Negative iniquity – subzero interest rates would hit the poor hardest

NatWest recently warned customers it may start charging for saving with the bank. The poor would pay the heaviest price for negative interest rates, argues reader Michael Ireland. Photograph: Laura Lean/PA

You are correct when you say in your leader article (Negative interest rates: some positives but some minuses too, 27 July) that negative rates will affect Britons very differently. You are not right to assert that negative rates fall hardest on the rich. While the rich undoubtedly have the most to lose in monetary terms, it is those Britons eking out their miserly state pensions with small savings in building societies and other accounts who will suffer most. The small amount of interest derived from their savings can make the difference between abject poverty and actually living.
Michael Ireland
Marlow, Buckinghamshire

• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com