Cheap euro transfers to be extended to non-euro states

The European Commission has proposed to make cross-border payments in euro cheaper across the entire EU, instead of only for transactions between members of the eurozone.

Under current rules, there is no difference for eurozone residents or businesses if they carry out euro transactions in their own country or with another euro area member state.

This proposal aims to extend this benefit to people and businesses in non-euro countries. This will allow all consumers and businesses to fully reap the benefits of the Single Market when they send money, withdraw cash or pay abroad.

All intra-EU cross-border payments in euro outside the euro area will now be priced the same – with small or zero fees – as domestic payments in the local official currency.

The EU executive is also proposing to bring more transparency and competition to currency conversion services when consumers are buying goods or services in a different currency than their own.

“With today’s proposal we are granting citizens and businesses in non-euro area countries the same conditions as euro area residents when making cross-border payments in euro,” said the Commission’s Financial Services vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis: “All Europeans will be able to transfer money cross-border, in euro, at the same cost as they would pay for a domestic transaction.

“Today’s proposal will also require full transparency in currency conversion when consumers are paying by card in a country which does not have the same currency as their own,” he added.

Consumers and businesses in the euro area already benefit from very low fees for cross-border payments in euro, thanks to the introduction of the cross-border payments regulation in 2001.

This proposal aims to put an end to the high cost of intra-EU crossborder transactions in euro.

In particular, this proposal provides that fees charged for crossborder payments in euro are the same that would be charged for equivalent domestic payments in the local currency.

This, says the Commission, will bring down fees to a few euros or even cents. For example, a crossborder credit transfer in euro from Bulgaria will be priced the same as a domestic Bulgarian lev credit transfer. This is a major change, as fees for a simple credit transfer can be exorbitant in some non-euro area member states (up to €24 for a transfer of €10)!

Today’s hefty fees are seen as an obstacle to the Single Market as they create barriers to cross-border activities of households (buying goods or services in another currency zone) and businesses, in particular SMEs. This creates a major gap between euro area residents who benefit from the single currency and non-euro area residents who can only make cheap transactions within their own country.

The proposal will also bring about transparency on payments that involve different Union currencies. At the moment, consumers are usually not informed or aware of the cost of a transaction that involves a currency conversion. The proposal will therefore require that consumers are fully informed of the cost of a currency conversion before they make such payment (for example, with their card abroad, be it a cash withdrawal at an ATM or a card payment at a point of sale, or online). This means they will be able to compare the costs of different conversion options to make a fair choice. Recent findings show that consumers have been complaining about dynamic currency conversion practices, that is, pay- ing abroad in their home currency and asking for their ban after having found that they were losing out in the majority of the cases studied. The lack of necessary information to make the best choice often results in consumers being unfairly led towards the more expensive currency conversion option. The European Banking Authority will be tasked with drafting the necessary Regulatory Technical Standard to implement this enhanced transparency.

The legislative proposal will now be submitted to the European Parliament and Council for adoption.