On 18
November the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Parliament
voted on the Commission’s proposal regarding bank accounts. The new rules aim
to increase bank fees´ transparency, facilitate switching between bank accounts
and make opening of a basic bank account simpler and affordable for anyone
(currently 10% Europeans do not have a bank account). BEUC in its press
releases criticizes certain developments with regard to the proposal: suspension
of a rule that would create a system for automatic redirection of payments from the former to the new
account; Member States will need to harmonize terminology for only 10 services
linked to a bank account and not all of them, which will not serve the aim of
assuring full transparency. (Bank account plans: Timid steps towards more
transparency)
This week BEUC
evaluated two new Commission’s proposals that intend to increase consumer
protection on the financial services market. First, the proposal for a
Regulation on interchange fees for card-based payment transactions was
positively evaluated by BEUC, even if they argue that it should remain a
minimum harmonization area, so that the Member States are allowed to protect
consumers more (by reducing the interchange fee caps, e.g., below the suggested
0,2% or 0,3% level). BEUC expresses also its preference for an EU-wide ban on
surcharges. It argues also for the choice to be left to consumers as to what
payment brand they want to use at the point of sale. The consumer should also
be able to decide freely whether or not he needs two or more different payment
brands on his card, telecommunication or IT device, etc. In general, the new
framework would be a positive development for consumers potentially limiting
the monopoly of two credit card companies that dominate the payments market in
the EU (Mastercard and Visa), often prevailing over national debit cards that
are cheaper to use for consumers and merchants in comparison to international
cards.
Second, the
proposal for the new Payment Services Directive was assessed by BEUC. BEUC
again argues here for these rules to have a minimum harmonization standard, so
that the Member States could maintain stricter rules they already have in favor
of consumer protection. Electronic money should fall within the scope of
payment services regulated by the Directive. The EU-wide ban on surcharges is required
by BEUC also with respect to these rules, since surcharges are perceived as
having failed in steering consumers towards more efficient and cheaper means of
payment. The payment service providers should refund any unauthorized
transactions from the consumers’ accounts on the same day they have become
aware thereof (currently the obligation of ‘immediate’ refund is interpreted
differently across the EU) and consumers should be granted an unconditional
refund right for direct debit transactions. This would give consumers control
over his direct debit payments and provide easy redress instruments in case of
fraudulent payments or undelivered goods/services. In order to protect
consumers against payment frauds and incidents thereof should be reported
regularly to national and European authorities.
See BEUC's website for more detailed assessment.
