List of most representative services linked to a payment account
The Royal Decree-Law 19/2017, of 24 November, on payment accounts with basic features, payment account switching and comparability of fees, incorporates into the Spanish legal system the regime of the Directive 2014/92/EU of the European Parliament and the Council, of 23 July 2014, on the comparability of fees related to payment accounts, payment account switching and access to payment accounts with basic features.
Article 15 of the Royal Decree-Law 19/2017 establishes that Banco de España must publish and maintain an updated list of the most representative services linked to a payment account, incorporating the standardised terminology enshrined in the Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/32 of the Commission, of 28 September 2017. Therefore, the following is a list of the most representative services linked to a payment account:
Comparison website of the Banco de España
Article 18 of the Royal Decree-Law 19/2017 requires Banco de España to establish a website, accessible free of charge, which makes it possible to compare the fees charged by payment service providers, for the most representative services linked to a payment account.
In fulfilment of the above, the following link allows access to the comparison website which has been established for said purposes to consult information provided by the entities.
Types of interest and fees
Order EHA/2899/2011, of 28 October, on transparency and the protection of banking services clients (Official State Gazette of 29 October) and the Banco de España Circular 5/2012, of 27 June , on the transparency of banking services and responsible lending (Official State Gazette of 6 July), establish that Spanish credit institutions and the Spanish branches of foreign credit institutions must publish and make available to Banco de España, certain statistical information on the type of interest and the fees. These are frequently applied to banking services provided frequently to clients who are natural persons, in the format established in Annex 1 of said Circular, on the operations carried out every calendar quarter for the different product and client profiles included in said Annex.
The aforementioned Order and Circular also establish that Spanish credit institutions and the Spanish branches of foreign credit institutions that allow tacit overdrafts in deposit accounts or tacitly allow credit accounts to exceed their credit limits, shall publish, for the benefit of their clients who are natural persons, the types of interest and fees applicable in these scenarios. This information must also be provided by the institutions to Banco de España in the format established in Annex 2 of the Circular 5/2012.
As a result of the modification introduced in Annex 1 of the Circular 5/2012 by the entry into force of the Circular 2/2019, of 29 March, from 1 July 2019 onwards, the information submitted in the aforementioned Annex 1 does not include certain sections related to the services included in the list of the most representative services linked to payment accounts, as envisaged in the Royal Decree-Law 19/2017.
The information provided by the institutions on these types of interest and fees may be consulted at the following link:
Maximum fees to be charged for the use of transfer services and direct debit transaction services that exceed the amount mentioned in Letter e) of Article 4.2 of the Order ECE/228/2019
The Banco de España Circular 2/2019, of 29 March, in its Chapter V, Rule 13, determines that credit institutions must communicate to Banco de España the average fees or expenses charged to their clients for transfer services and for direct debit transaction services, during the twelve months immediately preceding the corresponding communication.
This request for information is based on Article 4.3 of the Order ECE/228/2019, which charges Banco de España to publish, on a quarterly basis, the mentioned average fees or expenses. The goal of this measure is to spread awareness about the maximum fees that institutions can charge for the use of transfer services and direct debit transaction services that exceed the amount mentioned in Letter e) of Article 4.2 of the Order ECE/228/2019.
The information provided by the institutions may be consulted at the following link: