Without additional costs

Transfers will reach your account in ten seconds

In future, money should reach the recipient's account within ten seconds.

(Bild: thinkstockphotos.de)

The EU Parliament has cleared the way for EU-wide instant bank transfers at no extra cost. A corresponding regulation was adopted in Strasbourg on Wednesday. According to the regulation, banks and other payment services that offer standard transfers in euros must also offer instant transfers in euros in future. Should fees be charged for this, they may not be higher than the fees for normal transfers.

Negotiators from the Parliament and the EU member states had already agreed on the project in November, and the Parliament has now formally confirmed the agreement. The EU countries also still have to formally agree. Once the new regulations come into force, the member states have twelve months to implement them.

According to the Parliament, the money transferred should reach the recipient's account within ten seconds, regardless of the time of day. The client should also be informed within ten seconds whether the transferred amount has reached the recipient. Service providers should also offer their customers free, immediate verification of the recipient's identity in order to avoid transfers due to error or fraud.

"This will enable people to protect themselves from scams and avoid sending their hard-earned savings to fraudulent companies or fake grandchildren," said Martin Schirdewan, Co-Chairman of the Left Party. He also criticized the EU for lagging behind in the supervision and regulation of digital financial products.

"Turning point in payment transactions"
The Christian Democratic EPP Group described the new regulation as a turning point in payment transactions. "The legislator has deliberately opted for a solution that is as consumer-friendly as possible," said German MEP Markus Ferber (CSU). Banks could now no longer offer instant transfers as a premium service and charge additional costs.

The financial policy spokesperson of the European SPD, Joachim Schuster, explained that the new regulation strengthens the availability and security of the payment method for citizens and at the same time reduces dependencies on non-European payment systems.