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POLICE

German pensioner loses €20k in cash after leaving it on car roof

It's not unusual for Germans to carry a lot of cash. But for one man in North Rhine-Westphalia, taking out banknotes turned into a nightmare.

Published: 27 November 2019 10:31 CET
German pensioner loses €20k in cash after leaving it on car roof
Germany is known for being a nation of cash lovers. Photo: DPA

The 69-year-old man in Witten, near Bohum in western Germany, withdrew €20,000 of cash from a bank last Friday in order to buy a new car, police said in a statement.

He then placed the envelope with the cash on the roof of his current car. However, he forgot about the envelope and drove off.

A short time later, police said the man noticed that the envelope had disappeared.

Police are urgently appealing for anyone who finds the money to hand it into a lost property office or to the police so that the large sum can be reunited with the pensioner.

The man withdrew the cash at around 3.40pm on Friday, November 22nd from a bank at Ruhrstraße 45 in Witten. He drove off in the direction of Husemannstraße.

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Police appealed on Twitter for anyone with information to get in touch.

A nation of cash lovers

Although things are changing slowly as card payments become more popular, Germany is known for its Bargeld (cash) culture, and it's not unusual to pay for expensive items with cash.

READ ALSO: Will the German love affair with cash ever end?

In fact, hardly any other nation likes paying with banknotes as much as the Germans do.

According to Barkow Consulting, only about every 20th payment in Germany is processed by credit card. Statistically speaking, founder Peter Barkow said each German citizen keeps €2,200 cash at home.

Germans carried an average of €103 in their wallets in 2016, a study by the European Central Bank revealed, compared with an average of only €65 in the Eurozone.

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PROPERTY

Why falling US inflation could mean lower interest on your Danish mortgage

Falling inflation in the United States could make a difference for homeowners in Denmark, according to an analyst.

Published: 15 July 2024 14:31 CEST
Why falling US inflation could mean lower interest on your Danish mortgage

Inflation in the United States fell from 3.3 percent to 3.0 percent between May and June, while prices were up by 0.1 percent according to the latest figures from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That inflation level is “surprisingly low”, the Danish Chamber of Commerce has commented.

It also increases the possibility of the US reducing its interest rate in September, which could eventually have the effect of lower interest rates on mortgages in Denmark, the organisation’s analyst said.

“It’s certainly good news for Danes who are hungry for slightly lower interest,” senior economist Tore Stramer said on July 11th.

Interest rates in Denmark, including on mortgages, have been higher since 2022 compared to previous years, when they were often close to zero.

That has made it harder for many households to make ends meet as well as for first-time buyers to get on to the property ladder.

Denmark’s central bank, Nationalbanken, follows the interest rate policy of the European Central Bank (ECB) but is nevertheless influenced by monetary policy in the US.

That is because interest rates in the US affect financial markets and thereby how bank advisors in Denmark assess mortgage applications.

“So it will be felt in Denmark in the form of lower interest rates when you buy a house,” Stramer said.

Trends towards lower interest rates are already evident in Denmark.

The ECB lowered its lead interest rate in June by 0.25 percent, followed by Nationalbanken.

The figures from the US are further evidence that interest rates have now peaked, according to Brian Friis Helmer of Arbejdernes Landsbank. They could also drop further, he speculated.

“We can hope that they get lower but we have to get a bit further into this year before that happens,” he said.

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