Filenews 8 August 2020 -Theano Thiopoulou
Radical changes are being made to bank charges and customers will in some cases enjoy zero or very small charges. The three decrees issued yesterday by the Ministry of Finance on the fixing of charges imposed on banking services and announced yesterday by the Central Bank bring new data for customers.
The decrees of the Ministry of Finance were drawn up on the basis of the measures also proposed by the Central Bank. In its study, The Central took into account the average fees charged by banks to consumers, the level of basic income of the country and similar approaches of other Member States.
They were due to be issued last March, but there was a delay due to the pandemic that broke out at the time and the announcement of the measures was extended.
To get the benefits of zero or minimum charges, bank customers will have to determine what the payment account is with key features regardless of the number of credit institutions it cooperates with.
They should contact their bank by November 2 to determine the account and take advantage of the decrees. The account can also be a joint account but cannot be an account that is linked to any credit facility (e.g. limit on current account, credit card, etc.).
What are the decrees which enter into force on 2 November?:
The most basic is that there will be no charges for withdrawals from automatic cash registers (ATMs) of other banks within the Republic of Cyprus and within the European Union. That is, cash withdrawal from any ATM will not be charged.
This measure is expected to make it easier for people living in the countryside and there are not many options from ATMs. The free cash withdrawal will be made by the ATMs of all banks established in Cyprus and supervised by Central. There will also be a zero charge for withdrawing money from ATMs within the European Union of an independent Bank. The zero charge will not apply if a credit card is used.
Another important change of interest to thousands of bank customers is that the total fees levied on payment accounts with basic features and for amounts not exceeding €5,000 per year will not exceed €36 in a calendar year. The charge is per consumer and without limitation of transactions for most services (opening, operating and closing an account, as well as depositing funds) as well as a minimum number of transactions amounting to 100 per year for other payment services (direct debits, credit card payments, etc.) involving services within the European Union and for amounts per transaction of less than €5,000. If there are more transactions, no charge is charged for these services until the end of the year.
There will also be a zero charge for the minimum number of transactions for which credit institutions will only charge reasonable fees to all the take-up of the Minimum Guaranteed Income. For the period from 02/11/2020 to 31/12/2020, the fee and minimum transactions will be as follows: Maximum fee of €6 per Payment Account with Basic Features without restriction of transactions for most services, as well as a minimum number of transactions amounting to 17 for other services.