The EU Parliament has paved the way for direct transfers across the EU, without extra costs. On Wednesday it adopted a corresponding regulation in Strasbourg. Accordingly, banks and other payment services that offer standard transfers in euros must also offer instant transfers in euros in the future. If fees are charged for this, these may not be higher than the fees for normal transfers.
Negotiators from Parliament and EU countries had already agreed on the project in November, and Parliament has now formally confirmed the deal. The EU countries must also formally agree. After the new rules come into force, Member States will have 12 months to implement them.
Parliament announced that the money transferred must be in the recipient’s account within ten seconds, regardless of the time of day. The client must also be informed within ten seconds whether the transferred contribution has reached the recipient. Service providers must also offer their customers free and instant verification of the recipient’s identity to prevent transfers due to errors or fraud.
“This allows people to protect themselves from fraud so that they do not send their hard savings to fraudulent companies or fake grandchildren,” said the co-leader of the Left Party’s parliamentary group, Martin Schirdewan. At the same time, he criticized that the EU is lagging behind in the supervision and regulation of digital financial products.
“A turning point in payment transactions”
The Christian Democratic EPP faction described the new regulations as a turning point in payment transactions. “The legislator has consciously opted for a solution that is as consumer-friendly as possible,” says German MEP Markus Ferber (CSU). Banks could no longer offer instant transfers as a premium service and charge additional fees.
The European SPD’s financial policy spokesperson, Joachim Schuster, explained that the new regulations strengthen the availability and security of the payment method for citizens while reducing dependence on non-European payment systems.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
