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[Jens Ropers]

On 10 Jan 2005, at 19:00, notafish wrote:

> Actually, any country to country transfer, even in the Euro-zone, in
> euros, involves a fee

Yes and no.

I refer you to:
http://www.bankofireland.ie/html/gws/business/online_banking/border/

That page is actually about a lot more than just the IBAN/BIC transfers 
(it includes info on other bank transfer services with a view to 
business use).
But it contains a crucial statement:

"EU Regulation 2560/2001 requires all providers of cross border payment 
services to ensure that charges levied in respect of cross border 
electronic payments in Euro up to €12,500*, to EU [countries], are the 
same as charges for corresponding payments in Euro, within the relevant 
member state"

I also refer you to:
http://tinyurl.com/53be8

Yes, because your bank ''might'' actually still charge you for those 
cross-border transactions inside the EU (=IBAN/BIC transactions) -- IF 
AND ONLY IF they charge you for domestic transactions as well. If they 
charge you more for an IBAN/BIC transaction than for a domestic 
transaction, they're breaking the law.

No, because with many banks, a certain number of domestic transactions 
are included in a quarterly fee anyway, so they're "free" -- and if 
domestic transactions are free to you then IBAN/BIC transactions have 
to be free as well.

Admittedly, there's no such thing as a free lunch and you do actually 
pay for those "free" transactions through your quarterly fee (or --if 
you've got a bigger pile of dough in the bank-- through interest the 
bank can earn on your money, some of which they may not pass on to 
you).

But the point's made:
Cross-country bank transfers inside the EU now come at domestic prices.
If you're paying more you're being ripped off.

(NB: This regulation actually applies to ''transfers executed in euro 
between EU states'' (not just inside the [[Eurozone]]). So I can do an 
IBAN/BIC transfer from Germany to the UK (which is not (yet?) inside 
the Eurozone), and have the dosh come into the British current account 
(which is in Pounds Sterling (GBP)) and still avail of the free/low fee 
transfer. That's because the ''transfer'' is done in euros, the 
conversion being done by the British bank thereafter. The reverse also 
works -- so the oh so euro-shy British actually have their businesses 
already saving tidy wads of money when trading with EU countries, 
thanks to the euro.)

-- ropers [[en:User:Ropers]]
     www.ropersonline.com

PS: It won't be long now, I dare say, and we'll see fierce competition 
between banks right through the EU -- because with these new 
regulations the advantages to having a bank account in your actual 
country of residence (as opposed to, say, in Hungary, where fees might 
be lower) are dwindling. That'll lead to Hungarian banks starting to 
target German customers, or French banks targeting Irish customers, 
etc., etc. Sometimes I just LOVE the EU. ;-)