EU rules on cross-border euro payments should be extended

EU rules on cross-border euro payments should be extended by Georgios Athanasiadis, 26/2/2008,17:21; "EU rules on cross-border euro payments should be extended EU rules on charges for cross-border euro payments should be modified to improve consumer protection and include direct debit payments, according to a new European Commission report. Revision of these rules should also alleviate the burden of statistical reporting placed on banks and reduce the processing costs of cross-border bank transfers. Internal Market and Services Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said: 'The Regulation on cross-border euro payments has already brought real benefits to consumers. We have seen price reductions in many countries. We now want to build on this by improving consumer protection and by extending the scope of the Regulation to direct debits. We also want financial institutions to provide consumers with clear and transparent information on their payment services which can be easily compared between banks and countries.' The report analyses how Regulation 2560/2001 on cross-border payments in euro is applied in the Member States and examines the practical problems encountered in its implementation. It concludes that a number of proposals should be made in order to address the identified issues, better reflect developments in retail financial markets and align the Regulation with the recently adopted Payment Services Directive.