Overdraft interest: the most expensive loan you never applied for
Dispozinsen of 10–14% quietly eat the account that dips below zero.
The Dispokredit is the overdraft your bank grants on your checking account. It feels like a buffer, but it is a loan — typically at 10–14% interest, charged daily, with no reminder.
A balance of −500 € for half the year at 12% costs about 30 € — every year, for doing nothing. Banks rely on exactly that inertia.
If you are regularly in the red, a Ratenkredit at 5–7% or simply shifting one fixed cost to later in the month is almost always cheaper than the Dispo.
Watch your balance curve: if the line touches zero most months just before payday, that is the Dispo pattern starting.