Negative interest
And once again, an ingenious start-up company was born out of a beer whim. Two school dropouts, just 18 years old at the time, suddenly had a vision. At first, they were only laughed at for their business idea. Even the so-called financial experts from the show "Die Höhle der Löwen" did not recognise the enormous potential. But the boys didn't let it get them down. They put all their eggs in one basket. And their success proved them right.
It all started when one of them inherited a small amount of money from his late grandmother. His parents advised him to put the money in a savings account. Which he then did. But at some point he was horrified to find that his fortune began to dwindle. The reason for this was the so-called negative interest rate that the banks had recently started charging their customers. This means that the banks and savings banks collect a deposit money for depositing one's assets with them.
All beginnings were difficult...
When the two self-made millionaires were interviewed by me, Tom told me: "It pissed me off that they were getting rich off my money. That's why I immediately cancelled the savings contract. At a loss, of course! After this bitter setback, I invested the rest of the money in our business idea. As you can see today, that was the best decision."
When I asked how they would now deal with their enormous wealth, he replied: "The good old savings stockpile has to serve. That's the only place where our money is really safe."
"Aren't you afraid of being robbed?", I wanted to know.
Tom grinned: "What robbers are you talking about? The ones who break into houses at night? Or the ones who wear suits and ties and call themselves consultants?" Then his friend spoke up: "We have seriously thought about putting together a bailout package for the board members of the banks. A social media fundraiser might also be a way to help them. Just imagine; only seven million euros for the head of Deutsche Bank? How is the poor man supposed to manage with that, when everything is so expensive these days? And with the paltry two billion euros in bonuses that are additionally paid out to the board of directors, it is no longer possible to finance a life of luxury."
...but when it works, it works!
When the boys felt how much this was taking me, we took a short break. Afterwards they told me how their business works: "The magic word is credit, credit and more credit! Interest rates are so low these days, it's worth taking on debt. And as much as possible. Just one example: many banks are offering thousands of euros for minus 4 %. We apply for the loan with as many providers as possible and, bang! As everyone knows: minus times minus equals plus. It's that simple! That's how we made our first millions. But that's not all!"
They then proudly presented their second money machine to me. "Since real money will soon be abolished anyway, we came up with the idea of credit cards. In the meantime, we have more than 500 employees working for us in home offices all over the world. Their job is to apply for credit cards from every conceivable provider. Gold, platinum and black. Cards that no longer work are simply replaced.
"Is that legal?", I wanted to know and thought about the possibility of circumventing the blocking of my credit card.