From Thursday, Greek banks will have to reduce the fee for all transfers up to 5,000 euros to 0.5 euros, as from this date a new regulation will come into force that harmonizes the costs of sending money within the European Union for all types of transfers.

With the implementation of the regulation, Greek lenders are one step closer to meeting the government’s obligation to reduce the commission for money transfers of up to 5,000 euros to just 50 cents. For amounts over 5,000 euros, banks have to introduce new tariffs, but cannot differentiate between different types of transfers, such as a transfer within a few seconds and a normal transfer that takes one, two or more days.

It should be noted that the new regulation does not provide for an upper or lower commission limit for a transaction and the limit of €0.5 is the result of the government’s decision to make money transfers accessible via web or mobile banking for certain amounts that to are now subject to a commission of €1 to €2.50.

As part of the state intervention, banks are obliged to zero, no later than the end of the month, the commission for payments via web and mobile banking of debts to the state, social security agencies, local governments, energy and telecommunications, water utilities and insurance companies. The measures affect transactions by individuals, freelancers and sole proprietors of companies.

From the same date, the fee for cash withdrawals in municipalities where there is only one ATM from a banking institution will also be zero. Accordingly, the fee for checking the balance at another bank’s ATM across the country will be reduced to zero and is currently 0.20 euros. The fee for topping up prepaid cards up to 100 euros will also be zero (from currently around 1 euro). Finally, the 50 percent reduction in commissions for purchases made with debit, credit and prepaid cards at the POS will be expanded from the current €10 to €20.