Exorbitant charges by banks

The electronic transactions carried out daily by consumers come at a significant additional cost as a result of bank charges. For a simple transfer like forwarding money from one bank account to a third party in another bank, for example, the charge is around 3 euros. For an immediate payment, i.e. for the same process in a few seconds instead of two or three days, the commission rises to €4-5, while the payment of utility bills is charged at between 0.30 and 0.60 euros per transaction.

While banks all over the world charge for electronic transactions, they are often much cheaper compared to Greece. The competition is also forcing Greek banks to adapt, as the share of fintechs with the lowest fees is constantly increasing.

This simplistic and mostly antiquated practice has not changed despite the meteoric increase of digital transactions. Even today, Greek banks charge high amounts not only for outgoing but also for incoming remittances, while they have established the same logic in direct credit transfers, i.e. the transfer of money in a few seconds (instant payment) which is the most modern banking transaction.

The fees that apply to transferring money from one bank to another are also the reason why Greek businesses usually maintain four different accounts, in all four systemic banks in order to be able to pay suppliers and receive money inexpensively.

The tendency for someone to keep two, three or sometimes even four accounts is a distortion, but also an additional cost for banks, which manage over 20 million accounts in Greece, many of which are inactive for a long time.

The transaction commission model in Greece is based on the fragmentation of charges, in contrast to what applies in European banks, where the model of managing the customer’s account has been applied for years.

The European pattern provides for a monthly charge of €2-10 – for accounts with increased privileges the amount is higher – that allows significant transaction packages or unlimited movements, free issuance of a debit card and discount privileges depending on the profile and package of each depositor.