On January 1, 2021, new consumer protection rules for financial services come into effect in banking commissioning and in the use of payment applications operated by third parties.

In addition to the current prohibition on charging fees for the provision of payment services and for carrying out transactions at ATMs, the collection of commissions by payment service providers is now limited to transactions carried out on or through payment applications operated by third parties.

It is therefore forbidden to charge commissions to consumers who pay or benefit from operations such as withdrawing funds, making payments for services or transfers that do not exceed a limit of:

a) € 30 per operation; or,
b) € 150 transferred through the application for 1 month; or,
c) 25 transfers made in 1 month.

If transactions exceed the prescribed limits, payment service providers may charge the consumer a commission less than:

a) 0.2% on the transaction value, for debit card transactions; and,
b) 0.3% on the value of the transaction, for credit card transactions.

Payment service providers must also ensure that commissions charged for identical transactions in their own payment applications or operated by third parties are proportionate, non-discriminatory and do not unnecessarily hamper access to them.

Violation of these rules constitutes an offense and is punishable by a fine of up to € 44,891.81, for legal persons.