If this compensation is based on a proper calculation and methodology, it should also be acceptable to competition authorities. Both sides are important here, demand and supply, banks should not only want to offer SEPA direct debits, but customers should also want to use them. 2.
The term “secular stagnation” has been applied to this phenomenon, meaning a persistent state of economic depression in which the natural interest rate – the real interest rate consistent with output at potential and/or stable inflation – has become negative. I will briefly elaborate on this risk as well as on the implications for monetary policy and other policies.