. The feud risked a U.S. Government default, and institutional investors, fearing the worst, piled in to cash.

However, the flood of deposits affected the Bank of New York's capital ratio and insurance fees, thestreet.com reported Thursday. The unpredictable/transient nature of the deposits also prevented the bank from investing them to compensate for the sudden and large increases in costs associated with U.S. dollar deposits.

As safe haven-related deposits decline, markets stabilize, and deposits are redeployed to markets, the fee for deposits will likely no longer be necessary, The Bank of New York said.

Market/Economic Analysis: In fairness, the fee is probably primarily driven by cash flow volatility. Even so, the idea of charging any fee for a $50 million and up account has the tone of 'ill-conceived idea.'