Greek banks abolish instant transfer fees

Greek banks abolish instant transfer fees

From January 1st, Greek banks will gradually eliminate the transfer fees they charge for instant transfers in seconds. This step is based on a European directive that must be adopted by all European credit institutions in the coming days.

This development and new state legislation setting fee caps for interbank money transfers are creating a new landscape for transfer fees.

More specifically, in recent days, most banks have combined regular priority money transfers with instant transfers.

This means that customers can now choose via e-banking or m-banking to have the money credited to the recipient’s account within 2-3 business days or in just a few seconds, without incurring additional fees for the instant option.

Regardless of the choice, the fee is now exactly the same, as the additional fee for instant transfers, which can be up to 2.50 euros depending on the bank, has been removed.

However, transfers will be even cheaper for individual senders in January for amounts up to 5,000 euros.

Specifically, following government intervention, the fee for each incoming or outgoing transfer will be limited to 0.50 euros up to the limit mentioned above.

This means that after the introduction of the new maximum fees, the total fee for an instant transfer of up to 5,000 euros will not exceed 1 euro. This amount will be divided equally between the sender and the recipient, with each party being charged 0.50 euros or, depending on their preference, being borne entirely by the sender.

The new pricing policy combined with the capabilities of the IRIS service now makes money transfers between accounts at different banks more affordable for customers.

In particular, via IRIS, which is available via M-Banking, it is possible to send up to 500 euros per day free of charge.

Banking sources believe that the domestic market is entering a new phase of intensified competition among credit institutions in the broader payments sector, with the aim of expanding their customer base.

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