More clarity on bank fees

FRENCH banks must now use the same terminology when listing fees so as to make it easier for customers to make comparisons between institutions.

This follows a decree putting into action part of a banking regulations law from last July.

It applies as of last month for online bank charges information and from July 1 for paper versions available in banks. Each service and charge must be referred to with the same terms.
This should assist customers and, it is hoped, will encourage some banks to expand their range of services.

Banks remain free to bill for unlisted services. The measure follows others from the same 2013 law such as a ceiling on charges for going over an authorised overdraft (limited to €8 per incident or €80 per month).

The Director-General of the consumer body Familles de France, Thierry Vidor, said the change was imposed by the EU.
“It will mean better information for the customer and more transparency and, we hope, a lowering of the costs of bank charges.
“However we’ll be cautious and see that they don’t try to recoup the costs in other ways.”

Terms with their meanings (translated), include: Cotisation à une offre d’assurance perte ou vol des moyens de paiement: insurance premium to cover loss or theft of means of payment (ie. cards or cheques); frais de rejet de prélèvement pour défaut de provision: fee when a direct debit fails because there are not enough funds in the account; forfait de frais par chèque rejeté pour défaut de provision: fee for a bounced cheque; abonnement à des services de banque à distance: subscription fee for services like internet and telephone banking (any fees taken for individual uses of such services are called frais d’utilisation des services de banque à distance); frais de mise en place d’un virement permanent: fee for creating a standing order; cotisation carte: fee for providing a bank card; cotisation à une offre groupée de services: subscription fee for a grouped services offer; droits de garde: fees for holding a portfolio of shares for you; frais par retrait d’espèces à un DAB d’une autre banque: fee for using another bank’s cash machine (distributeur automatique de billets).

- Most people opening bank accounts take up an offre groupée (also called un package), providing various services at a fixed cost that is less than the sum of the individual tariffs. It is worth noting, however, that studies have shown these often include items you may rarely or never use and for the average customer may end up costing more

Photo: www.fotolia.com/Frog 974