EU Plans Low-Fee Euro Transfers for All Member States

(Bloomberg) -- The European Commission proposes to bring down costs for cross-border euro payments within the EU and to make currency conversions fairer for consumers.

• Under existing rules, cross-border payments in euros within the 19-nation euro area can’t cost more than a domestic transaction; this benefit should be extended to all 28 EU member states, commission says
• Proposal would reduce transaction fees to a few euros or even cents, while today, bank transfers can cost as much as 24 euros in some non-euro area member states, according to the commission
• Proposal will apply to bank transfers, card payments, cash withdrawals
• Commission also proposes to bring more transparency to payments that involve currency conversions so that consumers are aware of the costs
• Users of payment services are expected to save EU900m per year, commission says in impact assessment

To contact the reporter on this story: Alexander Weber in Brussels at aweber45@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Neil Callanan at ncallanan@bloomberg.net, Paul Armstrong, Jon Menon

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