In just over a month, banks must implement a new commission policy on immediate transfers, those which become effective in just a few seconds and for which they now usually charge a large part of their customers.
This change in policy is required by Brussels for so-called SEPA transfers, an acronym for Single Euro Payments Area; and some entities have already told their customers what will happen, whether or not they will have to pay to make transfers that will take effect in 10 seconds. In other cases, you have to wait and see what they decide.
We analyze the reason for this change and what the banks are saying, whether or not they will change their commission policy for this type of transfers.
What is changing?
This change in conditions comes from a regulation approved by the European Parliament and two community directives aimed at facilitating payments and transactions within the European Union and speeding up competition. This means that a deadline has been set, next January 9, 2025, for euro zone banks to align on what they charge for immediate transfers, which take a few seconds to reach the recipient; and those that take hours or days.
Concretely, what this legislation from Brussels says is that “to avoid contradictory requirements and taking into account the fundamental objective of directing users of payment services towards immediate transfers in euros”, financial institutions are required to charge commissions to originators and beneficiaries for immediate transfers in euros. euros do not exceed the commissions charged for those which are not immediate.
That is to say, the first, those which take a few seconds, cannot be more expensive than the ordinary ones, those which are effective in a few hours or in 24 or 48 hours. Currently, most banking entities do not charge these second transfers to a large part of their customers, for example those who have their salaries, pensions or miscellaneous receipts directly deposited. It is worth remembering that commissions in recent years have become one of the sources of income for banks and, also, a commercial tool for attracting customers from competitors.
And what will the banks do?
Most of the major banks consulted by elDiario.es assure that they will not charge immediate transfers to customers for whom they no longer require commissions for ordinary transfers. Of course, we will have to wait until customers receive official communications from their bank and read the fine print. In any case, they will not be able to charge customers a higher commission for an immediate transfer than that charged for a regular transfer.
In the case of Caixabank, a controversy broke out, after several users published on social networks that the bank was going to charge a minimum of 6 euros. The state-owned entity assures that “all customers linked to the ‘Día a Día’ program, customers with an online account and Imagin customers have subsidized ordinary transfers and, therefore, from January , they will also be able to make transfers “immediately free.” According to Caixabank, these customers represent 17 of the bank’s 18 million users.
Also that “as in all entities, customers who do not benefit from subsidized transfers will continue to pay ordinary transfers and, from January, the price of immediate transfers will be equal”. In these cases there is a minimum price of 6 euros for all those carried out within the European Union and a maximum of up to 2,000 euros. And, between the two, the equivalent of 0.4% of the transfer amount.
It is worth remembering that a few weeks ago Caixabank changed the conditions of its Día a Día program, where from January there will be 14 million customers and in which each of them will have to read the fine print, because it defines the bonus for the services. Based on a minimum income volume – 9,000 euros per year – in a plan including bank account, card, transfers, receipts or ATMs.
Santander, although it has not yet sent any communication to its customers, assures that its immediate SEPA transfers “will have the same cost as ordinary transfers, in accordance with the regulations” and that “in the majority of cases, our customers don’t pay.” for ordinary transfers and that the pricing policy will not change. So, for these customers, from January 9, immediate transfers will also be free.
For its part, Banco Sabadell emphasizes that it “adapts its processes in terms of technology”. A change which “will be completed in January 2025, as established by the standard”. “Those who benefit from free standard transfers will now benefit from free immediate transfers,” adds this entity. Furthermore, it indicates that “as it is a modification which favors the customer, there is no obligation to communicate it two months in advance” and that this will be done in the statement for the month of December or when accessing the banking application.
Among the five other large Spanish entities, BBVA and Bankinter do not tell elDiario.es what they are going to do, even if the entity chaired by Carlos Torres indicates that it will adapt to the deadlines set by European regulations.
And what will happen to the rest?
Well, it is time to see what they charge for ordinary transfers because this will be what they will have to charge for immediate transfers, but it must be borne in mind that the measure required by Brussels does not come into force than January 9, 2025, so banks still have a little over a month to tell their customers what they are going to do.
The Bank of Spain indicates that entities can “charge you a commission for this service”, which is usually a percentage of the transfer amount, with a minimum per operation. In other words, the commissions “are free”, says the supervisor, “except in cases where they are legally limited”, as will be the case from January, assimilating the commission for immediate transfers to ordinary transfers.
And he gives an example, with a commission of 0.4% and a minimum fee of 6 euros, in a transfer of 1,200 euros the amount would be 4.8 euros. However, since in this case it does not reach the minimum, you will then have to pay these 6 euros. On the other hand, if the transfer amounts to 5,000 euros, you will have to pay a commission of 20 euros.
