EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 78/563

(2004/C 78 E/0598)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3486/03

by Karl von Wogau (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(24 November 2003)

Subject: Charges for bank transfers within the eurozone

Is the Commission aware that Regulation (EC) No 2560/2001 (1) on cross-border payments in euro is still not consistently applied in Spain? What steps does the Commission intend to take in this connection? How can members of the public obtain refunds of any charges made?

The incident which gave rise to the question was a transfer of EUR 10 which a member of the public made from his account with a local savings bank in Germany to a Spanish account which he had opened with the Caja de Ahorros del Mediterráneo. Only EUR 3,99 were credited to his Spanish account, although the money was transferred after 1 July 2003. Upon enquiry, the Spanish bank told him that a charge of 0,2 % is generally made on transfers from foreign banks, with a minimum charge of EUR 6,01, and that the charges are made by the Bank of Spain directly. Staff at his Spanish bank were not aware of Regulation (EC) No 2560/2001 on cross-border payments.

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(19 January 2004)

Regulation (EC) No 2560/2001 of the Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 2001 establishes the principle of equality of charges between national payments and cross-border payments in euro. This principle applies to electronic payment transactions in euro since 1 July 2002 and to credit transfers since 1 July 2003, up to an amount of EUR 12 500. The Regulation specifies that the sending bank can request from its customer the IBAN (International Bank Account Number) and BIC (Bank Identifier Code) of the beneficiary, and may take additional charges when those are not provided.

In the case presented by the Honourable Member, a transfer of EUR 10 from Germany to Spain was charged EUR 6,01 to the beneficiary. According to the principle of equality of charges, this charge is only correct if it corresponds to the charge applied to a similar national transfer in Spain, and if IBAN and BIC were provided by the sender upon request. The fact that the employee of the bank was not aware of the Regulation and that the charge applied is said to be ‘generally made on transfers from foreign banks’, seems to indicate that this bank does not apply the same charges to credit transfers in euro in the Union as it does to national ones, as prescribed in the Regulation.

Should this be the case, the Spanish authorities should take appropriate measures in order to guarantee adequate and consistent application of the Regulation. Article 7 of the Regulation indicates that the compliance shall be guaranteed by effective, proportionate and deterrent sanctions. The Commission wrote to all Member States in September 2003 asking them the name of the responsible national authority and the measures they may take in this regard, and is in contact with the Banco de España in this respect, concerning cases of possible misapplication of the Regulation.

As regards redress procedures for citizens having problems with banks in Spain, they must first contact their bank, and if they are not satisfied with the reply they receive, they may complain to the Complaints Department at the Banco de España (C/Alcalá No 50, 28014 Madrid), stating their reasons and supplying the documents in their possession relating to the matter in dispute.

(1) OJ L 344, 28.12.2001, p. 13.