Without prejudice to fair remuneration for the service provided, it should be possible to achieve a substantial reduction in fees. When the sending and the receiving credit institution have a well-established business relationship, it should be possible to meet this requirement. Where this is not the case, and in order to assist the banks in fulfilling this price-transparency requirement, only the originator of the payment should be charged, with no costs being borne by the beneficiary. This default practice would also be in line with prevailing current practices for domestic credit transfers and hence contribute to the creation of a single euro payment area and to the achievement of full cost transparency, as required by the Directive. Existing standards should be implemented as soon as possible.
Standardisation is a key element in increasing the efficiency of cross-border retail payments.
The Eurosystem stands ready to play a co-ordinating and supportive role with the aim of facilitating the actual implementation of such standards.