A savings account entry does not automatically mean credit – at least not if this has already been paid out. However, the bank must be able to prove a payout.
Karlsruhe (dpa / lsw) – Anyone who has a balance in their savings account cannot always insist on the money – at least not if the bank can credibly prove that it has already been paid out. In a judgment published on Wednesday (February 1), the Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court (OLG) dismissed the lawsuit filed by a bank customer from the Baden-Baden area. The woman wanted to have more than 70,000 euros paid out – that much was still in her old savings book as a credit.
According to the court, however, the bank was able to prove that the husband authorized to do so closed the savings book in 1998 on telephone instructions and that they booked the credit on the plaintiff’s checking account as a cash deposit and invested the amount for the couple as a fixed deposit.
According to the Higher Regional Court, a bank must prove a payment and may not simply refuse it because there have been no entries for a long time or storage obligations have expired. In this case, however, not only did the sum of the savings exactly match the deposit in the current account. Bank employees at the time also confirmed the correctness of the bank’s internal documents.
The Higher Regional Court judgment is not final. The plaintiff lodged an appeal against non-admission to the Federal Court of Justice against this decision.
