Brussels, 06/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 8 May 2013, the European Commission will unveil a draft directive which, from 2015, will increase transparency and comparability on bank charges, make it easier to shift bank accounts and guarantee every adult who wants one a basic bank account.
In the draft directive, which this newsletter has seen, the European Commission says: “Persistent problems regarding the opacity of payment account fees make it difficult for consumers to make informed choices. Moreover, even where fees are comparable, the process for switching from one payment account to another is often lengthy and complex. As a result, consumers still show a very high degree of inertia with respect to payment accounts”. The World Bank says nearly 60 million people in Europe do not have a bank account, although 25 million of them would like to.
Under pressure from consumer organisations, the European Commission has decided to take action, despite strong opposition from the financial industry. It has deliberately been decided to present this in the form of a directive, despite initial consideration of a regulation on transparency and a regulation on mobility, combined with a directive on basic bank accounts. The Commission's legal department recommended a single directive because that gives member states greater room for manoeuvre.
The draft directive asks member states to compile a list of the most representative payment services subject to a fee in their country, which will cover at least 20 services. Banks will be required to inform their customers about services provided and how much they cost, working from this standard list. In order to ensure comparability of prices, member states must ensure consumers have at the very least a comparison website for this purpose. Any service supplier will be required to be licensed before they can publish information on the website.
Tying practices that make one product conditional upon purchase of a second, will be banned, but the new rules say that product bundling will be possible.
Cross-border mobility. Service providers will have to provide a bank account mobility service, whereby the bank the customer is moving from must provide the new bank and the customer with a history of movements on the old account, along with details of planned payments. The new bank must inform any party making or receiving a payment from the customer about the customer's new bank details, and any costs charged for this service are to be in line with the costs actually incurred. Customers must not be financially penalised by mistakes or delays at a bank in the process of switching bank accounts.
In each country, at least one bank must provide customers with basic current accounts irrespective of where the customer lives. The basic bank account must be such that deposits, withdrawals, payments by card or online and transfers from one bank account to another must be possible. Charges may be made for some of these services. It will not be allowed to have an overdraft on a basic bank account. (MB/transl.fl)